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posted by martyb on Friday September 16 2016, @12:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the need-better-pipes? dept.

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37364189

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has reportedly called Republican nominee Donald Trump a "national disgrace," according to leaked emails. The Republican retired four-star general's comments were revealed in a hack on his personal emails. The emails were posted on DCLeaks.com, which has reportedly been tied to other recent high-profile hacks. Mr. Powell, who has been quiet during the election, said he had "no further comment" but was "not denying it".

[...] Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who crossed party lines in 2008 to endorse Democratic [candidate] Barack Obama, has tried to float above this year's tendentious presidential election. So much for that. First the government released his note to Democrat Hillary Clinton advising her on how to use personal email for back-channel communications while secretary of state. Now - in an ironic twist - his personal email has been hacked, revealing sweeping denunciations of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and some sharp criticisms of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

[...] "Yup, the whole birther movement was racist," the email read. "That's what the 99% believe. When Trump couldn't keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim." But the leaked emails also revealed Mr Powell's frustrations with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her handling of her use of private email while at the State Department. "Sad thing... HRC could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it," the email read, referring to Mrs Clinton. "I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton's party to get their attention."


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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday September 16 2016, @04:34PM

    by Bot (3902) on Friday September 16 2016, @04:34PM (#402859) Journal

    > Cablegate led to the Arab Spring.

    An ingredient. No leaks take governments down without some other organization pushing for it.

    Judging the tree from the fruits, the arab spring left it all open for ISIS to expand. A guy called Orsini made a book (ITA only I fear) "ISIS, the luckiest terrorist in the world, and all that has been done to help them."

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday September 16 2016, @08:51PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday September 16 2016, @08:51PM (#402933)

    An ingredient. No leaks take governments down without some other organization pushing for it.

    There were 4 organizations in Tunisia (where the whole Arab Spring thing got started) who were involved enough to take over after the initial protests created a vacuum of power. All 4 of them, to their credit, got together and decided they'd collectively support an effort to create real proper democracy and let the population decide what they wanted to do now.

    Sure, it takes some sort of political opposition to take down a government. But leaks are often enough to give that political opposition much more support and therefor much more power than they once had, and to cause those who support the government to at least question their choice to support the government, making the government weaker. So yes, the leaks themselves matter, quite a bit.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 16 2016, @11:01PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 16 2016, @11:01PM (#402975) Journal
    Similarly, the Marxists benefited from the corresponding European Spring of 1848. But it still was a step forward in human freedom and progress.
    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday September 17 2016, @01:27PM

      by Bot (3902) on Saturday September 17 2016, @01:27PM (#403115) Journal

      Unless the current involution is part of the progress. Remember that a "revolution" implies the return to the initial state, so those who called the shift in power "revolution" might be playing an inside joke on you. This is a theory but not mere speculation: big changes in the last decades (russia and china going capitalist, usa going china and saudi lapdog) did not profoundly affect the system of power already in charge.

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      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 17 2016, @02:22PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday September 17 2016, @02:22PM (#403131) Journal

        Unless the current involution is part of the progress. Remember that a "revolution" implies the return to the initial state, so those who called the shift in power "revolution" might be playing an inside joke on you.

        No, revolution doesn't imply that nor is anyone's claim about revolution relevant to my observation. The 1848 revolutions were a period of widespread turmoil in Europe very similar to the recent Arab Spring with similar authoritarian governments overthrown or weakened in a similar, spotty manner and the revolutions similarly experiencing mixed results with some anti-democratic ideologies gaining ground and a number of governments surviving the challenge.

        big changes in the last decades (russia and china going capitalist, usa going china and saudi lapdog) did not profoundly affect the system of power already in charge.

        I disagree. Big changes were big and the effects on the systems of power were as expected IMHO. For example, you neglect that China experienced a dramatic increase in power relative to both the US and the USSR which wouldn't have happened if they hadn't switched to a more capitalist approach. And humanity is experiencing a period of growing prosperity that has not been seen before in history.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 17 2016, @02:27PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday September 17 2016, @02:27PM (#403133) Journal
        Also, treating the Arab Spring as if it were only a boost to radical Islam is an injustice. A people developing the habit of overthrowing tyranny is a necessary precondition for democracy. ISIS wasn't the only benefactor. I believe human freedom will be as well though it may take some time.