Less than a day goes by...

[Thumpalumpacus]

Do you even understand what "appearance of impropriety" even means?  The facts not under dispute give that appearance.  It doesn't require spin.  Yeah, I agree some news services do so nonetheless.

By controlling the context you can create the appearance of impropriety.  

The silliest example, was Trump calling for hackers to attack the United States.  I happened to be watching the the rally live on TV where Trump made a joke about maybe the hackers could find Hillary's 30,000 emails next.  It was a fairly funny off the cuff (maybe) jab.  I laughed.  Then a couple hours later, the headline was "DID TRUMP COMMIT TREASON!?"

That's fairly routine.  Hillary and Benghazi was a pretty good example of this as well.  Where all the context of how things actually work at the State Department were purposefully left out, and the right presented the story in a way that allowed uninformed people to fill in the blanks with their own bias or incorrect assumptions.  

It's a good political trick.  I'm just not crazy about the press doing it, because then there's nobody at all to be trusted.

I'm not cool with a candidate urging a somewhat hostile nation to penetrate our electoral process.

Your mileage obviously varies.

All the more reason for me to vote. Good job! Hope you feel satisfied.

I would have voted anyway. You didn't accomplish a goddamned thing. Enjoy!

[henryp]

By controlling the context you can create the appearance of impropriety.  

The silliest example, was Trump calling for hackers to attack the United States.  I happened to be watching the the rally live on TV where Trump made a joke about maybe the hackers could find Hillary's 30,000 emails next.  It was a fairly funny off the cuff (maybe) jab.  I laughed.  Then a couple hours later, the headline was "DID TRUMP COMMIT TREASON!?"

That's fairly routine.  Hillary and Benghazi was a pretty good example of this as well.  Where all the context of how things actually work at the State Department were purposefully left out, and the right presented the story in a way that allowed uninformed people to fill in the blanks with their own bias or incorrect assumptions.  

It's a good political trick.  I'm just not crazy about the press doing it, because then there's nobody at all to be trusted.

I'm not cool with a candidate urging a somewhat hostile nation to penetrate our electoral process.

Your mileage obviously varies.

All the more reason for me to vote. Good job! Hope you feel satisfied.

I would have voted anyway. You didn't accomplish a goddamned thing. Enjoy!

Neither am I.  I think making a joke about it is fine though.

[Minimalist]

As if the WLB could read Shakespeare.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm not cool with a candidate urging a somewhat hostile nation to penetrate our electoral process.

Your mileage obviously varies.

All the more reason for me to vote. Good job! Hope you feel satisfied.

I would have voted anyway. You didn't accomplish a goddamned thing. Enjoy!

Neither am I.  I think making a joke about it is fine though.

On a stage in a political rally? How purblind are you?

"Joke". 18 documented contacts between his campaign and Russia, and then saying that onstage in front of a political rally.

Stick your head in the sand all you want, kid. Some of us will be around to ask questions for the likes of you, don't worry.

[henryp]

Neither am I.  I think making a joke about it is fine though.

On a stage in a political rally? How purblind are you?

"Joke". 18 documented contacts between his campaign and Russia, and then saying that onstage in front of a political rally.

Stick your head in the sand all you want, kid. Some of us will be around to ask questions for the likes of you, don't worry.

Note from Trump to Kremlin: Hey guys, pay really close attention to the Deluth campaign event on CNN today.  I'll be personally sending along instructions.

Kremlin note Back:  Why not just put instructions in note?  Or give to guy who is passing us note?

2nd Trump note to Kremlin: Trust me, public televised campaign events makes way more sense.

--

On top of which, wasn't the call for hacking into Hillary's 30,000 missing emails?  Which were on destroyed servers which tend to not be connected to the internet?  You can't 'hack' into those.  Russia would have to physically steal the broken servers, and then develop new technology to get the wiped data off of them.  It's an absurdity.

Which of course is irrelevant, because it was just an opportunity to bring up her 30,000 emails in a joke, because of the appearance of impropriety her deleting them carried.  Even though it was probably 30,000 20% off coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond, and nothing particularly serious as Trump was implying, but Hillary couldn't prove.

--

As to your 18 contacts.  Maybe.  Maybe there was coordination.  Maybe we'll see.  Maybe he'll get impeached.  But that doesn't change that the request for 'hacking' the 30k emails was clearly a joke.

[Thumpalumpacus]

This is about Donald Trump likely colluding wth a foreign power in order to skew the election. The assumption that the emails were safe due to being offline is just that, an assumption, and one that a year ago Trump supporters were not believing. But now that there's enough evidence to appoint a special counsel, it's a point in his defense?

You support a man who obviously despises democracy.

If it was a joke, it was idiotic, and unfunny. Me, I don't think it was a joke. But you can keep sucking on your pacifier, don't let me interrupt your slumber.

[henryp]

This is about Donald Trump likely colluding wth a foreign power in order to skew the election. The assumption that the emails were safe due to being offline is just that, an assumption, and one that a year ago Trump supporters were not believing. But now that there's enough evidence to appoint a special counsel, it's a point in his defense?

You support a man who obviously despises democracy.

If it was a joke, it was idiotic, and unfunny. Me, I don't think it was a joke. But you can keep sucking on your pacifier, don't let me interrupt your slumber.

I think the emails were more than safe.  They were gone.  The FBI was in possession of the wiped servers at the time, weren't they?  Ignoring that people usually choose televised events to commit treason, it was an impossible ask.  There is no such thing as hacking unconnected wiped hardware remotely.  It's not a real thing.

Also, you finding it unfunny only means you find it unfunny.  I laughed.  But I wasn't particularly invested in the outcome of the election.  I had assumed all along that Hillary was going to win in a landslide.