Russiagate 2.0: Biden Flop Edition

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 5:15pm

Question: How do you know that the Biden campaign is in trouble?
Answer: when you see headlines like this.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are assessing whether Russia is trying to undermine Joe Biden in its ongoing disinformation efforts with the former vice president still the front-runner in the race to challenge President Donald Trump, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The probe comes as senior U.S. officials are warning that Russia’s election interference in 2020 could be more brazen than in the 2016 presidential race or the 2018 midterm election.

Part of the inquiry is to determine whether Russia is trying to weaken Biden by promoting controversy over his past involvement in U.S. policy toward Ukraine while his son worked for an energy company there.

Allow me to translate:
Random U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, and senior U.S. officials, none of whom seem to have any names or titles, are warning that Russia could be meddling in our elections by spreading 100% true "disinformation" designed to hurt a bought-and-paid-for establishment candidate who is running a laughably awful campaign.

A Kremlin strategy to undermine Biden would echo its work in 2016, when American intelligence agencies found that Russia carried out a sophisticated operation to damage Democrat Hillary Clinton and ultimately help Trump, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive matter.

This "sophisticated operation" included $100,000 of puppy memes on Facebook and poorly worded ads regarding masturbation problems.
Worst of all, RT gave a forum for 3rd party candidates to speak, which gave our democracy a faint whiff of legitimacy (i.e. this is bad).

It isn’t clear how far along intelligence and law enforcement officials are in probing a possible Russian disinformation drive against Biden and how formal the effort is. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.
“Vladimir Putin has interfered in our elections before and it’s no surprise he’s doing so again to prop up President Trump,” said Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates.

Translation: Our campaign is sinking fast, so we are throwing around blame as fast as we can. Look over there! He's to blame!

Tags:

Biden

russiagate

Vote

Comments

Submitted by Shahryar on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 5:29pm

yes, and I've been reading that Warren's decline is "sexism"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elizabeth-warren-fans-blame-sexism-for-her...

Submitted by edg on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 5:47pm

But Tom Steyer is rising!!

Tom Steyer must be working with Putin to undermine Biden and throw the election to Trump!! He's now supposedly in 2nd place in South Carolina and Nevada. I just wish he'd come up with a new commercial. I'm getting tired of seeing the same old thing 10 or 15 times every evening.

Submitted by Wally on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 6:39pm

Steyer explained

@edg

Looks like some folks (Clintons Inc.?) are working very hard to assure a brokered convention:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud8V6hwWzl8&t=0s]

BTW, edg, your snark post in another thread about the purported imminent threat Soleimani posed was sooooo spot on. Kudos.

Submitted by edg on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 10:51pm

Thanks! n/t

@Wally

Submitted by dervish on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 7:50pm

Check out these campaign media buys

@edg Steyer and Bloomberg are trying desperately to buy this thing.

https://youtu.be/V5UVamcVU_o

—

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by Wally on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 8:05pm

But maybe not for themselves

@dervish

I think they are trying to ensure a brokered convention.

I'd add Buttigieg, too, coz he's getting financed by an amalgam of moneybags.

Hopefully, they will just take away votes from Biden and Warren and ensure that Bernie gets 51% of the delegates on the first round.

There's an important discussion going on at WotB on the prospect of a brokered convention:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/emwss9/blast_from_the_pas...

Submitted by dervish on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 8:40pm

Absolutely,

@Wally That's the game.

—

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by Johnny Q on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 7:53pm

I thought that was Trump himself

at least that's what they're impeaching him on.

—

They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
And leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret-- A. Moore

Submitted by doh1304 on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 8:58pm

Let's look at this logically

What is Russia trying to do? (if they're trying anything)
1, trying to help Trump by attacking Biden. But why? Biden is the best opponent for Trump. He's a corrupt neolib. His nomination would be 2016 all over again. But actually a sufficiently wounded Biden would give the nomination to Bernie, the worst possible opponent for Trump.
2, Attacking Biden to aid Bernie. This runs counter to the narrative - it makes sense only if you assume Russia's interest is altruistic.
3, exposing Biden to force the Democrats to openly cheat for him, (or some other corruptocrat) thus dealing a death blow to the American democracy. And move the doomsday clock to 11:59:59? yeah sure, that makes perfect sense.

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by Bisbonian on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 10:29pm

All very true,

@doh1304 , but the sheep will believe it, anyway. Bleating, "Russia, Russia, Russia!"

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 7:08am

Agreed 100%

@doh1304 especially point #1. If one looks at the reality of the situation for a minute, it makes no sense.

However, if this is a disinformation attempt to make it look like Russia is afraid of Biden, therefore Trump is too because Russia = Trump, who knows?

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by MrWebster on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 2:50pm

The article is like every charge regardless of logic.

