Op Ed by Will Hurd, Republican, On Trump

[oxmixmudd]

Will Hurd is a Republican Senator for the state of Texas, and not one that is planning to retire. He is also a former CIA operative, so he both knows what he is talking about, and hails from a conservative position from one of the most conservative states in the Union:

Source: Bill Hurd

Over the course of my career as an undercover officer in the C.I.A., I saw Russian intelligence manipulate many people. I never thought I would see the day when an American president would be one of them.

The president’s failure to defend the United States intelligence community’s unanimous conclusions of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and condemn Russian covert counterinfluence campaigns and his standing idle on the world stage while a Russian dictator spouted lies confused many but should concern all Americans. By playing into Vladimir Putin’s hands, the leader of the free world actively participated in a Russian disinformation campaign that legitimized Russian denial and weakened the credibility of the United States to both our friends and foes abroad.

As a member of Congress, a coequal branch of government designed by our founders to provide checks and balances on the executive branch, I believe that lawmakers must fulfill our oversight duty as well as keep the American people informed of the current danger.

Somehow many Americans have forgotten that Russia is our adversary, not our ally, and the reasons for today’s tensions go back much farther than the 2016 election. For more than a decade, Russia has meddled in elections around the world, supported brutal dictators and invaded sovereign nations — all to the detriment of United States interests. Mitt Romney had it right in 2012 when he told President Barack Obama that Russia was “without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.”

Our intelligence community has concluded with high confidence that President Putin personally ordered his security services to undertake an influence campaign aimed at undermining confidence in American democracy to sow chaos in our electoral system. Russia’s efforts to hack political organizations and state election boards are well documented, as are the Russian disinformation campaigns on social media platforms.

© Copyright Original Source

he continues ...

Source: Bill Hurd

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I strongly believe in the importance of Congress’s oversight responsibilities and will work with my colleagues to ensure that the administration is taking the Russian threat seriously.

Without action, we risk losing further credibility in international negotiations with both our friends and foes on critical trade deals, military alliances and nuclear arms.

In this dangerous geopolitical environment, we must be both vigilant and strong in responding to foreign threats. The challenges posed by Russia are no different, and I hope the president shares my conviction that American strength, not weakness, is the best way to preserve a secure world in the face of adversaries like Russia.

© Copyright Original Source

Jim

[rogue06]

Niggling detail but...

Will Hurd is a Republican Senator for Representative from the state of Texas, and not one that is planning to retire

[oxmixmudd]

Niggling detail but...

Fair enough! My mistake. (And I do know the difference )

Jim

[Sparko]

Fair enough! My mistake. (And I do know the difference )

Jim

A pretty big difference!

One thing people might not be considering is that Trump is smarter than they think and is just playing friendly in public and to Putin's face to placate him, while having our spies work behind the scenes. What good does it do to just call Putin a liar to his face? It benefits us to keep diplomatic relations and dialogs going with Russia. Obama and Hillary did it. Bush 1 & 2 did it, every president does it.

[rogue06]

A pretty big difference!

One thing people might not be considering is that Trump is smarter than they think and is just playing friendly in public and to Putin's face to placate him, while having our spies work behind the scenes. What good does it do to just call Putin a liar to his face? It benefits us to keep diplomatic relations and dialogs going with Russia. Obama and Hillary did it. Bush 1 & 2 did it, every president does it.

As I noted in a previous thread

Trump has a history of playing kissy-face during joint press conferences with world leaders that he had just excoriated in private days before. His recent meeting with UK PM Theresa May is a recent example. According to stories leaked to the British media, Trump dressed her down when they met and the press was enraged with how he "disrespected" her but then in public he was all praise. It was something that CNN's Christiane Amanpour even made note of. He's totally a different person in private meetings than he is in public ones.

[Sparko]

He's totally a different person in private meetings than he is in public ones.

Breaking News! Trump has split personalities! We must impeach him them!

[rogue06]

Breaking News! Trump has split personalities! We must impeach him them!

One of the committees that I have organized the various voices in my head into are debating this right now.

[JimL]

A pretty big difference!

One thing people might not be considering is that Trump is smarter than they think and is just playing friendly in public and to Putin's face to placate him, while having our spies work behind the scenes.

Hmm, didn't you come up with that same excuse in defense off Obama's so called apology tour? Oh no, you didn't, did you? You're just trying to justify to yourself your support for the traitor Sparko.

[rogue06]

Hmm, didn't you come up with that same excuse in defense off Obama's so called apology tour? Oh no, you didn't, did you? You're just trying to justify to yourself your support for the traitor Sparko.

So Obama was really was working behind the scenes against the Japanese when he bowed as deeply as a servant would to their emperor?

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[Teallaura]

Breaking News! Trump has split personalities! We must impeach him them!

Zem. Get it right, you non-conformist.

[Starlight]

One thing people might not be considering is that Trump is smarter than they think and is just playing friendly in public and to Putin's face to placate him, while having our spies work behind the scenes.

Trump isn't playing 3-dimensional chess. He's a 3 year old drawing on the walls with crayons while Putin plays chess.

[Teallaura]

Hmm, didn't you come up with that same excuse in defense off Obama's so called apology tour? Oh no, you didn't, did you? You're just trying to justify to yourself your support for the traitor Sparko.

No, he didn't. And neither did you - no one argued this about Obama when he was president. As I recall, you argued that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

[rogue06]

No, he didn't. And neither did you - no one argued this about Obama when he was president. As I recall, you argued that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

First the White House and sycophantic MSM denied it was taking place only showing images from behind where it was hard to see the bowing but images from the foreign press started circulating showing the deep bows.

Then we were told he was only bending down to eye level of those foreign leaders but not only the pictures revealed that was false but some of them like the Saudi king was nearly as tall as he was. Moreover, the only leader he didn't bow before was Queen Elizabeth -- the shortest of those he met.

Only then did we get told that it was okay to bow like he did.

[Mountain Man]

Hmm, didn't you come up with that same excuse in defense off Obama's so called apology tour? Oh no, you didn't, did you? You're just trying to justify to yourself your support for the traitor Sparko.

The difference, of course, is that Obama's foreign policy was just as spineless and subservient as his public front. Trump plays soft in public but is tough as nails in private. But then there are idiots like you who think Trump should have damaged our relations with Russia by publicly humiliating Putin.

[One Bad Pig]

One thing people might not be considering is that Trump is smarter than they think....

Quick, name the last Republican president people thought was smart....