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Posted: Mar 09, 2017 12:01 AM

What happened to detente? What happened to perestroika and glasnost? And how about their longtime fear of a nuclear winter, and their longing for a nuclear freeze? The Democrats have always been big on mixing rhetoric with climate, though, admittedly, Putin and his fat-cat cronies have changed over the years from the Soviets of old.

The old Soviet economy was something with which Saunders and Pelosi and even the Schumer of recent edition could identify. Bernie, the socialist, in particular had more in common with the Soviet system than with American capitalism. The Soviet economy certainly made more sense to him than the wild swings of the American economy that we have today. Think of it! The stock market is up 10 to 12 percent since Donald Trump was elected. The giant corporations and Wall Street are doubtless making a killing. Those animal spirits that make him uneasy are even returning to the middle class. Bernie tried to warn us but to no avail. Now, Schumer and Pelosi have let out a yell.

I well remember the glowing praise of yesterday's progressives for the Soviet economy. There were, for instance, John Kenneth Galbraith of Harvard University and Lester Thurow of MIT in the 1980s enthusing over Soviet prosperity just as Mikhail Gorbachev was about to come to power. Of course, the alarums sounded by the Democrats today about the Republicans' approaches to the Kremlin were not heard in the 1970s and 1980s, at least not from the Democrat leadership. They talked of peaceful coexistence then. What about peaceful coexistence with Putin?

Do you recall Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate, writing Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov in a secret correspondence aimed at undermining Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan? Most probably you do not. Such communications by Kennedy and former Sen. John Tunney to the KGB were not widely reported in the American media at the time. Yet, Sovietologists such as Herbert Romerstein and Paul Kengor have been reporting these contacts for years. Go ahead and Google Kennedy and the KGB. The Times of London reported on them. Now, the Democrat leadership is suspicious about ambiguous allegations of contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The mainstream media even report on such alleged contacts as "ties."

Sessions neglected to answer to the Democrats' satisfaction the poorly constructed questions about two meetings he had with the current Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Sessions is in hot water. After tweeting that she has never met Kislyak, Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill's own Twitter account revealed two interactions. Just like Sessions, she overlooked them. More recently, Pelosi had to clarify her claim that she had never met Kislyak. A picture turned up showing her with him. In her clarification, an aide to Pelosi said, "She has never had a private one-on-one with him." Well, if it were a private meeting, I assume there would be no pictures.

On that occasion, Pelosi was actually meeting with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. So Democrat bigwigs do occasionally meet with Putin's people. That reminds me of President Barack Obama's embarrassment with Medvedev. Without knowing his microphone was on, Obama told Medvedev to assure incoming President Putin that after the 2012 election, he would have "more flexibility" in dealing with the Russians. Medvedev agreed, though Obama did not apparently find Putin so lovey-dovey.

The modern Russians are not as clubbable as the Democrats found the Russians of the Soviet era. They are not even as agreeable as President Obama found them in 2012. Perhaps ordinary Americans, having read their history, can agree with me. These Democrats are mercurial. No wonder more and more Americans are coming to the conclusion that the country is in better hands with a real estate developer.

Read the original:
What Has Gotten Into the Democrats? - Townhall

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The average American is understandably perplexed as to why Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and, of course, runner-up in last years Democratic primaries, Bernie Saunders, are so lathered up over the Republicans recent overtures to the Russians. They are calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. They want a special prosecutor to look into President Donald Trumps relations with President Vladimir Putin. What has gotten into the Democrats? Why are they so bellicose toward Moscow?

What happened to detente? What happened to perestroika and glasnost? And how about their longtime fear of a nuclear winter and their longing for a nuclear freeze? The Democrats have always been big on mixing rhetoric with climate. Though admittedly, Mr. Putin and his fat cat cronies have changed over the years from the Soviets of old.

