to think you should ignore people having a go at you if you are the President Elect of the USA

[amispartacus]

Rather than having a go at them on Twitter and describing them as second rate actresses.

Otherwise some people might just think you're a bit sensitive.

If that's how he's going to react when people call him out on things, he's going to have a very long 4 years in the White House

Jim Acosta, the CNN reporter that Trump shut down, has tweeted that ABC's Cecilia Vega asked the question that he tried to about whether any of Trump's team had been in contact with Russia.

He also tweeted that Sean Spicer threatened to throw him out if he tried to ask questions.

Even the Republicans are worried.

I've just seen Rubio grill Rex on his conflict of interests with Russia. Apparently, Rex doesn't have enough info about Aleppo.

How valid do you think the fears of the former MI6 agent responsible for the dossier (who has fled his home) are?
Because if his fears are more than just paranoia, that is something that could really cause the UK some problems.

If he's just fucked Russia, then he should fear for his life, yes.

'Like a dog that returns to his vomit, this president-elect just can’t help himself. Let the follies begin.'

(From the Guardian link up thread)

Ooof I don't think Trump's attacks on the press are going down very well. He can try and silence American reporters as much as he likes, little he can do about the rest of the world's press however.

If you are familiar with Litvinenko's death, also read this about the double agent who uncovered the sleeper agents in the US:

rbth.com/defence/2016/07/07/runaway-russian-intelligence-agent-dies-in-the-us_609709

And if he isn't protected well enough and Russia get to him, what happens next?
It will be so much worse for UK relations with Russia than Litvinenko, and who knows what Trump's reaction will be? Which "special relationship" is worth more - Trump/Putin or Us/UK? I know what I'd bet on.

So scared for the fate of all of us if he actually gets as far as the inauguration. Even if this news is fake news, he does have dodgy funding ties with Russia, amongst others. He's a sociopath and I think likely to make bad decisions when angry.

The Putin quote at the end of that article is particularly ominous Lweji.

Russia wouldn't make it too obvious, I don't think, but who knows what would happen.

On press coverage:
Washington Post: What the bleep happened at the Trump news conference?
Salon: This will not end well: President-elect Trump’s first press conference was a total disaster
NYTimes: Donald Trump Concedes Russia’s Interference in Election
Wall Street Journal: Dollar Slides After Donald Trump’s News Conference; Trump Says He Thinks Russia Behind Hacking

I don't think he actually meant for one of the main interpretations of this conference to be that he accepted that there has been Russian hacking and interference in the election.

Yes, it is, squishy.

Notice that the link was from Russian news. It's meant as a message. I don't think anyone knows if the agent has died or not. I've only seen reports in the Daily Mail, Sun et al, but not more serious media.

Even if a video was released of Trump doing everything he's accused of, there will be plenty of supporters who either refuse to believe it (and call it faked) or just won't care. Some of his fans are so dogmatic.

Blink and you'll have missed the fact the government issued a D-Notice this evening. And then removed it.

Scary.

They could watch him run over their granny's, back up over her and do it again and they'd still think he was the Messiah.

Is he getting drugs into the water system or something?

From the Washington Post article:

"The conference was interrupted by his lawyer, who read us a long bedtime story about what he plans to do about his clear conflicts of interest, besides wave his hand and insist “THERE IS NO CONFLICT,” Vader-style ."

It made me laugh.
I think she means Obi Wan style, but it wouldn't have the same impact or implication...

Has anyone watched Designated Survivor on Netflix? Wonder who'd be in charge if anything happened......#nottotallyunimaginable

It seems the D-notice was in relation to the name of the author of those reports.

They had a point, I think.

I suppose they realised there was no point in it Red - as soon as it's on the internet and reported by foreign news outlets, the story's out.

He has really, really, really great drugs originalmavis. The best.

People will always believe what they want to believe regardless of what you tell them.

If you want to talk about the psyche of parts of America then this is perhaps the best way of summing it up I've seen:

Pres Lyndon Johnson (From the book "White Trash"):
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you"

I'm yet to be able to refute the logic and offer an alternative explanation.

Sorry lweji I cross posted with you - I do agree that they have a point in trying to protect the author, but think that withholding his name in the British press would not achieve much at this point.

BBC gave out the guy's name on the 10 o'clock News.

Apologies, but could someone explain the Trump-buzzfeed thing in a paragraph?

I am not lazy or uninterested, I just get this urge to avoid listening to news about him.

I turned on Newsnight and got more confused :(

Who is accusing whom of what?

Trump accused of colluding with Russia for a number of years. Russia allegedly has compromising videos ideal for blackmail. Intel dossier (not verified claims) obtained and published by Buzzfeed.

'They could watch him run over their granny's, back up over her and do it again and they'd still think he was the Messiah.'

Yup. They've been radicalised.