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Jon, If all that is anti-Trump is uninterested in truth, then anyone who is anti-Trump is ipso facto impossible to convert (unless Donald Trump has custom-designed some falsehoods for that specific purpose). And any statement by Donald Trump becomes immune to challenge, because a challenge is, well, anti-Trump. Whatever. The evident problem with Trump's statement quoted above is that keeping up the "cycle of hostility" might be Vladimir Putin's notion of what is best for Vladimir Putin. If Putin so views it, what next? Even though appeasement (Hillary's "reset") hasn't been working, Trump didn't rule it out. What kind of confrontation is he willing to engage in? What costs does he think are worth paying? Do you know what he thinks? For that matter, does he? Robert

Jon, Before Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016, the left (and the establishment) laughed at the idea of Russian meddling and at Russian anything else that seemed sinister. For example, Obama openly derided Romney during election debates for saying Russia was a major threat. After the 2016 election, the left has gone into a McCarthyism mode that would have embarrassed old Joe McCarthy himself, and now the left red-baits galore and acts like there is a Putinesque Russian under every bed. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. The conservative/libertarian leaning anti-Trumpers (especially the establishment sort) were a bit different. They always were against Russia. The left merely took their concerns and raised them to DEFCON 5. Some of the Republican establishment anti-Trumpers have even gone along with the left's anti-Russian hysteria. All those attitudes were reflected by the left-leaning here on OL, too. Precisely to the timeline. Michael

The ten climate commandments: Among the worshiping public, Pope Franciscus, German Chancellor Merkel and President Steinmeier (the owl). April 2019. Of course, today many other politicians could be added...

Blah blah blah... Jail is not jail if you don't use the word sentence... Right... What a crock. I'm actually glad this happened. By jailing Manafort before the trial, The Swamp has openly declared war--using guns--on President Trump. Now he can act against them as the one attacked. Now we will see who has the larger reach and influence with America's armed forces and law enforcement. As the saying goes in Brazil, the bird who swallows stones better know the size of its own asshole... Michael

Trump's foreign policy speech was pretty bad, even by the standards of politicians' foreign policy speeches. Here is of the many reactions that will be discounted at this site: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/04/28/of-course-trump-supported-all-three-wars-he-condemned-in-foreign-policy-address-n2154633?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad= But there's one passage of particular interest in that speech: The source is here (I do not agree with the author about quite a few things, though we presumably share two premises, that Russia is an empire and Vladimir Putin wants to be an emperor): https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/trumps-flawed-foreign-policy/ Trump has already displayed what at best can be described as ambivalence about Putin. But then we find Trump hiring Paul Manafort, whose clients have notably included Viktor Yanukovych. On two different occasions, Yanukovych ruled Ukraine as Putin's puppet. Manafort was associated with him for at least 6 years. In 2010, Yanukovych was reelected (after being out of power for several years), and Manafort took credit for his victory. It did not end at all well. In 2014, Yanukovych was run out of Kiev, leaving behind a gilded palace that the opposition made sure was amply documented for posterity: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10656023/In-pictures-Inside-the-palace-Yanukovych-didnt-want-Ukraine-to-see.html?frame=2834874 Vladimir Putin must have figured, quite some time ago, that a President Trump will be easier to roll than President Obama was. If all of the Estonians pack up and leave, will Trump order the construction of a special wall to keep them out of the United States? Robert Campbell

Michael, Why exult in the sliminess of Roger Stone? You know, Donald Trump has still not released his tax returns. His excuse, that he is audited every year and is being audited this year, has been exposed as bogus. Besides perhaps revealing that Trump is worth less money than he claims to be, or is in more debt than he admits being in, or gives less to charity than he says he does, would the returns inform us about continuing employment (not by his campaign) for Roger Stone? I learned a couple of interesting things about Paul Manafort, who seems to have taken over control of Trump's campaign. One, Manafort helped Jerry Ford get more delegates than Ronald Reagan in 1976, before he changed sides and recruited delegates for Reagan in 1980. (He also worked later on for Bush Sr., Bob Dole, Dubya, and John McCain, when not cleaning up on K Street.) Two, Manafort worked, on and off, between 2004 and at lest 2010, for Victor Yanukovych, the kleptocratic Putinian puppet in Ukraine. Claimed credit for engineering Yanukovych's comeback victory in 2010 (though, as we know, that didn't end well for Yanukovych). Apparently was taking money from McCain and Yanukovych at the same time in 2008. Robert

William, I bought a book a while back about communist propaganda in the USA and I read a couple of chapters, but I rearranged things here at home and it went the way of the wild goose. For the life of me, I couldn't find it or remember the title. Well finally! I just found it again. It is now on my current reading pile again. Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism by Ronald Rychlak and Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa I poked around a little about Pacepa and there is a lot of controversy surrounding him. But he actually was a high-ranking defector so that is to be expected. I got this book because the Russians were masters of propaganda (they still are) and it looks like some of their techniques are in this book. Pacepa takes Russian disinformation infiltration in America from the beginning on up through Putin (2103, when the book was published). Michael

Carol: No. It was a quick search and the three that I posted ran the gamut. Again, as I said, it was a cheap shot at Soros and I should not have posted it. Adam.

I see you have provided the middle with the Kroft interview. Clearly, Soros was never a Nazi, never turned in his fellow citizens for cash. That you would casually make such an allegation on a serious thread is shocking to me, frankly.

The second "take" on history, which you edited in after I asked my question, is so incompatible with the first that I can't perceive any reality in the middle. Either the Nazis chose a 14-year-old Jewish boy as their henchman, or they didn't. He betrayed his "fellow citizens" and profited from their murders, or he didn't. You quote the "stories" and indicate that you believe them based on the evidence you have. Is this so?

Could you quote this record please? What a monumental ego he must have. He sounds crazy.