The old Soviet economy was something that Bernie Saunders and Mrs. Pelosi and even the Mr. Schumer of recent edition could identify with. In particular Bernie, the socialist, had more in common with the Soviet system than with American capitalism. The Soviet economy certainly made more sense to him than the wild swings of the American economy that we have today. Think of it: The stock market is up 10 to 12 percent since Donald Trump was elected. The giant corporations and Wall Street are doubtless making a killing. Those animal spirits that make him uneasy are even returning to the middle class. Bernie tried to warn us, but to no avail. Now Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Pelosi have let out a yell.

I well remember the glowing praise of yesterdays progressives for the Soviet economy. There were, for instance, John Kenneth Galbraith of Harvard and Lester Thurow of MIT in the 1980s enthusing over Soviet prosperity just as Mikhail Gorbachev was about to come to power. Of course, todays alarums, sounded by the Democrats, about the Republicans approaches to the Kremlin were not heard in the 1970s and 1980s, at least not from the Democratic leadership. Then they talked of peaceful coexistence. What about peaceful coexistence with Mr. Putin?

Do you recall Sen. Edward Kennedy, the lion of the Senate, writing Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov in secret correspondence aimed at undermining Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan? Most probably you do not. Such communications by Kennedy and former Democratic Sen. John Tunney to the KGB were not widely reported in the American media at the time. Yet, Sovietologists such as Herbert Romerstein and Paul Kengor have been reporting these contacts for years. Go ahead, google Kennedy and the KGB. The Times of London reported on them. Now the Democratic leadership is suspicious about ambiguous allegations of contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The Mainstream Media even reports on such alleged contacts as ties.

Jeff Sessions neglected to answer to the Democrats satisfaction poorly constructed questions about two chance meetings he had with the current Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Mr. Sessions is in hot water. Though Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, after tweeting that she has never met Mr. Kislyak, had to revise her tweets. Her own Twitter account revealed two meetings. Just like Mr. Sessions, she overlooked them. More recently, Mrs. Pelosi had to clarify her claim that she had never met Mr. Kislyak. A picture turned up showing her with him. In her clarification an aide to Mrs. Pelosi said, She has never had a private one-on-one with him. Well, if it were a private meeting I assume there would be no pictures.

On that occasion, Mrs. Pelosi was actually meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. So Democratic bigwigs do occasionally meet with Mr. Putins people. Which reminds me of President Obamas embarrassment with outgoing President Medvedev. Without knowing his microphone was on, the Democratic president told Mr. Medvedev to assure incoming President Putin that after the 2012 election he would have more flexibility in dealing with the Russians. Mr. Medvedev agreed, though Mr. Obama did not apparently find Mr. Putin so lovey-dovey.

So now the modern Russians are not as clubbable as the Democrats found the Russians of the Soviet era. They are not even as agreeable as Mr. Obama found them in 2012. Perhaps ordinary Americans, having read their history, can agree with me. These Democrats are mercurial. No wonder more and more Americans are coming to the conclusion that the country is in better hands with a real estate developer.

R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc.

Link:
Those mercurial Democrats - Washington Times

New York Times

Democrats Seek Special Counsel to Investigate Russian Election Interference New York Times Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said the appointment of a special counsel was necessary to shield the inquiry from the appearance of political interference by the Trump administration. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times. Senate Democrats Blow Best Chance to Demand Special Russia ProsecutorThe Intercept Democrats grill Rod Rosenstein on RussiaBaltimore Sun Democrats call for special counsel during hearing for Sessions' would-be deputyCNN Chicago Tribune -STLtoday.com all 311 news articles »

More:
Democrats Seek Special Counsel to Investigate Russian Election Interference - New York Times

U.S. Senate Democrats, seeking to capitalize on growing disclosures about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia, urged a top Republican lawmaker on Tuesday to obtain President Donald Trump's tax returns as a matter of national security.

