I'd say he's warning our NATO allies that they need to start stepping up and pulling some weight (paying what they owe us?) or we might have to let them go.

And I'd say Trump doesn't really know what he is talking about.

NATO guidelines (which the U.S established and agreed to) was that all 28 members pay fees based on their Gross National Income. The U.S share is 22% because they have the largest economy. The relative contribution of the other 27 countries are the same.

There could be an argument because all members agreed to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic product on defense and only 4 other countries do that. The U.S spends the most (3.7%) but that is because they are a world power and spend money all over the world. You can't really compare that with the defense requirements of countries like Luxembourg.

As for his comment about "letting them go", it's no wonder Putin and he have a budding bromance.

I'm not viewing this particular article as Trump supporting Putin, although he has made statements elsewhere where he does support him as a leader. This particular article I view as Trump wanting to renege on an alliance because he views it as unfavorable for the US.

That's kind of a nonsensical reply. Duffy asked you specifically about her actual performance vis-a-vis Russia while she served as the chief foreign policy officer of the US. Your response is that he shouldn't judge her foreign policy plans on what she says at the convention?

Huh?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

No. Follow the dialogue back. He said she doesn't want to improve relations with Russia at all. I told him that you can't judge what she wants or will do from her speeches during the convention. He said he didn't have anything else to go on. Hence my answer.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

He said he didn't have anything else to go on. Hence my answer.

That's old news, man. He specifically brought up her performance as SoS twice since then- in response, by the way, to your statement that we can judge her from her track record.

So what say? Does she have a good track record with Russia, in your estimation?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Does anyone in the West have a good track record with Russia since Putin has been in power?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Arguable, I guess, but "Yeah, I failed but so has everyone else who's tried so far," is less of an argument for Hilary than a reason to give someone else a try.

Can't have it both ways, though. Either we judge her on her track record, or we listen to what she says she's going to do differently.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I am not defending Hillary so much as I am pointing out that Putin is a giant asshole and regardless of who you send they will likely fail miserably.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

What's the track record of what Trump has said or done? He is all over the place. He hasn't been in a position of government authority, but in his personal history, he's all over the road.

Sort of like saying Trump would abandon our NATO allies?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

There you go, defending Trumpler again.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

George W. Bush.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Well, according to slowguy we shouldn't pay much attention to what he says while campaigning.

I guess we're just suppose to pre-pick our "guy" and just disregard anything they say that we might disagree with.

It's one of the reasons Obama was popular in '08. He didn't say jack shit and everyone just projected their own desires onto his blank slate.

He was like a horoscope.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

George W. Bush

Well, not exactly. I know Bush looked into his soul and saw a good man but...

In 2008, while Bush was President, the Russians rolled into Georgia. The Bush administration ruled out military options and applied sanctions. Those sanctions barely caused a ripple in Moscow. Not really standing up to Putin...

No argument there. Choice seems to be between a failure and someone with no track record but who's erratic, to put it mildly.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Well, in typical LR fashion, I guess when someone can't resolve their initial statement, we just move to something else.

I think her record on Russia is mixed. She was fairly tough with them, but she helped brokered a couple of deals including sanctions on Iran and N. Korea, as well as START. She also got them to grant us access to their territory to get stuff in and out of Afghanistan. She's been tough specifically on Putin and Russian electoral processes.

She will have to overcome some of the things she's said about Putin to establish a President-President relationship with him for whatever time he has remaining in office, but politicians do that sort of thing routinely.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Yes, very much like that. The difference, for better or worse, seems to be that Sec Clinton knows what she's talking about and is constructing the narrative she thinks will get her elected, whereas Trump doesn't have a clue, so he's just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. His rhetoric just betrays a complete lack of sophistication or knowledge on the subjects he's addressing.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

 

Actually genius, according to slowguy, you have more to go on to form your opinion than just what they say during elections season, and you're a fucking idiot if you rely solely on their campaign speeches and promises, because we all know they make promises they don't intend to keep, can't keep, or that are only made to win votes in a particular demographic.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Not only do I disbelieve what they say while campaigning, I also disbelieve what they say while in office, I disbelieve what we are told they did while in office and rarely even accept the premise that is laid out for our consumption.

Hell, I don't even believe the premise of this thread (Putin wants Trump (I'm not even convinced the russians are behind the hack)).

Our whole system is full of liars. From POTUS to dog catcher, integrity is the exception.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Well, in typical LR fashion, I guess when someone can't resolve their initial statement, we just move to something else.

What do you need, an explicitly worded statement from Duffy that we do have something to judge Clinton on other than her campaign words?

I think it was implied, and safe to move on.


I think her record on Russia is mixed.

Fair enough.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Well since all he had given was an explicitly worded statement that he didn't have anything else, I thought it was worth wrapping that up instead of moving the goalposts quite that quickly. Pardon me for preferring to discuss instead of just jumping from tangent to tangent when someone doesn't like the answer given.

Especially in this day and age (take a look at Maurice's thread about stupid voters) people feel free to just toss out bullshit like that, expecting it will go unchallenged. That's part of how the American public has gotten so fucking stupid.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Someone has to protect all that delicious syrup in Canada.