The Republican-led Senate voted decisively to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election by approving a wide-ranging sanctions package that targets key sectors of Russia's economy and individuals who carried out cyber attacks.
Senators on Wednesday passed the bipartisan sanctions legislation 97-2, underscoring broad support among Republicans and Democrats for rebuking Russia after U.S. intelligence agencies determined Moscow had deliberately interfered in the presidential campaign. Lawmakers who backed the measure also cited Russia's aggression in Syria and Ukraine.
Source: USNews.com
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Senate Approves Sanctions Bill to Punish Russia for Meddling
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 61 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
(1)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:01AM (29 children)
As far as actual facts go, the people of the US voted Trump in and they are the ones who should be punished for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:05AM (13 children)
Alright, you don't like Americans. You especially don't like Americans who disagree with you. We get that. Now - do you have ANYTHING to contribute to the discussion? No? Oh well - you do have the right to babble meaninglessly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:28AM (12 children)
Maybe we should punish people from Norway or Australia or some other random country? Apparently the mind of your average American is so weak that it can be swayed by... postings on the internet? ...infomercials? ...alternate facts? Come on! The people of the USA got exactly what the majority of them wanted. No use crying about it and no use trying to pin it on those evil Commies or evil Chinese or whoever the bogey man is this week.
(Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:04AM (9 children)
Unless you believe that nearly 1/3rd of all illegal aliens in the U.S voted for HRC, the MINORITY got what it wanted; Trump in office.
It's difficult to blame U.S citizens when the political process is broken, and abominations like the Electoral College exist. There are only 538 votes for President in the U.S. in the first place.
The American people voted for Hillary if you care to be factual about it.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:24AM (7 children)
Seems that did happen in Virginia. [nationalreview.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:35AM (6 children)
Ohh, fuck you.
There has been ZERO evidence of wide spread voter fraud. One or two incidents doesn't get you to the 2.5 million required for Trump to have won the popular vote. Every single time they spend millions looking, they come away with maybe one example out of literally millions and millions of votes in elections where it didn't come down to a single vote to make a difference.
WHere's the fucking evidence that millions of illegals voted? That's right, there isn't any. Otherwise you would've linked to a Congressional report about it, and you damned well fucking know there would be one. If they can investigate Hillary EIGHT FUCKING TIMES to the tune of millions of dollars, they can investigate voter fraud.
You know why a full blown investigation almost never happens, or isn't reported on? They all show that voter fraud isn't something that is widespread. If there were any evidence, it would be on Fox News (aka White Nationalist Training Network) 24/7 with Fucker Carlson ranting like a raving loon about it. Republicans would use it as ammo against the illegals and Democrats, not that they need much more.
You're full of fucking shit and divested from the facts, but by all means, keep pushing that myth out. Just what conspiracy was it that made 1 million people disappear from Trump's inauguration? Did the illegals come and kidnap people to prevent them from getting there? The amount of evidence is zero.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:37AM (2 children)
Wasn't there video evidence with a top level DNC staffer admitting to conspiring to enable voter fraud? Oh... that doesn't count though, because, reasons! *plugs ears* NO EVIDENCE!!!
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:10AM
That is evidence of an attempt, not a success. Subtle difference perhaps. If they was a success, this man would be in jail awaiting trial and we would be talking more about it.
There has been ZERO EVIDENCE of any widespread success in voter manipulation, until you include gerrymandering, and that is mostly a Republican behavior (they're better at it). Again, where is the fucking evidence? Oh right! It doesn't exist, and not because Republicans haven't tried to find/manufacture it :)
A campaign staffer for HRC turned out to be corrupt. I'm shocked I tell you, just fucking shocked. Next you'll trying telling me that the head of the DNC conspired against a DNC Presidential candidate..... Which interestingly enough, is the only evidence out there. That HRC conspired against Bernie Sanders and DID alter the course of the election through corruption.
Still no evidence of millions of illegals voting in our election....... I'm waiting........
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:27AM
It is just a rumor without evidence. It is a violation of privacy, violation of the civil rights of illegals to vote, whatever it takes to ensure there is never a full investigation that might produce evidence. This is all entirely coincidental. Nothing to see here, move along.