It was the second request for Trump's returns by Senate Democrats in as many weeks, part of a Democratic campaign to pressure Republicans in Congress into obtaining the documents that could reveal conflicts of interest posed by the president's global business empire.

Trump has defied decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns, saying his tax affairs were under federal audit. The Internal Revenue Service has said that is no obstacle to releasing them publicly.

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In a letter on Tuesday to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, two of the panel's leading Democrats said Trump's tax returns should be pursued in light of "critical national security implications" posed by contacts between Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trump associates, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Senate Finance Committee chair Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and ranking Democratic member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) attend a hearing on "Examining the Opioid Epidemic: Challenges and Opportunities" in Washington February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron REUTERS/Gary Cameron

"There is no debate that the conflicts in question pose a threat to American national security and the integrity of the government of the United States, and more and more keep coming to light," wrote Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the committee's top Democrat, and Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady rejected a request for the returns last Wednesday by Senate Democrats, saying congressional actions that target individual tax returns would constitute an abuse of authority and set a dangerous precedent.

On Tuesday, a Hatch spokesman said the Utah Republican had no further comment.

The two Democratic lawmakers said national security had long been a focus of the Senate Finance Committee oversight of issues involving trade, Iran and terrorism. They also said the panel previously sought the tax returns of former Enron Corp executives, oil and gas companies and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, as part of its oversight duties.

Wyden and Stabenow said they wanted the committee to hold a closed session in which lawmakers could conduct a bipartisan review of Trump's returns.

They added: "If committee members identify ties or relations to foreign governments within these documents, we will respectfully request the chairman and members of the committee hold a vote to make that information available to the public."

Original post:
Democrats Say Trump Tax Returns Are a National Security Issue - Newsweek

Hackers are now reportedly targeting Democratic lawmakers and progressive organizations in the U.S. in an attempt to shake them down for hush money.

At least 12 progressive organizations have been targeted by Russian hackers who seek out embarrassing information on emails or secret details that could be used to hurt the organizations, Bloomberg has been told by two sources familiar with probes by private security companies and the FBI. The progressive organizations were also hit with ransomware, which seeks payment to unlock and restore data.

In addition, the computers of Pennsylvanias Senate Democratic caucus were hacked last week and alsoinfected by ransomware, according to The Associated Press.The Republican caucuss computers were untouched. Its unclear who was behind the hacking, but suspicions about Russian hackers were raised because only Democrats were hit. Ransom was demanded in digital Bitcoin, which is difficult to trace, to get a decryption key to unlock the system and data.

The Pennsylvania Senate cyberattack froze systems and data and shut out politicians and employees throughout Monday. The FBI and Pennsylvania attorney general have launched an investigation. A Democratic leader said that ransom would not be paid. The hackers had given politicians a deadline of a week or threatened that all data would be destroyed, AP reported.

Its unclear if thehackerstargeting the progressive organizations are the same ones the FBI believes targeted the Democratic National Committeeduring last years presidential campaign. But they have the same proclivities and would likely have time on their hands since the presidential election. In addition,some techniques are the same as those used by Cozy Bear, one of the Russian government groups linked to cyberattacks during the U.S. campaign, according to Bloomberg.Some of the targeted liberal organizations paid the Bitcoin ransoms, ranging from $30,000 to $150,000, according to Bloomberg.

The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning Washington think tank, and Arabella Advisors, which steers investments to liberal causes, were among the targeted organizations, Bloomberg reported.

Arabella Advisors was affected by cyber crime, a spokesman for the firm told Bloomberg. All facts indicate this was financially motivated. The Center for American Progress did not comment.

The Kremlin is now suspected of orchestrating cyberattacks to manipulate other elections, including in France and the Netherlands.

Norway revealed in January that hackers linked to Russia had attacked government ministry sites and the emails of the Labour Party in an operation strikingly similar to what happened in the U.S.

See more here:
Hackers Shaking Down Pennsylvania Democrats and US Progressive Groups - Huffington Post