Desensitized

This birther business has just been one damn thing after another. Birther claims get wilder and wilder, and nastier and nastier. I guess the peak may have been when they said Michelle Obama was a man, accusing the President with lying about his family; however, when that happened, rather than being outraged, I just said “there go those silly birthers again.”

I have also become desensitized to the string of Tweets from Donald Trump, escalating in meanness and cluelessness. So when Trump said in a news conference:

Russia, if you’re listening I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be mightily rewarded by our press. Let’s see if that happens.

To me, that’s just a loose canon being a loose canon. The implications of Trump asking the Russian intelligence services to attempt to get access to possibly classified, and definitely sensitive information from Clinton’s former email server, are perhaps large, but as desensitized as I am to Trump being Trump, I didn’t give it a second thought.

Some are still capable of outrage, or at least faking outrage—enter Senator Harry Reid who considers Trump a danger to the country. Reid said in an interview with the Huffington Post:

How would the CIA and the other intelligence agencies brief this guy? How could they do that? I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous. Fake it, pretend you’re doing a briefing, but you can’t give the guy any information.

This guy, he’s part of a foreign power. We knew he liked Putin before this, but this is quite ridiculous.

Trump, of course, needs no briefing since he, as he says, knows “more about ISIS than the generals do.”

Reid stopped short of accusing Trump of treason. So would I, but then I am desensitized.

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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42 Responses to Desensitized

  1. Scientist says:

    The Russian hacking goes beyond far Trump being a loose cannon. There is just a story out now that the Clinton campaign has been hacked as well http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us/politics/clinton-campaign-email-was-hacked-apparently-by-russians.html Note that there are no reports of RNC or Trump servers being hacked.

    This is a foreign power intruding in US elections. Even if Trump had been silent or condemned it, this is a HUGE story. Nixon resigned over a break-in at DNC headquarters. This is a bigger story, because of the foreign involvement.

    Trump shouldn’t get briefed. Period. He’s a candidate, not an officeholder. Let him win in November, then we’ll see.

    Now birthers, please show me how much you are truly concerned about foreign influence, as you have claimed you are. Come on guys, my $100 is waiting. Mario, Cody, yoo-hoo….

  2. Thomas Brown says:

    Pachelbel had a loose canon.

  3. justice is needed says:

    Of course warped minds can’t relate to how crimes are committed and if not crimes adjudicated in courts of law, then certainly violations of MORALS has to be considered.

    Clinton cash Hmmmmm!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td2pyyCau30

    AND! private servers HMMMMM! and a REAL and TRUE RAPIST to enter the White House again ?

    You birds need to be JAILED for ignorance and being lawfully stupid

  4. Groan!

    When I was younger I called it “Taco Bell’s Canon” when it was played at about every damned wedding. (not mine)

    Thomas Brown:
    Pachelbel had a loose canon.

  5. No patriotic American believes that others should be jailed for their opinions. If you want that kind of government, try North Korea.

    justice is needed: You birds need to be JAILED for ignorance and being lawfully stupid

  6. I think I am familiar with the Democratic database that the Clinton campaign claimed was what was hacked. I assisted a local county party in installing some software and migrating a database. That was when I came across that system. It’s not “high security” and lots of people have access to it (and because of that probably many people have access that shouldn’t).

    Scientist: The Russian hacking goes beyond far Trump being a loose cannon. There is just a story out now that the Clinton campaign has been hacked as well http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us/politics/clinton-campaign-email-was-hacked-apparently-by-russians.html Note that there are no reports of RNC or Trump servers being hacked.

  7. This story bugs me because how easy it appears to be to hack into important servers and databases, this time a political party, but before secure government systems. It raises the question of whether those systems were irresponsibly maintained, or whether security in general just isn’t secure.

    The Obama Conspiracy Theories Status site got hacked a while back, and apparently some non-functioning malware was uploaded to this site at some point before it moved to the current location. I now use an anti-malware plug-in on all my sites, and no intrusions have been detected since then. Still, about once a week a vulnerability is found in some WordPress plug-in, some of them in use here or one of my other sites.

    So how secure is my home computer, for example? I run remote desktop to that machine, although the password is not something guessable, even by brute force.

  8. [DOC:guess the peak may have been when they said Michelle Obama was a man]

    I was unaware that Joan Rivers who was [God Bless may she rest in Peace] probably the most high profile person to say this on Camera (viewed well over one million times before and after her death) was a Birther?