@doh1304 The assumption in these propaganda articles is that Putin wants Trump because Trump gives Putin whatever the Russian wants. Apparently, Putin wanted Trump to go to war with his allies, stop Nord Stream 2, and refuse to take troops out of Syria and Iraq. Also, apparently Putin ordered Trump to demand defense buget increases among NATO allies aimed directly at Russia. On the troops, Bernie is talking like he would take troops out of Syri, Iraq, and Afganistan.

Submitted by Hawkfish on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 6:19pm

You are assuming

@doh1304

That option 2 would occur to people being subjected to the #BernieBlackout

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by lotlizard on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 4:39am

At c99, it’s easy for me to forget how many Dems hate Bernie

So reading this Twitter thread — by a former member of the Hillary campaign’s inner circle, acknowledging Bernie is leading in a key Iowa poll — was an eye-opening reminder:

https://twitter.com/jmpalmieri/status/1215821379460747264

Apparently many Democrats weighing in are still dead certain that helping Bernie amounts to helping Trump.

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 7:27am

Those comments...

@lotlizard so much concern about scaring off the unicorns...err I mean “swing” voters who gave HER the middle digit in 2016. Absolutely clueless.

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by Wally on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 7:55am

I bet 3/4 of those comments were from Brockbot shills

@lotlizard

Shills meaning paid by Brock or otherwise rewarded via his poisonous spider web of influences. And the other 25% are wannabes.

All responding to his talking point memos.

Brockbots are not that many Democrats. Only a small well-off noisy faction scared shitless for their jobs by the prospect of Bernie looking like he's gonna be the sheriff at High Noon.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 11:27am

"romanticizing bloody brutal murderous socialist dictators,"

@lotlizard
What is that person talking about?

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by Shahryar on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 4:56pm

these people don't seem to realize Hills already lost to Trump

@The Voice In the Wilderness

oh no! (they cry) if Bernie's the nominee I won't vote for him and Trump will win!

it's so illogical you know if you sat them down and explained the errors they wouldn't get it.

Submitted by tle on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 8:20am

"Russia targeting Biden" translation:

Any other candidate speaking truth about Biden is a Russian plant!

I'm still struck by the depth and persistence of the Russia! psychosis.

Submitted by The Wizard on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 9:07am

Highly unlikely that Russia interferes

In the 2016 election Clinton was favored to win, by a significant margin. Why would Russia want to piss-off the new US President? There has been no evidence what so ever presented to the American people of Russian interference. The line is - just believe our intelligence agencies, and even one of them, the NSA, found the evidence not solid.

If Russia had interfered they would have been totally justified. The US singlehandedly got Yeltsin re-elected, a drunk, megalomaniac, who fantasized that he was an equal partner with Bill Clinton. As it turned out Yeltsin destroyed Russia, leaving her starving and destitute and a few oligarchs off-shoring the wealth of the Soviet people. The US stood by, offered no real help and cheered the destruction of an ally in WWII who lost 27,000,000 people defeating Hitler (US deaths in the European theater were a little more than 1% of that).

Again you have to ask the question - what should Russia's strategy be in influencing the US election. I don't see any at all. Who should they support and how? There are no good answers and I seriously doubt that Russia has put any effeort into this in 2016 and 2020.

—

Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

Submitted by Shahryar on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 7:16pm

Hillary did win the "election" by the expected margin

@The Wizard

She just chose to attend fundraisers instead of campaign rallies, in states she was already sure to win so her margin in those states was larger than it needed to be. Meanwhile, as you know, her no-show in Wisconsin and Michigan cost her votes there.

It was just a matter of allocation. She got just about what was predicted. Her hubris cost her.

As you say, Russia had nothing to do with it.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 10:05am

Can anyone spot the flaw in this?

Some Democrats alarmed at impending all-white debate

Only white candidates have qualified for next week's Democratic presidential debate, the first time in this election cycle that no minority contender will make the stage. It's a dynamic that critics say threatens to undercut the party's rhetoric of inclusivity.

Now the specter of an all-white debate in the mostly white state of Iowa is prompting concern among party activists.

He also noted that Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is black, would have qualified for the debate in December and probably January as well. She dropped out of the race early last month amid flagging fundraising

(um if she was having problems amid flagging fundraising back then then why would anyone think that she would be doing better now? But this aint the flaw)

But the absence of nonwhite candidates can limit the discussion of issues that are important to minorities.

okay give it your best shot.

Submitted by MrWebster on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 2:26pm

State sponsored social disruption

A buddy is letting me use his NetFlix account. Started watching a series called Messiah. I have not finished but the main heroine CIA agent believes that the mysterious Messiah is a Russian assest causing "state sponsored social disruption".

I am not sure where the Messiah is going, but interesting that the CIA is going after what appears to be a social/political movement. The Messiah figure has not committed any crime nor urged anybody to violence. But he obviously from the point of view of the government is doing subversive stuff.

Submitted by ppnortney on Sat, 01/11/2020 - 6:13pm