It is illegal for elections officials to ask for proof of immigration status, citizenship or even residency in several cities/states when registering to vote, it is unconstitutional (SCOTUS sez!) to demand ID to vote, it is even a civil rights issue to demand the voter rolls be purged of dead people. Cross checking between States to catch snowbirds voting in both NY and FL? Oh Hell no! Despite this, despite that these same areas often have as much as half their population ineligible to vote, anyone who believes there is even a smidgen of illegal voting is a conspiracy theorist and a menace to the Republic more dangerous than ISIS. Meanwhile the same thrice damned nanny state Democrats have no problems passing laws thats says a literal UNIX Greybeard like myself has to show photo ID to buy a can of spray paint at Walmart. Somebody explain those priorities.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:41AM
You seem angry, I just pointed out that they did find around 1/3rd of illegal immigrants in a number of Virginia districts had cast ballots. Don't you think the sanctity and security of electoral systems matter?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:45PM
Another thing worth thinking about: Illegal immigrants aren't stupid, and the very last thing they want is to interact with the government. They know full well that every single time they do they risk deportation, even if the government agency in question swears up and down they won't alert ICE.
Besides, if I were a political machine trying to cast fraudulent votes, I'd simply forge absentee ballots, using knowledge of who is unlikely to vote. It's much easier and safer.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @04:51PM
Zero evidence never stopped a good witch hunt. e.g. Meuller-Comey.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:51AM
This weeks bogey man: illegal aliens. Next up, seniors followed by millenniums and then "people that don't believe in the same sky daddy that I do".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:38AM (1 child)
Hahaha, and boy, ARE they going to get exactly what they wanted!
Wringing one's hands about the electoral college won't fix it either. The system worked as it was intended. It was designed so that the country couldn't be overruled by the cities.
I voted for HRC, but now that I'm over being frightened by Darth Sessions, I'm hoping it'll be bad, just for the schadenfreude.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:04PM
You can only hope a fucking ton of Trump voters get sick and fucked over by their choices in the next 3.5 years. We can call it lessons in personal responsibility if it makes it more palatable. Even better would be if the liberal States withhold federal payments... yeah, that $4B sink is a rrrreal hole in the budget. Let's negotiate a better deal where those States most in the basket-case category don't end up with 4x the voting power per capita due to their failure to attract anyone to live there.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:13AM (14 children)
FWIW, I didn't vote Trump in. I voted HRC out. The choice sucked ass, I did the best I could.
Not regretting my vote at all, even though Trump is turning out to be worse than anyone ever thought he would be.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:32AM
> Trump is turning out to be worse than anyone ever thought he would be
Not really.
What makes it worse is the majority of both houses.
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:41AM (12 children)
I gotta tell you, I kinda disagree. Trump is not nearly as bad as I expected.
No, no... I didn't vote for him. I don't even really hate him. Then again, I don't really hate anyone.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2, Disagree) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:15AM (11 children)
Sounds like you are so fucking high all the time you can't be bothered to hate anything (which is not entirely a detraction). Trump is worse than anyone could've imagined, including Trump.
What part about the complete fucking clusterfuck Trump is orchestrating right now *doesn't* bother you? I find that astounding, and unless your a raving deplorable like JM, there is nothing to celebrate right now. There are no winners, only losers. All of the "good" things Trump talked about, have never been realized and shown to be campaign lies. There is NOTHING good happening for the American Worker, at all. Even Trump supporters are up in arms, especially those that will have their health care taken away permanently. It was a 66 year old that attacked Congress today, and I predict it will be somebody older than Trump that attempts to assassinate him, precisely because he is allowing the Republicans to destroy Social Security and Medcaid. If you think I'm wrong, try attending a town hall meeting for any Republican right now. It's so bad, they don't even bother going at all. Democrats are trying to adopt Republican town halls for that reason.
Like Snotnose, I almost voted against HRC by voting for Trump. The ONLY reason why is because I expected him to be about this bad, and if the entire country burned, well, at least something could rise from the ashes. Then I listened to that irredeemable fucker and he showed him just how fucking unstable he really is. In the end, I voted for HRC even though I couldn't stand the corrupt cunt. That's how fucking bad Trump is; I voted for HRC.