    Was there some information of her being a Birther, that would justify your claim of her being part of ‘they’ the Birthers, I missed, or has any and all opposition to Obama now gone into yr file as Birthers?

    Joan Rivers Interview Claim of Michelle as Transgender

    https://youtu.be/Et38_Ufv-Jw

    As for the DNC Hack, as well as The Clinton Campaign Hack , Robby Mook- Clinton’s Campaign Chair, began the narrative of the “Russia hack” lending to the embarrassment of The DNC Chair women Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning after the Philly Democratic National Convention.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/robby-mook-russians-emails-trump-226084

    Yahoo News (yesterday) detailed a Report the FBI actually came the Clinton Camp and let them know this was happening 5 months ago, offering assistance in protection the Campaign refused.

    With the understanding the FBI was in the throws of a Criminal Investigation on HRC as Secretary of State’s [private server] practises, the Campaign refused assistance. In parlance, they took or plead the 5th.

    Now, the server in the hands of the FBI, help refused by Clinton Camp, they want to credit DJT with an outrageous claim after Clinton, and the DNC refused top notch help to avoid the Hack?

    That makes no sense unless… you’re losing the Media narrative badly.. which the Democrats just keep doing walking right in to every Tweet-trap DJT sets because they don’t think it through. They are just desperate…and it shows.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-hillary-clinton-cyber-attack-000000269.html

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10206850504837114&id=1111445485

  9. Arthur B. says:

    Cody Robert Judy: I was unaware that Joan Rivers who was [God Bless may she rest in Peace] probably the most high profile person to say this on Camera (viewed well over one million times before and after her death) was a Birther?

    Wow! If you can get a supporting quote from Don Rickles, I may finally be won over!

  10. Northland10 says:

    Reality Check:
    Groan!

    When I was younger I called it “Taco Bell’s Canon” when it was played at about every damned wedding. (not mine)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

    OT, I need to consider charging more for weddings when the couple wants to torture me with that thing. My idea of hell is an endless loop of that canon and Wagner’s Bridal Chorus.

  11. RanTalbott says:

    “To me, that’s just a loose canon being a loose canon.”
    I’d say he’s more like a “loose .50 cal”, because a “loose cannon” can only fire once 😉

    But it’s not just about him: almost half the electorate are telling the pollsters that they want to give him the keys to the nuclear car. This despite the fact that, in addition to the high “unfavorable” numbers, 60% (including about a third of Republicans) think he’s literally “unqualified”.

    He’s a symptom of a much larger problem in the country. In a normal year, he would have been a flash in the pan, like Bachmann or Carson, if not laughed off the stage as soon as he started speaking. The fact that he got as far as he has does not bode well.

  12. Scientist says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: So how secure is my home computer, for example?

    Not very, I would think. The best protection that your home computer has is that bad guys are unlikely to target it, because it’s a low value target. The problem is that you use it to communicate with many sites that are high value targets (e-commerce sites, stores, banks, etc.).

    I have had to get new AMEX and VISA both in the last couple of years. One day AMEX called wanting to know if I was in a certain hotel in Japan. I’ve never been to Japan. I didn’t lose any money, but I have several things on automatic bill to my card and I had to change all of them. Major pain.

    As for the DNC and Clinton, I doubt that the RNC and Trump are better protected. In fact, in the last 2 elections, the Dems have been way ahead on technology (remember Romney’s fabulous system that crashed on election day). The fact that Russia hacked one and released stuff and either didn’t hack the other or didn’t release anything is clear evidence of their attempted interference in a US election.

  13. Major party nominees traditionally get intelligence briefings.

    http://www.faqs.org/espionage/Pa-Po/Politics-the-Briefings-of-United-States-Presidential-Candidates.html

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/us/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-intelligence-briefings.html?_r=0

    Scientist:

    Trump shouldn’t get briefed.Period.He’s a candidate, not an officeholder.Let him win in November, then we’ll see.

  14. Scientist says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Major party nominees traditionally get intelligence briefings.

    I am aware of that. They also traditionally release their tax returns.

    Whatever happened to Mischa, who used to post here”? He would have said, “Thank you, I’ll be here all week”…

  15. In 2011 Trump implied that detailed financial disclosure was required of all candidates, part of the filing requirements for president.

    Scientist: They also traditionally release their tax returns.

