It appears even the Russian are seeing this petulant outburst as counterproductive and are likely to veto Kerry's statement of principles that he was planning to propose formally on January 15, 2017, five days before Obama leaves office. The Russians appear to actually be interested in a negotiated settlement, however unlikely that may be, and realize that Obama and Kerry's antics are just going to make that harder. As much as they support the idea of smacking down the Israelis, they "do not want to use these platforms for the Democrats’ and Republicans’ bickering.” It could also be that the Russians realize that to get an agreement with Trump, they are going to have to be agreeable, rather than menacing with this new administration, as capitulation and appeasement are two items that will be removed from the US Foreign Policy menu on January 20, 2017. By putting a stop to this now, they earn some gratitude and the possibility of some cooperation with the Trump administration. Or, Russia could be positioning itself to be the new objective broker in these negotiations, since the Obama regime is currently destroying our capacity to serve in that role to the best of his ability. He already abdicated the fight against Islamic State in Syria to the Russians. Perhaps the Russians are seeing this as their opening to take this role over too. What a bunch of cowardly, petulant jerks Obama and his crew are.
Wow... it sure seems some right wingers here are getting closer and closer to becoming Russian citizens. Ronald Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
Seriously, Russia is now the Oracle that right-wingers look to to push back against Obama. It's twilight zone area here.
Putin can have his Iraq war. That did wonders for us Americans on the domestic front right? Puttin can try to attempt to expand Russia's sphere of influence by relying on a soon to be outdated source of energy. He can continue to run his nation's economy to the ground while trying to play strong man and you can keep on posting the short sighted game and continue to be a dunce and praise him. Anyways... Da Commrade Mojo Man, Putin is great leader.
Putin has issues but I'd rather have friendly relations with Russia than Saudi and their backward ass society. All the libs are so scared of Putin but they stay very quiet when it comes to women hating Saudis.
Remember when counterpunch and other Russian influenced commie rags were favorite pinko punching bags by Conservatives? I would think the contradictions start imploding in of itself, but the urge to one up the other side is strong. Maybe you don't know enough about Russia to judge either way. Believe it or not, the Saudi government does not like Liberal Messiah Obama.
1. As a liberal, I and other liberals have denounced Saudi policies especially their treatment of women many times on this website. 2. China did hack into us, and the U.S. responded and no president or president-elect came out and denounced the intelligence agencies for busting the Chinese for their hacking. It was over trade and not an election. So there is a difference. 3. It isn't just one agency that has concluded the Russians intervened and their motive for the intervention. 4. Some people put America before political parties, and some people don't. This thread has made that clear. If you are spending your time here defending the Russians and not putting America first, then own up to it. Have a little pride. Everyone else can see you are doing it, so you might as well take ownership of it, and stop trying to pretend otherwise 5. The fact that the DNC was shady and violated their own policy doesn't in any way excuse a foreign govt. trying to subvert our Democracy. It is possible to be against both things. I am.
It's a bit ham fisted. I thought we already put Putin in the corner for Ukraine and his laundry list of other things. Curious on what the new sanctions are and its impact of bleeding a turnip even drier. Short of risking total war, these attacks and counter attacks sound like pranks on a national scale. If it's yuge, it wouldnt be something to brag about. Otherwise, who would care? How about we get someone to throw a pie at Putin's face.
Vladimir Putin has decided not to retaliate against the US after Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and levied sanctions against certain Russian nationals, even though the Russian Foreign Minister had recommended that they do so, as it is generally a sign of weakness to allow one of your adversaries to get a punch in like this without responding. In Putin's statement, he said he doesn't want to "Stoop to Obama's level". That sounds like he is following the same advice that our mothers used to give many of us as children. This is a smart move by Putin which very likely will be reciprocated by Donald Trump in three weeks when he takes office. In fact, would it surprise anyone to discover that Trump had called Putin in order to coordinate the handling of this matter? Let's remember, while hacking is bad for everyone, right now it is an international free-for-all, with literally every major spy agency out hacking each other pretty much daily with wild abandon. So this is something that has been going on for years, not only by the Russians against us, but by us against the Russians, and positively everyone knows it. However, there is precisely zero evidence that the Russians hacked our actual election, which Obama has himself confirmed several times. It was not until Hillary Clinton lost the election that Obama became alarmed about this, and that is what this action is truly about. That and trying to undermine Trump by sabbotaging his and our relationship with the Russians. So Vladimir Putin has seized the high ground and our petulant child president appears to be even more of a self-absorbed, irresponsible, sniveling punk than he did yesterday, if that were possible. The good news is, while the Russians are still our adversaries, it appears that a more thoughtful and responsible chapter in the relationship between our two countries will likely begin in 22 days.
Wow, mojoman's bromance with Putin has gone to the next level. Bet he wishes it was him, not Trump, riding off into the sunset...
This is good news for the United States, whether you Obamabots like it or not. Do you really want us to have a meltdown with Russia during Obama's last few weeks in office? Do you want to see our diplomats expelled from Russia? I don't. But Obama does want it, so apparently you Obamabots want it too, even though this clearly is not in the best interests of our country. If our president and the Congress want to formulate a better cyber-security policy designed in large part to combat hacking, then great. However, since our intelligence agencies are as active in hacking other countries as they are in hacking us, and that is not going to stop, that is going to have to focus on securing our data better. That is not very glamorous, but it is very largely the answer to this problem, especially for us. Since this type of behavior is ubiquitous, how is it that this problem is so widespread and yet Obama is only concerned about the hacking of the DNC? Because this is just another self-serving political play by Obama and an indulgence of his own irresponsible, narcissistic vanity. Fortunately for everyone, Obama has just 22 days left in office and it appears that cooler heads are going to prevail.
It's hilarious that you guys think Obama is overreacting to save face, and this is all a Democratic temper tantrum when half of the Republicans in the House and Senate are calling out Obama for being too soft on the Russians, and are lining up to be the one to take credit for doing more. I guess Lindsay Graham and John McCain are Democratic Party stooges now? I guess the Cult of Trump now supercedes the Republican Party for most of you? I swear, some of you are so consumed with being anti-Democrat that if Obama made a big deal of keeping babies alive, you guys would all suddenly be pro-baby murder.
Putin said he was already looking ahead to the incoming Trump administration -- but he vowed that Moscow would stand firm. "Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible 'kitchen' diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration," he said in a statement. The Russian president also described the White House actions as "unfriendly," and suggested he would take the high road. "We will not expel anyone. We will not prevent their families and children from using their traditional leisure sites during the New Year's holidays. Moreover, I invite all children of US diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children's parties in the Kremlin." http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/1...er-us-kicks-out-russian-intel-operatives.html
Haha Putin is trolling Obama so hard. Very clever move on Putin's part. He knows these sissy slaps about pulling diplomats don't mean anything, and that Obama is trying to save face and act tough, yet he doesn't have any power as a lame duck president. Russian aides called Obama angry and shallow-brained. Sounds about right to me. Clinton and Obama completely shat the bed with their approach to Russia - they accomplished nothing! Total failure.
