Saturday, August 13, 2016

Trump Cards, Con't

The Trump campaign's continuing damage to the legitimacy of American elections continues apace.

Donald Trump's campaign is seeking to recruit "election observers" following the Republican nominee's repeated claims that the general election is "rigged."

In a move that's unprecedented in a presidential election, the campaign late this week launched a page on its website proclaiming, "Help Me Stop Crooked Hillary From Rigging This Election! Please fill out this form to receive more information about becoming a volunteer Trump Election Observer."

Those who wish to be a Trump "observer" are asked to fill out information on the website that should match their voter registration. Once submitted, voters are directed to a donation page.

Hours before the site gained traction Friday night, Trump said at a rally in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that the only way he would lose in Pennsylvania is "if cheating goes on."

“She can’t beat what’s happening here. The only way they can beat it in my opinion, and I mean this 100 percent, if in certain sections of the state they cheat,” Trump said of Clinton campaign in Pennsylvania.

Although laws vary from state to state, campaigning by political parties is typically banned at polling sites under voter intimidation laws.

But of course, Trump can't be held responsible if he tells his followers that the election is rigged, that he needs people to "observe" these elections to "stop cheating" and that these happen to be swing states like Ohio, which have open carry laws.

No possibility of Trump being held responsible for what might happen, right?

Getting Really Hacked Off

The Russian theft of Democratic party information online continues to be problematic as hacker "Guccifer 2.0" has now posted the personal, private contact info of nearly 200 House Democrats for the world to have.

The massive data breach plaguing the Democratic Party led to another leak on Friday.

A hacker group calling itself “Guccifer 2.0” posted the personal cell phone numbers and emails of nearly 200 Democratic congressional members, The Wall Street Journal reported.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer were among those affected.

The ongoing leaks, which have been roiling the Democratic Party since before its national convention last month, have prompted an FBI investigation.

That investigation widened this week when it became clear that Russian hackers were targeting Democratic Party insiders and people on Hillary Clinton's campaign staff.

Members of several homeland security committees were also affected, including those on the House Intelligence Committee, and the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, The Journal noted, prompting concerns that members of those groups could be further targeted by spies.

Lawmakers have worried that the leaks may be an attempt to influence the election. The party has been bracing for the possibility of another damaging leak before November.

The data is there pointing to Guccifer 2.0 as yet another Russian front like WikiLeaks, and our good friends in Moscow must be laughing their asses off at how easy it is to pull the strings on our election press.

The hacker(s) included a message about US elections along with the stolen documents posted Friday: "As you see the U.S. presidential elections are becoming a farce, a big political performance where the voters are far from playing the leading role. Everything is being settled behind the scenes as it was with Bernie Sanders. I wonder what happened to the true democracy, to the equal opportunities, the things we love the United States for," the hacker(s) wrote. "The big money bags are fighting for power today. They are lying constantly and don't keep their word. The MSM are producing tons of propaganda hiding the real stuff behind it. But I do believe that people have right to know what's going on inside the election process in fact."

Sure, but only the Democrats, see.  Funny how that works.  Funny how Trump then carries into arguably his most dangerous tirade yet.

Donald Trump again raised the specter of election fraud Friday, saying that the only way he would lose Pennsylvania is to Hillary Clinton is if "they cheat."

The Republican nominee, speaking at a rally in Altoona, Pennsylvania, repeated his concerns about the fairness of the election.

“The only way we can lose, in my opinion — I really mean this, Pennsylvania is if cheating goes on and we have to call up law enforcement and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everyone watching because if we get cheated out of this election, if we get cheated out of a win in Pennsylvania, which is such a vital state especially when I know what is happening here,” he said. “She can’t beat what’s happening here. The only way they can beat it in my opinion, and I mean this 100 percent, if in certain sections of the state they cheat.”

So you publish the info of several Democratic House members -- including in Pennsylvania -- and then say the only way those people can win is if those people cheat in "certain sections" of the state.

You know, the sections represented by Democrats.

Maybe some Second Amendment supporters should do something, you know?

And on and on we go.  There's no question now that the Russians are playing the incitement game in order to damage the Democrats and to damage the credibility of US elections.  Trump is playing along because he's a fellow traveler.

This just got a whole lot scarier, folks.

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