  16. brygenon says:

    The specifically pertinent bit of desensitization is Trump’s own doing. He tried to excuse the remarks quoted here, where he asked Russia to expose American secrets, as him “being sarcastic”. On that, Donald J. Trump told the truth. It was irony. Just making fun of Hillary. No one would ever have taken it seriously but for the fact that the Muslim ban, the wall for which Mexico is going to pay, and the team to investigate Obama’s birth certificate were, and possibly still are, the man’s actual stands.

  17. brygenon says:

    Reality Check: When I was younger I called it “Taco Bell’s Canon” when it was played at about every damned wedding. (not mine)

    That’s what they call, “too much of a good thing”. I love Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Beautiful music. Overplayed? Yeah, there’s that.

    Our host, Dr. Conspiracy, has announced that his work on this site will come to end on or about the time of the inauguration of our 45’th President. I’ll sure miss it, but yeah, I get that. Who thought the thing would or should last this long?

  18. Northland10 says:

    brygenon: That’s what they call, “too much of a good thing”. I love Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Beautiful music. Overplayed? Yeah, there’s tha

    Overplayed and in a very romanticized style. I probably have become desensitized to the beauty in the piece as most couples want it slowed down and most instruments do not create the same tone as one using an appropriate temperament (tuning) for the Baroque era.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvNQLJ1_HQ0

  19. RanTalbott says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: In 2011 Trump implied that detailed financial disclosure was required of all candidates

    And in 2012 he was quite explicit in saying it was unseemly for Romney to not release his returns.

    But that was then: just in the last few days, he’s said he’s not going to release his before the election, because he thinks the picking of some unspecified nit in Romney’s returns cost him the election.

    Which could be a tacit admission that he really is hiding something, or could be a ploy to generate a lot of flak that will shore him up as a “brave enemy of PC” with his base in the short term, while letting him “spring a trap” by conceding at the last minute, when it’s too late for a detailed analysis.

  20. RanTalbott says:

    brygenon: He tried to excuse the remarks quoted here, where he asked Russia to expose American secrets, as him “being sarcastic”.

    I think it was actually a trap: remember that the missing emails are claimed to be just “personal stuff” that are not work-related. He was trying to elicit the “It’s treason!” overreactions he got, so he could mock them.

    A better example from the Department of Terminally-Lame Excuses is his recent claim that putting ramps and other accommodations required by the ADA is proof that he wasn’t really mocking the handicapped guy, and would never do such a thing, because he has “a good heart”.

    It’s an encouraging sign that his “pivot for the general” seems to have rotated a full 360 degrees 😉

  21. Obama waited how long before releasing his LFBC? Trump could wait years… see what Obama started?

    Don’t like it when it’s not working for you… but all for it when it is.

    I think Obama has ruined the Gotcha-Traps … and people are not worried about what Democrats told them not to worry about…

    We gotta pass it before we can read it… Pelosi

    You seemed fine with freshman senator , now an experienced businessman like Trump with his thumb on the button and yr freaking out?

    If reaping what you’ve sewn has any truth to it, you shouldn’t sweat anyone’s finger on the trigger or button .. just love the hate baby and it will all change. Lol

    One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in my life is other people’s bad treatment of me caused an abnormal paranoia… because they feared being treated the same way they had treated me.

    That [sentence] was worse than mine ever was. There whole life gets consumed with chasing rabbits going down holes.

    I think Democrats are starting to pucker up… And it ain’t a good pucker.

  22. scott e says:

    well how do you guys feel about hillary’s handling of security matters ??

  23. Notorial Dissent says:

    There is NO legal requirement for a candidate to release their income tax records, any more than there is for them to show their birth certificate or have two citizen parents. Romney never released his and he ran for the office you can’t even get honorable mention for.

  24. I think that as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton did a superb job handling national security matters. Handling classified information, not so much.

    Clinton responded that both Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell did the same thing that she did. That’s not exactly true (Politifact ruled this claim as mostly false) because what Powell and Rice did was to use a private email address, not hosted by the government, while Clinton used a private email server hosted in her home. Both Powell and Rice did send classified material in email that was not properly secured, although Rice didn’t send much email.

    If properly set up, I don’t see that a server at my house is any more or less security than the one at VPS.NET.

    scott e: well how do you guys feel about hillary’s handling of security matters ??

  25. Scientist says:

    scott e:
    well how do you guys feel about hillary’s handling of security matters ??

    She admits that having a private server was a mistake. I prefer someone who admits mistakes to someone who claims never to have ever made one (he who shall not be named).

    I will also point out that the record of hacking of government servers (DoD, OPM, NSA, etc.) gives one little reason to believe they are more secure than private ones.