Do you know the difference between Trump and Little Kimmie? Serious question. I don't.
There's bad, and there is fucking catastrophic. We're in the latter.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:24AM
Well, we're learning the president can't fire the special prosecutor in charge of prosecuting him without congress hiring said special prosecutor to investigate him. And this time Trump can't fire the dude.
We're actually learning how stable this government is. We have an irrational, unstable, egocentric dumbfuck in charge of our nukes. I bought popcorn this week, how about you?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 3, Touché) by KGIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:31AM (8 children)
Oh, wow... I don't think we're gonna have a productive conversation on this subject. I really don't.
I will say, to ensure clarity, I am not a Trump voter. No, no... I'm on the crazy left side of the spectrum.
I will try to show you why we can't have a productive conversation. Ready? You just told me that you can't tell the difference between the dictator of North Korea and the president of the United States.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:45AM (4 children)
You too huh? Does anybody else remember really, really hating Ann Coulter when Bush was in office? [anncoulter.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by KGIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:25AM (3 children)
I have stood guard while children risked death, just to get food aid from the UN.
I have been in Somalia, while enlisted and as a civilian. The second time was for the same reason, to help.
I have met actual armed members of the now defunct FARQ.
I have changed the diaper on a child who had no chance of surviving.
I have been to Rawanda, as a civilian. Again, I handed out food, toiletries, and tried to give them hope.
I can go on. It's a pretty big list of places that are horrible, and worse than the US is ever likely to be.
In all those places, in all that horror, in all that struggle, you got sincere smiles. That's not even the important part. The important part is that they still sang songs, danced, played music, and retained both dignity and resistance. In all those experiences, I never even really hated anyone.
A snippet of lyrics...
When I was over there, I thought lord what am I doing here?
Trying to kill somebody or die tryin'.
But the thing that scare me most is when my enemy came close,
I could see that his face looked just like mine.
Life is too short and precious to hate. Hate is a very, very powerful emotion. I suspect it's biased because of the people that I tend to communicate with, but I see more hate from the Left than I see from the Right.
It used to be that at least on party paid lip service to being better than the other side. Yet, here we are. Here we are with people advocating death. Here we are with people making unreasoned choices. This thread is a fine example.
And no, I am not non-violent. I don't believe we will ever have peace.
Marginally related, I sometimes wonder what I'd do if it reached the point of civil war. On one hand, I spent eight years as a Marine and I feel kinda obligated to help. At the same time, I have ample resources, citizenship of two countries, and can take care of my loved ones in perpetuity. And, frankly, I'm no longer certain that the majority citizens are worth risking my life. I am not that altruistic, but this thread is one of the better threads to demonstrate why I am as certain as I once was.
Sorry for the novella, but it just doesn't fit well on a bumper sticker.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @04:33AM (2 children)
I found this interesting, informative, and insightful, and so I figured an anonymous reply would do your post more justice than a single-point mod....
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:28PM (1 child)
I'm not in it for mod points. ;-)
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:09PM
You are totally self-absorbed tho. You should get something to do with yourself, keep busy, stave off dementia etc.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:04AM (2 children)
I can't tell the difference in how they behave, or their mental stability. Not to mention, Trump is fond of dictators. Lemme see.... oh yeah... Trump has talked and joked about killing/imprisoning the press.
I could go on, but yes, there are striking similarities between Trump and Little Kimmie. The major difference? Both are dictators, but one is facing a hell of a lot of checks and balances, and is unable to rule like a dictator. The major similarity? They both whip up hate and fear to better control the populace.
Perhaps you don't want to acknowledge the similarities between them, but they do exist. They're very similar sociopaths, just operating in different environments.
I doubt that. You can't be on the "crazy left" and be okay with President Dumbass and what they're doing. You would be more frothing mad than I already am, and I'm more of a centrist and right leaning than YOU are. Yet you are mostly okay with what he is doing, so you are lying about being on the left. You sound like a centrist that doesn't want to be associated with the right.
