I think it’s more nefarious than that. Because without the lab leak distraction, the story about it being a natural spill over from a wet market SHOULD be a big stain on China’s reputation. I think it was after the initial SARS outbreak under Bush that the world community viewed these as a global health risk and china committed to eradicating them.
So, if you were simply after an anti-china angle, simply following the evidence gave it to you. This angle was far more a case of position Trump as a victim to excuse the fact that it happened on his watch (itself an absurd thing to feel you need to defend) but more importantly his complete lack of meaningful response to it.
For the rabid right, the lab leak story, with it’s echoes of Hollywood spy thriller evil foreign scientists, is far more compelling than a lack of hygiene at a grubby meat market.
True. It also has the added element of how “they” are trying to fuck with us, with the “they” also being part of our own government (that Trump is the head of, but we have to forget that). But my point was if you were solely after an anti china attack, the world closing down and the economy crashing because they wouldnt get rid of the wet markets as they promised, is a pretty big one. In fact, one of the worst lessons of this whole thing is maybe that China have somehow managed the sweep that under the rug
This really is a must read to understand what this new comment from the DoE says about the validity of lab leak theory proponents say actually happened
TLDR - there is no single lab leak theory. Instead there are a collection of different claims that fall under the general lab leak explanation, but whose core elements contradict each other in way that they cannot be combined into a unified theory. Critically proponents ignore that find themeselves, likely unknowingly, treating revelations that reject their personally supported claim as validation of it because “lab leak”
Essentially, the DoE’s new position is not that big. But if we assume it reflects reality then it actually rejects the majority of the claims that lab leak proponents make. Despite superficially seemingly seeming to agree with the FBI’s position (the only other government agency leaning to lab leak), it actually disagrees with it…they have 2 different mutually exclusive explanations based in different labs in different parts of the city. So, why is this still in the US Politics thread? Because it exemplifies pretty much all contemporary political discourse. See “Hunter’s laptop was real”.
I can’t believe he isn’t dead and buried by now, if not literally, then at least politically.
He has a great chance of winning the Republican nomination, and while Biden beat him last time, who knows what will happen if they fight it out for the Presidency again?
The whole system has been doctored, and if he gets in again, the attempted coup will seem quaint. He is a quick learner and will double down on protecting his power. He will double down on protecting and growing his wealth, via the Presidency.
Hopefully there will be legal jeopardy that will disqualify him, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
There’s no good and evil anymore, if there ever was, it’s now just mad, madder and crazy. We have had some fools, quite a few on here if I believe what I read, and some very sick, in the head and medically, however I think now the world is in a very mad, and maddening, place. I just can not stop laughing!
People need to realise that the foremost reason that Trump decided to run again , and did so unusually early , was in the belief that his candidacy would lessen the likelihood of him being indicted. The lacklustre campaign to date has not been typical of a serious presidential campaign but it has had the effect of ginning up lots of media speculation about the pressure it exerts on prosecutors. So far so good as far as Trump is concerned.
Before last night’s speech he said that even if he was indicted that he wouldn’t drop out of the race , even going as far as to suggest that it would increase his numbers.
I didn’t watch the speech and couldn’t even drag myself to listen to all the clips posted above. Hearing again him revisit the themes of his first presidency in that whiny monotone of his was a salutary reminder of what another four years of this madman would portend.
Once again he used the trick of pretending that the investigations into his own criminality was actually the deep state coming for his supporters. This is probably the most telling , and most terrifying , line from the speech.
"“I am your warrior. I am your justice and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.
This is it, either they win or we win. And if they win, we no longer have a country.”
Of course , he’s talking about himself and no-one else , but when he talks about retribution , then for once everybody should take him at his word.
Defund the police rhetoric coming from the GOP at the most high profile ideologic gathering.
The entire “defund the police” narrative and its political implications are utterly divorced from what the respective parties are saying and how that related to who they think should be protected and from what.
And while we’re on the subject of the police … you’ll probably already know about Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence chief for the FBI , who was recently arrested and is facing charges in two corruption schemes , one of which resulted in him providing services for Oleg Deripaska , one of Putin’s closest oligarchs and the guy deeply involved in the Russian election interference campaign and who Manafort was passing campaign polling information to.
If you’ve got the time I highly recommend you watch this interview with Craig Unger , who has authored books about both Trump and Putin , who takes us through the history of how the KGB cultivated Trump , and how Trump in turn spent much of that time cultivating contacts at the FBI in New York.
Much of it is already known but criminally under-reported , and to watch it laid out here really is eye-opening. The blurb describes it as the 'greatest ever presidential scandal , and that’s no exaggeration. Truly astonishing stuff.
Trump has often commented on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine would have gone differently if he was in charge, not understanding that he’s actually telling on himself with the details of what he says. Given that, this piece is important
Trump repeated this claim to Hannity on a phone call this week that Hannity played on his show. What is now being reported is that what was cut from the recording is that Trump’s plan is essentially the Putin plan. The one Manafort was pushing, you know, the man working secretly for Deripaska while running Trump’s campaign during which the entire Republican platform on Ukraine/Russia was changed with no explanation.
And the only reason that plan was dropped was when Manafort was caught red handed taking money from pro-kremlin oligarchs in Ukraine. In fact , as well as repealing the Magintsky Act , the carving up of Ukraine was the other part of the quid pro quo for the Russian interference campaign.
What is most curious (and it’s referenced in the video I posted) is how the Mueller investigation never actually looked at the whole thing from a counter-intelligence point of view. The FBI had been investigating it from that angle but Rod Rosenstein shut that down and he instructed Mueller only to conduct a criminal investigation. One can only speculate as to Rosenstein’s motive , but if he wasn’t acting explicitly to protect Trump then maybe he was fearful of just what a can of worms he would be opening. He had to have been aware that were bad actors within the FBI , and maybe this whole thing with McGonigal will shed new light on the whole rotten affair.