  26. Notorial Dissent says:

    I will go along with Scientist on this one, if even a modicum of care was taken there is no reason to get all overwrought about her having the servers at home, and as has been pointed out she wasn’t the first to have an outside email. There is so far NO evidence that her server was ever hacked, or even if it was that there was anything of significance on it. While to the contrary we do know that the various gov’t, some supposedly high security, servers, and particularly the Pentagon which should the best security, not only once, but repeatedly. The OMB, I think it was, database has been hacked to the effect that a large number of gov’t employees personal information was stolen. So it is basically a meaningless argument. The last batch of data stolen from state was sensitive and very embarrassing.

  27. J.D. Sue says:

    Notorial Dissent: I will go along with Scientist on this one, if even a modicum of care was taken there is no reason to get all overwrought about her having the servers at home, and as has been pointed out she wasn’t the first to have an outside email.


    Adding to this chorus, though I am not a techie, my fella is. Since the first moment we heard of this issue, he’s been saying the same thing and he’s been very annoyed by the “experts” on cable news who don’t know what they are talking about.

    It also should be noted that the Clinton’s servers at home are physically protected by the Secret Service.

  28. roadburner says:

    Scientist: I am aware of that.They also traditionally release their tax returns.

    Whatever happened to Mischa, who used to post here”?He would have said, “Thank you, I’ll be here all week”…

    I tried to find out where he’d got to by reaching out to his people, but never got a reply 🙁

  29. There is a Wikipedia article on the Clinton email controversy that helped me get up to speed. I highly recommend it for its level of detail.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_email_controversy

  30. scott e says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    I think that as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton did a superb job handling national security matters. Handling classified information, not so much.

    Clinton responded that both Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell did the same thing that she did. That’s not exactly true (Politifact ruled this claim as mostly false) because what Powell and Rice did was to use a private email address, not hosted by the government, while Clinton used a private email server hosted in her home. Both Powell and Rice did send classified material in email that was not properly secured, although Rice didn’t send much email.

    If properly set up, I don’t see that a server at my house is any more or less security than the one at VPS.NET.

    fair enough… what about those with access, but without security clearance. i wonder if that ever occurred to her.

  31. scott e says:

    J.D. Sue: —
    Adding to this chorus, though I am not a techie, my fella is.Since the first moment we heard of this issue, he’s been saying the same thing and he’s been very annoyed by the “experts” on cable news who don’t know what they are talking about.

    It also should be noted that the Clinton’s servers at home are physically protected by the Secret Service.

    that raises an interesting point. was the secret service responsible for guarding that server ? if yes, did they know they were ? did those agents have access or properly credentialed clearance for high level matters of state ? these are just curiosities i’m sure, but i’m wondering how trey gowdy may broach the subject.

  32. scott e says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    There is a Wikipedia article on the Clinton email controversy that helped me get up to speed. I highly recommend it for its level of detail.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_email_controversy

    why does it say “her familiy’s” server ? lots of revisions.

    unfamiliar with how to use desktops ? really ?

  33. Part of the story requires context, and I know a little about this because the same issue came up at my former company. Clinton used a Blackberry, and in the old days (don’t know about now) some email services didn’t support Blackberry. The DoS basically had problems supporting her Blackberry, and because of the amount of trouble it was for their solution, she just continued to use her family email server that she had been using before she became Secretary of State.

    But to answer your question specifically, yes it did occur to her because it is documented that she was warned by DoS experts that what she was doing was bad.

    That said, I see no difference between what Clinton did and what Colin Powell did. They both used non-government servers and private email addresses to transmit classified information. Where the servers were located is irrelevant to whether it violated State Department regulations. After 2013, Clinton’s server had been moved to a hosting company.

    scott e: fair enough… what about those with access, but without security clearance. i wonder if that ever occurred to her.

  34. It says “family” because the server hosted multiple domains, including PresidentClinton.com.

    Any Wikipedia article on a controversial subject is going to get a lot of revisions.

    scott e: why does it say “her familiy’s” server ? lots of revisions.

  35. scott e says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    It says “family” because the server hosted multiple domains, including PresidentClinton.com.
    remote access too.

    Any Wikipedia article on a controversial subject is going to get a lot of revisions.

    amazing… do you think she intentionally misrepresented the truth about it ? i have to say the wiki page seems like a whitewash, but i’m glad i read it.

    this caught my eye.
    “In 2012, according to server records, a hacker in Serbia scanned Clinton’s Chappaqua server at least twice….” i hadn’t seen this before. did they have the server records ? why “at least twice” instead of just giving the number.

    final question, is everything that is foia able been requested ?

