I have two former friends who have been taken in by the extreme religious ideology of the Republican party and I'd like to see if this is the cause. Both are/were intelligent, but they bend to whatever they are told now...like they have been kidnapped by a cult and brain-washed with their crap. Neither would have been easy to sway.

The term "anointed" - used over and over and over here on DU to slam and dismiss Hillary Clinton's candidacy - echoes the Russian Orthodox culture.

For years I've been saying that it is a tell.

at least, when rove started to lose central control and limbaug the ultimate GOP establishment tool started to go 'anti-establisment'

Mueller's indictment proves what a lot of us observed. The same talking points were repeated on the left and right, with the goal of eroding Hillary Clinton's support among Democrats and whipping up frenzied support for Trump among Republicans. Demonizing and/or undermining Hillary was the goal.

Putin needed those sanctions to be lifted so that he could make trillions of dollars from the Ukrainian oil pipeline. He knew Hillary would stop him.

Putin installed a puppet government in the U.S.

conference for the same reason billions in oil revenue by delaying action on global warming.

limbaugh was instrumental creating the 2009 'climategate' hoax from a russian email hack and that derailed obama.

all russians had to do to take over the republican party and sabotage democracy was figure out how to feed limbaugh, maybe get him taking freelance money.

getting limbaugh to support mccain just in time to prevent a disastrous GOP convention is why mccain had to take palin - and it was davis/manafort manafort running that campaign, with davis convincing mccain to take palin. davis blamed limbaugh for losing the election by alienating the latin vote - which palin helped with and pawlenty or lieberman might have prevented.

Anything with Pat Buchanan has to be a bit crazy.

For a people that despised and was terrified of the Russians being in every corner of every building during the 1950-60s and into the 80-90s, they sure switched gears.

... one of his presidential campaign staffers/directors has been bringing Russian gun nuts and the NRA to South Dakota Young Republican retreats.

Such a tangled web between Russia, the NRA and the South Dakota GOP:

"In 2014, to punish Russia for supporting separatist militias in Ukraine, the United States imposed sanctions on two state-owned Russian banks, two state-owned Russian oil companies, and six Russian arms manufacturers, including Kalashnikov, maker of the AK-47 rifle. To maintain access to the lucrative American gun market, Kalashnikov spun off a sanctions-evading U.S. branch that is building a factory in Florida.

The year before those sanctions, the National Rifle Association started forging connections with certain Russians. Russian senator Alexander Torshin, who Spanish investigators allege has ties to Russian mafia, attended the NRA’s national meeting in Houston in May 2013. Former NRA president David Keene reciprocated with a visit to Russia in November 2013. Specifically, Keene attended a conference of Право на Оружие—Pravo na Oruzhie, which translates as “Right to Arms”—a new Russian activist promoting gun rights in Russia."

[link:http://dakotafreepress.com/2017/03/27/maria-butina-connects-russians-nra-trump-sibby-and-mathew-wollman/|




"Then, in 1992, at the age of 30, Erickson heard that conservative commentator and former Reagan White House communications director Pat Buchanan was challenging incumbent President George H.W. Bush for the Republican nomination. Erickson joined Buchanan’s campaign as its national political director.

Erickson said Buchanan needed help from amateur politicos, because established operatives did not want to risk working for a candidate who was mounting an inner-party challenge to a sitting president. Timothy Stanley, author of a Buchanan biography titled “The Crusader,” wrote that Erickson was “the best there was at the price Pat could afford.” "


]http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/trump-putin-and-erickson-russia-probe-just-another-chapter-in/article_e9ed9038-3411-5112-86fa-f64bb0fa6549.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Both always held themselves higher than warranted. Where is she, now?

I've wondered if the NRA was buried in the weave of Russia and it appears they are. They are smart enough to stand in the wings so no one knows they are there, but you can sense it. Pat would be whatever anyone wanted him to be if they had the $$$$$.

Thanks for that article.

and is probably why Candace Cameron Bure was so gung ho about Russia. I have heard her say that Russians love Putin. Yikes.

to before Christ was born.

In the last few months I've been spy novel thinking about Pence. You've helped to round out this Pence angle. Evangelicals!

The Manafort recommendation plus his honors from the federal district court and his most recent page 3, means Pence is complcit in the actions/lack of action of this current administration.

I grew up in an evangelical household. One of the great brave missionary stories, along with flying into the Amazon or Papua New Guinea facing head hunters, that enthralled me as a kid then were stories of the brave Bible smugglers taking God's word behind the Iron Curtain at risk of death or years of prison and torture.

And who was their #1 enemy and torturer? The KGB. Putin started his career with them in 1975, years before the fall of communism. And rose to Director.

An incredible feat, I have to grant them that, of turning it around 180 from having these gullible god nuts praying they wouldn't get caught by Putin and the KGB, to admiring and praising Putin who now works with his own version of the KGB, the Federal Security Service (FSS).

I'm a middle aged white woman who has lived in rural and suburban communities all my life. I'll tell you what white conservatives fear most: Black people. Muslims. Immigrants from anywhere other than northern Europe. Also, they are terribly afraid of gay people and schools teaching their kids about sex. And spicy food. They're terrified of it.

White conservatives are the biggest group of sniveling scared wimps imaginable. That's why they're armed to the teeth.

And then taking up a collection to send to these brave warriors for Christ.

I think at least the leaders would be dizzy from spinning so far in such a short time.

IMHO Franklin Graham has no core beliefs. He is a sleezy con man profitting from his father's name.

Religious Right has a real problem with their ingrained conviction that the son inherits his father's calling to be a preacher-leader. See it in ministries of Oral Roberts, John Hagee, Jim Bakker, etc

I remembered it and saved it on my homepage. I have been referring to it and the NY Mag article all week.

I don't know how to post the video by itself. It is the top/first video.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210231989

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/the-nra-is-part-of-the-trumprussia-scandal-now.html

It took about 20 min to find it and I had to go back to my posts from this week since I referred to it several times. It is seared into my memory since I am so pissed off about it. The BIG $$$$$ coming into influence the US elections past, present and future isn't just from the Kochs and Mercers, it is from the collected team of the NRA, Religious Right AND Russia. This needs to be on every news station on a continuous loop up to the midterms. The public should know this important influence and info so they can make informed choices and decisions! It should be posted everywhere, including Religious Right group sites.

wants to turn America into Russia...
The rich have nearly all the wealth
The poor have to work themselves to death
No safetynet
Religion is forced on you
No federal protections for minorities or LBGT.

Putin doesn't care much for strong women, from what I've seen.