Robert Reich: A dark cloud of illegitimacy hangs over the pending presidency...

[babylonsister]

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

Robert Reich
8 hrs ·

A dark cloud of illegitimacy hangs over the pending presidency of Donald Trump, given:

1. The CIA has found credible evidence that Russia intervened in the election in order to help Trump become president.

2. It has been suggested that Trump owes vast sums of money to Russian oligarchs, friends of Putin, who have also invested substantially in Trump’s enterprises -- which may explain why Trump won’t disclose his tax returns, which would show evidence of these deals.

3. Several of Trump’s key campaign aides – including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort – have close ties to Russia. Between 2007 and 2012, Manafort received some $12.7 million in cash payments from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.

4. During the campaign, Trump said he admired Putin, questioned whether the U.S. should continue to support NATO, and argued that Putin was justified in moving into Ukraine.

5. Trump is expected to pick as his Secretary of State ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who is also close to Putin. In 2013, Putin awarded Tillerson the Order of Friendship, one of the highest honors Russia gives to foreign citizens. Tillerson came up through the ranks at Exxon by managing the company's Russia account. After becaming CEO, Exxon bet billions on Russia's vast oil resources through a partnership with Russian oil giant Rosneft, owned partly by the Kremlin. Putin himself attended the 2011 signing ceremony for the deal. Russia has already indicated it would welcome Tillerson being named America's top diplomat.

6. Trump was defeated in the actual voting by a startling—and still growing—2,676,670 votes. Clinton’s popular vote victory margin is now 2 percent, thus handing Trump the largest defeat suffered by a candidate elevated to the presidency by the Electoral College in modern history.

Before the Electors submit their ballots for president next week, Trump must release his tax returns and the CIA must make public its report on Russia’s intervention in the U.S. elections in support of Trump.

What do you think?

[Raster]

1. Trump will NEVER release his tax records...

...they will show he is in deep hock to Russian oligarchs and Russian banks loyal to "the Tsar."

[NewJeffCT]

40. some hacker needs to get them

and release them onto the internet.

[Honest_Abe]

42. Maybe they have.

I wonder if the Russians haven't got them, threatening to release them if Trump steps out of line? No evidence, but I can speculate just as well as Bolton and the rest of them.

[LeftofObama]

2. There are people who are WAAAAAY more powerful than you or I who can do something about this scam.

Until they step up and protect us, all we can do is sit back and watch the world burn. Articles can be written and complaints can be voiced, but until someone with power steps up and does something all we can do is watch it happen.

[Stargazer09]

4. Agreed

We need very strong leadership right now, and I'm hoping that we will see it very soon.

I hope that people who can actually change things will not wait until the Electoral College places its votes next week, because that just makes it more likely that nothing will change between now and the inauguration.

[Silver Gaia]

11. I agree. I can't say I'm hopeful this will happen, but

I agree that it NEEDS to happen.

[watoos]

22. Sure, there are people way more powerful

who could take on the oligarchy. What would that mean? If it were a politician, boat loads of money would rain down on them to defeat their reelection. The corporate controlled M$M would attack any more powerful person relentlessly. Also remember history about people who took on the corruption, people like JFK, RFK, and MLK.
No, waiting for a knight in shining armor will be a long wait, I hope I'm wrong, if one emerges I will support him, her.

Change will have to come from the bottom, from the people. Hopefully there are more of us than those who have been conned. They are even trying to block the protest scheduled for Trump's inauguration, don't let them. If we aren't allowed on the mall or around national monuments we should take it to the streets, to the sidewalks of D.C. One thing that we the people can't do is to take this coup sitting down, this democratic government was instituted for we the people, it ours to take or it is ours to give up. I say we take it back.

[yurbud]

38. good points. And the elites only go after each other for sins they themselves don't do on a regular

basis as part of their jobs.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

46. I don't look for heroes....

The American People act like it's all a joke now.

[DetlefK]

3. Trump has no morals, loyalty or patriotism. He will do what he legally must, and not an inch more.

[yardwork]

5. Reich doesn't seem to understand politics.

[babylonsister]

7. Yea, he's a real rube. nt

[yardwork]

8. It's been a big disappointment.

[jumptheshadow]

18. Why?

Everything he says is true and he has been a beacon of light shining through the disinformation.

What specifically do you disagree with?

[wordpix]

25. the non-response to your question is deafening

thanks for asking it, I was about to do same

[Freeman0311]

34. I disagree

He understands politics just fine..

He's a true American progressive who's for ALL Americans AND WANTS THE COUNTRY TO SUCCEED BEYOND PARTISANSHIP..his reputation and actions alone put him beyond reproach.

He (just like most of us on DNC Underground) can't contemplate cheating, working with hostile foreign governments, lying to (inculde outright making crap up)..all to decieve the country in order to win.

Back in his "political day" that would have cost a candidate the election.

So most of us don't understand that brand of campaigning just like him.

You can't call it politics now because we are way beyond typical sane politics.

[lastlib]

6. Not just his tax returns....

...I DEMAND that he show us the Mensa card!!

If you have such a great brain, PROVE IT, Donny!!