We do agree on something. I doubt it will be a productive conversation if what Trump is doing now doesn't bother you. I guess we would need actual murdered babies and concentration camps being set up next door before you become bothered enough huh?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by KGIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:36AM
You're not actually all that good at reading comprehension.
At no point did I say I didn't mind it. I said that he wasn't as bad as I expected him to be. I also said that I don't hate him.
If you can't be intellectually honest with yourself, you sure as hell won't be honest with me.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:28AM
You can't expect everyone to have the same level of emotional reaction. Trump is terrible and the GOP is green lighting some of the worst stuff because trump is dumb enough to go along. However, this is nothing new. Rights eroding, public services defended, par for the course really. KGIII has a very good point, life is too short for hatred. Get mad, but let it go and move forward rationally.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @04:57PM
Tell me again what's catastrophic about improved economic growth, the beginnings of renewed real earnings growth, lower unemployment, increased workforce participation, and lower illegal immigration?
It's still the economy, stupid.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:03AM (6 children)
Do as I say, not as I do.
It would be interesting to learn how many elections around the world the US has NOT meddled in.
Bipartisan support, eh? That is also interesting. I thought the R's were denying everything. So, now everyone admits that Russia was involved in our elections, except for the Trump administration. Next questions are, just how far did their meddling go, and, how much did it influence the election?
IMO, the Russians probably influenced the elections less than James Comey did.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:14AM (4 children)
It all feels like one big setup. The executive branch has consolidated more and more power, will Trump be the Duterte and Erdogan of the US? Will the citizens let them get away with it? Or is it all really just a big giant shit show? Rhetorical questions, but feel free to discuss.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:20AM (2 children)
My opinion? Trump doesn't have the support to become dangerous. Nor does he have the smarts to be dangerous. At worst, he can muck up the machinery some, but he can't really damage it. I think Richard Nixon was a lot brighter than Trump, and he most definitely had more support than Trump. But, Tricky Dick couldn't get away with screwing up the machinery. Trump won't either.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Whoever on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:06AM
He doesn't have to be smart to be dangerous. Evidence: Quatar.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @10:31AM
"But, Tricky Dick couldn't get away with screwing up the machinery. Trump won't either."
Unfortunately there's been MANY decades between the two consisting of people throwing small wrenches into that machinery, causing a slow but clear degradation in it's performance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:45AM
This is the only one I'm confident about. The answer is "yes."
(Score: 2) by http on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:55AM
The State Department's preferred term is "political renovation".
I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:11AM (12 children)
You're gonna try and tell me we don't try to meddle in other country's elections? Quite frankly, I hope to hell we do. The Russians hacked the DNC servers? Really? They had to get in line, from what I've heard it wasn't that hard to do. I'm guessing there were a few dozen hacker/hacker groups around the world, including in the US, who did so.
HRC's email? Wouldn't take long to figure out she wasn't using a State Department addy, and even less time to figure out she had a second rate IT dude running a server in her bathroom. FBI doesn't have her deleted emails? Ask the Chinese for them. Or the Russkies. Or Anonymous. Or that pimply faced kid down the block that fixes your computer when you do something stupid.
Fact of life. Everyone hacks our electoral system. We hack everyone else's electoral system. Current state of cyber security sucks, not because it isn't possible, but because it's hard and few people care.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @12:25AM (3 children)
To reply to my own comment, was on the phone with a friend. He pointed out that if the payoff for being bad is high, and the chance of getting caught is low, and if caught the penalties don't matter, then bad behaviour will happen.
I should make that a sig somewhere, except I don't use sigs anymore.
/ See: HRC's email server while sec of state
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:36AM (2 children)
Hmm, is your 'friend' Scott Adams? Because his post today was on exactly that subject. That exact quote is in a pullquote box.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:53AM (1 child)
Dunno, not sure what websites he visits. But seeing the Scott Adam's website I'm all "um, err, I'm an idiot".
That said, I first heard the quote some 40 years ago. Then again, had George not said it I would have never made the connection.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:07AM
That is the magic of the Internet at work. Meme magic; Kek is smiling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:08AM
Those emails should have been available to the public anyway. Also, it was the choice of the American people how to respond to the contents of those emails; it wasn't Russia's fault just because they chose to respond in a particular way.