  36. I can’t be 100% sure from the statement, but it sounds like they are talking about “port scans” from a firewall log. That type of scanning is extremely common, almost background noise on the Internet. “At least” could mean that they don’t have all the logs and the logs they have show two, or it could mean that they found 2 in the logs they have looked at so far. Firewall logs just list IP addresses, and IP addresses have to be looked up separately to find out where they are. And anyway, one cannot be sure where something is coming from a lot of the time.

    Perhaps the Wikipedia article sounds like a “whitewash” to you because of the Wikipedia’s “neutral point of view” rules. That is, even if something deserves condemnation, the WP isn’t going to go there. I didn’t read the sections of that article that dealt with public reaction, but I would expect there to be critical quotes in that section.

    What may be more interesting (haven’t had time to read it yet) is the DoS Inspector General’s report:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/state-department-report-on-clintons-email-practices/2039/?tid=a_inl

    That report also contains information about what other Secretaries of State did.

    It is a matter of concern to me that a huge debate about Clinton’s email server is being carried on by people who know very little about it. Kudos to the Wikipedia for providing information, and a link to the IG report. And I must admit to holding opinions or impressions about Clinton’s email server at a time I knew a lot less than I do now.

    scott e: “In 2012, according to server records, a hacker in Serbia scanned Clinton’s Chappaqua server at least twice….” i hadn’t seen this before. did they have the server records ? why “at least twice” instead of just giving the number.

  37. Rickey says:

    scott e: that raises an interesting point. was the secret service responsible for guarding that server ? if yes, did they know they were ? did those agents have access or properly credentialed clearance for high level matters of state ? these are just curiosities i’m sure, but i’m wondering how trey gowdy may broach the subject.

    J.D. Sue said that the Secret Service physically guarded her server, as in guarding it from intruders who might have tried to get into her house. That sort of protection would not have given them access to anything which was on her server. I drive by her house in Chappaqua on occasion and it is heavily guarded at all times.

    As for Gowdy, he was badly schooled by Clinton in October and I doubt that he wants to be embarrassed again.

  38. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater says:

    Rickey: J.D. Sue said that the Secret Service physically guarded her server, as in guarding it from intruders who might have tried to get into her house. That sort of protection would not have given them access to anything which was on her server. I drive by her house in Chappaqua on occasion and it is heavily guarded at all times.

    As for Gowdy, he was badly schooled by Clinton in October and I doubt that he wants to be embarrassed again.

    So much so that Gowdy says he’s a mediocre attorney so much for being AG

  39. Thrifty says:

    At this point, I think I would be shocked if Donald Trump said anything that displayed genuine human empathy, remorse, or humility.

  40. Arthur B. says:

    Thrifty:
    At this point, I think I would be shocked if Donald Trump said anything that displayed genuine human empathy, remorse, or humility.

    Last I heard he went on another rant about a fire marshal.

    I think he’s losing it.

    ETA: I think I understand. He senses that he’s losing the adulation, and it makes him panic. He has to explain that he really is still loved, but the crowds are being kept away … by the fire marshals … it’s all Hillary’s fault …

  41. Thrifty says:

    Former CIA director Michael Morrell today, in an editorial in the New York Times, endorsed Hillary Clinton. He spoke of how dangerous Trump would be to national security, because he is, in short, stubborn and easily manipulated. Particularly with respect to Putin and Trump, he said:

    President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a career intelligence officer, trained to identify vulnerabilities in an individual and to exploit them. That is exactly what he did early in the primaries. Mr. Putin played upon Mr. Trump’s vulnerabilities by complimenting him. He responded just as Mr. Putin had calculated.

    Mr. Putin is a great leader, Mr. Trump says, ignoring that he has killed and jailed journalists and political opponents, has invaded two of his neighbors and is driving his economy to ruin. Mr. Trump has also taken policy positions consistent with Russian, not American, interests — endorsing Russian espionage against the United States, supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea and giving a green light to a possible Russian invasion of the Baltic States.

    In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.

  42. Keith says:

    Thrifty:
    Former CIA director Michael Morrell…

    Great find. I have just stolen your post word for word and shared it to my Facebook ‘friends’. Thanks.

    P.S. I run a VERY tight Facebook, so I only have about 10 ‘friends’.

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