[wordpix]

12. lol, he says he's a MENSA member? Not a very bright group then

[HughBeaumont]

15. He'd be the only Trump supporter that has one.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. He's a member of DENSA

[Cha]

9. Damn straight and it's only going to get darker and

more bursting with toxic rain.

Stop him now.

[wordpix]

10. Reich is right and the electors can postpone voting til after the recount

I don't see why 12/19 is such a magical date. Why not 12/30? Or 1st or 2nd week in Jan?

WTF is the rush?

[sellitman]

13. Keep dreaming

It's too late. Most of this was known before the election. It changed nothing.

[Alice11111]

41. Yep, unless Obama and Others jumped in BIGLY and Fast,

It is too late to change anything now. That's not going to happen. As he said, Obama out.
As DT said, he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and not lose support. Putin could be reloading for him and "Principled" Comey could be making sure everything is prepared for a clear shot.
Our country as we know it is over. We are in a different age. Democracy is a scam, a game, which the Republicans have always been far better at, and having no moral compunctions, and a taste for vindictives helps a lot. Why pretend to be Pollyanna anymore?

[downeastdaniel]

14. Reigh is totally correct.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. Have to say that Trump is the most unAmerican president that this country has ever seen.

And that says a lot coming in the years following GBII.

[uponit7771]

19. +1, this is minimum.... the issue is what level of False Flag will Benedict Donald implement to get

... Americans who love America to shut up?

I'm thinking low yield tactical nuke in the desert or something ...

seems like something that one can't put beyond him

[AngryAmish]

20. That is a horrible thing to say about his mother.

[spanone]

21. K&R...

[CousinIT]

23. Robert Reich should SEND THIS TO THE ELECTORS

http://www.asktheelectors.org/

[Johnny2X2X]

24. Victory tour

The victory tour Trump is taking is ridiculous. You lost by almost 3 million votes, show some humility. Even Bush showed more humility than you when Bush beat him by half a million in the popular vote.

The GOP is going to reach way way way too far, they don't have a mandate. The only question s do we have a democracy anymore to vote them out, not sure on that one.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. The concern is if one side is so partisan they will gladly accept the help of an enemy

nation, then we are in trouble as a people.

You would think they would ask themselves why would a murderous dictator who steals for a living, Putin, WANT Trump to be our president. But they wont ask that question.

[treestar]

29. Exactly and they call themselves the patriots!

As long as you wear a flag pin or something stupid like that.

[Eliot Rosewater]

31. Most of this conversation will soon become moot, as the reality of

a Trump/Putin partnership will soon reveal world war implications at most and world economic disaster at least.

The interesting thing to watch will be how far down the ratlines will his republican supporters follow him?

[Oneironaut]

30. It's amusing and scary reading Conservative websites, where

they portray Putin as the good guy fighting the evil American globalists. Where did this crap come from? Oh yeah - it sounds exactly like the state-run Russian news media.

They love Putin. They love him almost as much as Trump.

[Eliot Rosewater]

32. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, any support of him is a precursor to treason.

[duffyduff]

45. He is a Hitler or Stalin wannabe.

He is just itching to get into other countries now that he thinks the US has been neutralized.

[duffyduff]

44. That is the problem in a nutshell.

These GOP electors are IDIOTS. They will pass the buck and allow Trump to take office and put the ball in Congress's court.

It will be a cold day in hell they will ever vote for a Democrat as president even though she handily won the popular vote. Especially not this Democrat.

And a third party like Kasich or Ryan or Romney? You've got to be kidding. They would be more illegitimate than Trump.

[rzemanfl]

27. Gore n/t

[AlexSFCA]

33. What we need to understand about the Victory Tour

What people don't get about his victory tour is that it is a reference to Hitler's victory rallies, the only other democraticallly elected president to hold such victory tours. Trump is using his victory tour to keep the alt right base activated and priming the country for the radical new direction.

[Johnny2X2X]

35. These are New Nazis

There is reference to Hitler at every turn for this group. You have Bannon who has been open with his admiration for Nazi speech writers, and then Trump himself who admits he owns a book of Hitler speeches. It's frightening to think what this group will do to consolidate power once they take office. There will be a national crisis almost immediately they will use.

[treestar]

28. the media won't, so we should, harp on this

every day from Jan 20 on. Any time there is a Russian element in the news this should be examined.

[workinclasszero]

36. Every day 24/7 till the russian plant is impeached...

quits or leaves the White House for immediate fumigation.

Did birther asshole Dumpf ever quit lyin about Obama?

We are telling the truth about the KGB agent-in-charge!

F Orange Hitler!

[yurbud]

37. a couple of things on this CIA angle:

I hope it's true.

However, if we learned anything in the Bush years, it's that what the CIA has evidence of and what politicians and the press say about it can be quite different.

I would find this more credible if Bush era skeptics like Ray McGovern and others said the claim was legit.

[humbled_opinion]

43. I think we should seek a judge

to put a hold on all of this until an investigation is completed. If Russia hacked the election in anyway it is invalid and requires a do-over.

[kentuck]

47. Trump does not have the consent of the governed, therefore...

he cannot be legitimate.

That does not mean he cannot be an "illegitimate" President. Only that he lost the popular vote and does not have the consent of the people that voted.

[blue neen]

48. Release the tax returns!