But at the same time, our security is terrible, and that's concerning in and of itself.
(Score: 2, Troll) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:24AM (6 children)
So the fuck what? It doesn't matter if theft is happening everywhere, you still seek justice!
We have an illegitimate President that won't release his tax returns, or do jack diddly shit to eliminate his MASSIVE MASSIVE conflicts of interest. He is not a lawful person, uses lawyers as weapons, and wipes his ass with the law. See for foreign emoluments law.
You CANT prove that we are NOT being run by Russia, and the position isn't tin-foil-hattery when you have somebody extremely high up in the intelligence community letting us know about it. That and Reality Winner (my new hero) flat fucking proved there was meddling in our election to Trump's favor.
I understand you voted for the dumb fucker, and I can't be mad since it was a vote against HRC, but you don't need to overreach and try to justify his existence, or normalize and hand waive the Russian interference away. It matters, we need sanctions against Russia, and we need to KNOW that our President isn't fundamentally compromised.
Even many high level Republicans feel the same way, but won't speak about it because they are more interested in supporting party politics than they are in supporting their country. Maybe once the Republicans pass enough shitty fucking abhorrent laws to remove all accountability from the Elites they will turn on Trump and dump his gone-full-retard fat ass.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by qzm on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:32AM (1 child)
Lolz.
Come on little guy, I am sure there is still a toy somewhere in your cot you have not thrown out because mummy told you its time to move up the big big boy bottle for your feed..
As far as I can see (from, thank god, not america) HE IS SIMPLY CARRYING ON THE PROUD TRADITION OF THE US PRESIDENCY.
Doesnt actually look that different from the last guy, or the last ten, from outside you know..
Well, I will admit, there is one difference - we are actually getting more porting on what Trump does, and he is much more open about it.
So, I guess thats an improvement right? Seems almost like transparency..
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by edIII on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:21AM
Yeah, you can go fuck yourself with the childish character attacks. There was literally nothing in your response to me of substance.
All that matters is that high level people in our intelligence community have informed of us that it has happened, a leak of top secret material has confirmed it, and that there are ongoing investigations into many of the members of Trump's campaign because of the Russian interference.
Do you have anything useful to say? Any retort with facts? Then fuck off and die you little bitch.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snotnose on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:37AM (2 children)
Actually, I voted for Gary Johnson. I couldn't stomach either HRC nor Trump, even though Gary had 0% chance of winning.
We are not being run by Russia. Russia can barely run their own country, let alone some shitstain like Mexico. Or the US. We are being run by the nutjobs on the right, and the nutjobs on the left, whomever has the most power in their kitty litter box. The middle, which is most of us? We've been ignored.
Trump is a disgrace. HRC would have been worse. The DNC and DWS fed us a pair of shitty candidates and we had to choose. We chose. We lost either way.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Thursday June 15 2017, @07:33AM
Bingo. And the reason behind it? Because the middle is emotional, egotistical and lacks conviction. It has the biggest number, but it is always looking for someone to give power. And it has no regard for who is using that power, even though it is a mathematical certainty that all power is always used by the extremists. Left turns a blind eye towards legitimate issues on the right, and right turns a blind eye towards legitimate issues on the left.
In the end, the middle is not like each other. It is divided, and the division becomes visible by focusing on the extremists. That is why media is always blind towards a common man's issues. Because common man's issues don't throw any light on their difference.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:02PM
You, sir, win the internets today. Well done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:16AM
And? Many things can't be proven to be false, but that doesn't make them true.
Since when is the intelligence community remotely trustworthy, especially to people on a site like SoylentNews? We know how often they lie, and they hide behind "national security" excuses most of the time when they're asked to present actual evidence (as opposed to just making claims).
What kind of meddling? That part is important. From what I see, they may have leaked emails which should have been public anyway to Wikileaks, and then the public reacted to those real emails. Lack of security is a valid concern, but other than that, that is a really mild form of meddling even assuming it happened that way, and the choice was still left to the voters.
There are better arguments against Trump, like pretty much anything else other than this Russia nonsense. I see no evidence of direct collusion yet, but looking into it is still a good thing. The foreign emoluments law is a real issue, though.
