No one could pull it off because Putin doesn’t want to really be allies with the USA. He wants to create havoc and use the conflict with the USA to stoke Russian pride and galvanize support. The idea of believing that the Russians can be trusted is beyond naive.
He probably doesn't want to be allied with the USA. But I think its a situation where the U.S.A. can use the carrot and stick. Their economy is in the midst of a 4 year and running recession. They have difficulties with terrorists as well. There are areas where we could point out legitimate situations where both sides would be helped by taking the same course of action. And if they couldn't come to any agreements then it didn't hurt to try. Of course, all of that is hypothetical since Trump isn't capable of carrying out diplomatic negotiations. So when I speak of discussing anything with Putin it is only in an imaginary world where we have a minimally capable head of state.
From what I understand, the vote on the resolution to poo-poo the Russian offer came after Sanders said that Trump was going to take a pass, and two earlier attempts to pass a resolution were scuttled. So, did Republicans really unite with Democrats to oppose what the President was doing? Or, did they come out of their foxholes to claim victory only after they knew it was safe?
I understand where you are coming from and I really do not like war or even a cold war scenario. However, I do not see any real areas where the USA and Russia can find common ground at this point. Russia is sending assassins to the England to kill enemies of Putin. Russia trained some of the masterminds in the 9-11 events, and did it covertly. Russia has quite a few spies active in the USA and England, with the sole intention of causing social chaos and undermining democracy. The United States should have very limited agreements with Russia. As for the economy, the USA doesn't want a strong economy for Russia. Why? So they can be in a position to grow their military and attack, annex or increase their global influence? I would not go as far as the Cold War, but I certainly would not be negotiating with the Russians or making any public statements other than firm statements that the USA will protect their citizens, and their EU allies.
We can speculate as much as we want as to what happened but the Republicans still have to answer to their constituents which some happen to be loyal trump supporters.
Does anybody believe that Putin isn't entirely clear on what he's doing? Create the appearance of impropriety, and do everything to reinforce that appearance. If you can turn Trump's greed and who into actual impropriety, better yet. Trump has been played, America as whole will pay for it, and it's not like it took a genuine "very stable genius" to do it. Putin kicked sand in our collective faces and is laughing at The Donald somewhere. Its like a wietd mashup of CSPAN and thr Lindsay Lohan movie, "Mean Girls". I bet Trump still thinks he and Putin are BFF's.
Seems like if Trump was in Putin's control Putin would want to make Trump look as good as possible in order to keep him in office next term.
Maybe. But if Trump is more Useful Idiot than Manchurian Candidate, then then sowing division is really the point. If we can't forcefully move in any direction because we're fighting over our president's legitimacy, then the Russian collusion theory/witch-hunt does play right into his hands. I see that it does, but I can't really do otherwise. If Trump broke the law, he's gotta go.