I also feel that it's difficult to say anything that even gives the appearance of defending Trump without partisan retards assuming I'm a Trump supporter even though I didn't vote for him and I despise him. We need effective opposition mostly based on policy, not corporate partisan hacks screaming about Russia 24/7.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:18AM (1 child)
This legislation won't go anywhere. If the House passes it it will get vetoed, and Congress won't have the spine to override a veto.
(Score: 2) by WalksOnDirt on Thursday June 15 2017, @01:50AM
The bill was passed with an easily veto proof majority. If Donald was a strong leader he might be able to shift the sentiment into his favor, but I don't think he is enough of a leader to accomplish that.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:02AM (2 children)
If we want to sanction Russia for Crimea / Ukraine that is one thing, of course we already did that. But this Russia! Russia! Russia! nonsense is getting out of hand.
Can someone explain in an elevator speech what Russia is actually accused of doing? Something serious?
Because best I can figure out the charge boils down to willful practice of journalism without a license. That is illegal now? And all of the available evidence points to the DNC email being leaked by Seth Rich because he was a butthurt Bernie Bro. The HRC email is probably in the files of every intelligence agency in the world with a cyber unit (i.e. all of them) since it was a sitting duck. Since most also hack / spy on each other they likely have multiple copies obtained through multiple paths and compare them for differences. The NSA being (hopefully) best at this they probably have a dozen or more copies including the one they hacked themselves. Singling out and punishing Russia for that is borderline entrapment.
But more worrisome is the utter lack of evidence we are using to apply economic sanctions in an obvious effort to provoke a reaction from a country we know has thousands of fusion bombs and is already economically distressed. And it is really hard to discern a compelling reason to poke the bear like this.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Arik on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:12AM
To keep the population alarmed and distracted, of course. It's always the same reason.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:08PM
Pretty much. Lacking anything bad to say about the economy, the political/media establishment is stuck with a playbook that consists of "All Russia, All The Time!" Boring.
(Score: 4, Touché) by inertnet on Thursday June 15 2017, @08:02AM
before punishing others of alleged meddling.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by quietus on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:25PM (3 children)
The sanctions gonna hit European companies too -- and especially one key project, the Nordstream-2 gas pipeline.
As a common statement by the German and Austrian governments put it (German) [tagesschau.de], this amendment brings a
The Nordstream-2 gas pipeline would reduce reliance on the existing transport line through Ukraine -- a US ally -- notes the Financial Times. Nordstream-2 would be a direct competitor to US exports of LNG to Europe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @06:29PM (2 children)
They already hate us, both for policy disagreements and basic big stick envy. So who gives a happy fuck? What exactly does Europe have to offer? Culture? Nope. All dead white guys, can't have that. Money? They're as beholden to the global banking system as everyone else. Friendship? Right, who needs friends like Germany? NATO? Obsolete tool of the military-industrial-neocon complex.
Again, fuck Europe.
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Thursday June 15 2017, @07:43PM (1 child)
How about, they're human beings capable of such things as friendship and collaboration on important matters in common such as climate change and anti-terrorism? Besides which, I'd like to be able to travel without having to pretend I'm Canadian to be treated nicely. We're a big country here in the US, but we could stand to be more neighborly - and more in the block party way than the Homeowner's Association. Have you forgotten that Big Money is the enemy of decent people in every country?
But by all means, play into the divide-and-conquer social stratification plan. It sounds like your excuses are in order for when you get swept up into the morass of meaninglessness and neglect along with the rest of us serfs. I'm sure those platitudes will be more soothing than anything all those "dead white guys" could come up with.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 16 2017, @12:42AM
Maybe if we could get the US to stop behaving like a bombastic bully, and the EU to stop being sanctimonious, arrogant twats we might make some progress. Unlikely in either case, but we can still dream, can't we?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @07:14PM
you can sanction yourselves for running interference for corporations instead of funding GNU/Linux security research and implementing more secure systems throughout Gov. The US has consistently squandered it's lead in IT and totally failed to educated the nation's children in regards to Free Software, programming, security, etc. Politicians have done nothing but shill for MS and apple and now Google. You are ignorant whores.