Maybe I am just paranoid?

[kentuck]

But I can never rid myself of this feeling in my gut that Russia has infiltrated the highest levels of our government, including the White House.

It seems that almost every Department of government has been compromised, including the CIA, the FBI, and all our intelligence agencies.

Russia is now in charge of our leaders as the American people slip into some sort of comatose state.

It seems to me that we are refusing to face reality.

Am I just paranoid?

[Turbineguy]

1. That's what I call a healthy paranoia.

[ZDU]

2. Warning Flags Waving

Agreed, kentuck. Something ain't quite right. Destabilization on a grand scale.

[Lawjo]

62. You say you want a Revolution....

I've never really listened to the lyrics before:

[Blue Owl]

3. The Red Dawn of this century is Red Don

Red Don IV: The Coup is Coming from Inside the House!

[kentuck]

5. Now we should know who is the "enemy within".

Your first thought is probably the correct one?

[Dave Bowman]

11. Lol, good one.

[stopdiggin]

4. And the 'reality' that we are refusing to face ?

Is that all branches of our government are controlled by Russia ?
I'd say that is pretty much the definition ...

But you'll probably find confirmation and affirmation within our little tribe here.
That's why the internet is so great !!

[kentuck]

6. Yeah, I guess I'm just paranoid...

..and living in the DU bubble?

[bikes and bunnies]

39. Conspiracy denial theorists...

have a psychological need to deny unpleasant realities.
That's why they constantly ridicule peoples' legitimate concerns about actual conspiracies to steal elections and install puppets, such as Putin's puppet, Cantaloupe Caligula.

No, the OP is not paranoid.
Fear of actual dangers is how creatures survive.

[johnnyfins]

46. So true.

"Conspiracy Theories" are born when Government actions are not transparent.

It's natural for people to use whatever evidence, circumstantial or not, to try to understand events. It's healthy questioning of power.

FUCK anyone that generalizes and says "I don't believe in conspiracy theories". That is blind faith.

[stopdiggin]

58. "Conspiracy Theories" are born when Government actions are not transparent.

which of course doesn't provide a single ounce or degree toward making those theories TRUE !

A 'healthy questioning of power' - does not run to fabulist invention and crackpot theory.
Lending real credence to an assertion such as, "The Russians are now in control of all our leaders .." (used purely as example) doesn't qualify as either critical thinking, or a 'healthy questioning of power'. There has to be some distinction between reasonable assumption (backed up by some degree of fact, information, or logical inference) - and the onboarding of every instance of overwhelmingly credulous nonsense.

[stopdiggin]

49. fear CAN be a positive

But it serves nothing to then NOT point to the fact that it can be terribly destructive and debilitating too. Correct?

The OP made statements of belief that almost certainly lean toward hyperbole ...

It seems that almost every Department of government has been compromised, including the CIA, the FBI, and all our intelligence agencies.

Russia is now in charge of our leaders

And - if truly believed - are, yes, probably both paranoid and conspiratorial. Saying so is only facing fact.

I do have to kind of chuckle and assign a degree of merit and invention to 'flipping the script' with, "Conspiracy denial theorists"
Is this the new and improved version of, "Just because your paranoid, doesn't mean .. " ?
- - - - - - - - - - -

[wnylib]

53. And you don't believe that Trump had Russian help

in 2016? Or that he publicly asserted his belief in Putin's word over our own Intel agencies?

You don't believe that during four years as president, Trump put people in our Intel agencies that would favor his own pro Russia views?

You don't believe that MAGA members of Congress have had private meetings with Putin?

You don't believe that Putin carries deep seated resentment and vengeance toward the US after the breakup of the Soviet Union where he was a dedicated KGB agent?

You don't believe that Russian bots have flooded American social media with disinformation that MAGAs agree with?

You mentioned a DU bubble in regard to Russia. Do you have a different bubble of your own?

I believe that, after January 20, 2025, the US will have a dictatorship and become a Russian client state.

[stopdiggin]

60. I thnk you might be replying to a diffent post.

In fact I affirmatively believe all the things you listed - saving the last two.

I don't recall ever mentioning anything about either a DU or a Russian 'bubble' - - Not even sure what it means.

And I think your final statement regarding a Russian client state is the just about the largest boatload of crap. A joke really. Even given the proposition of 'dictatorship' (slightly more plausible, although still by no means likely) The idea that the U.S. is going to cede all its enormous wealth and power ... ? Under what alternate reality is THIS going to take place? Laughable and really quite ludicrous ... Not, I repeat NOT going to happen.

[rampartd]

70. "axis of authoritarians"

russia/china/iran/n korea/ argentina/israel/saudi arabia/india add usa and who to protect europe, the s koreans, or tiawan?

[people]

7. I thought it was very strange . . .

and shocking when T was president and several republicans went to Russia for the 4th of July.

[ForgedCrank]

8. Not paranoid

at all. Our system has been infected with then for decades, fact. That also includes China and most likely others.

[Mike 03]

9. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence

Russian State TV refers to her colloquially as "our girlfriend."

So I think you're close to the truth here.

[a kennedy]

19. and this is just sick and soooooo wrong........"our girl friend".

🤬 🤬 🤬

[MadameButterfly]

10. Trump is Putins puppet

Now tulsi Gabbard in charge of security
Trump steals top secret documants with impunity
I'd say we have no secrets from Russia now

[Irish_Dem]

12. It is blatantly obvious isn't it?

Trump could not have pulled all of this off on his own.
He had to have had help at the highest levels across the US government.

An international crime syndicate does not take over the entire US government without a lot of inside help.
A huge amount of help.

You are 100% correct.

Two plus two always equals four.

But even the obvious is often hard for most people to face.

[Beringia]

13. I think it could be, but what about patriotic Civil servants in FBI and CIA

what will they do

[AZ8theist]

21. They'll get fired. Just watch.

[calimary]

44. Or maybe go underground, at least for awhile.

[H2O Man]

57. Correct.

You are so right. The new administration plans to get rid of those in intelligence and military who are loyal to the Constitution, rather than the felon. They have made that clear. People need a firm grasp on what direction the country is going on. That firm grasp will allow us to hang on as this storm of destruction hits.

[Otto_Harper]

37. The FBI will do just what their current training teaches them to do

[Six117]

65. Lawyering up, trying to protect themselves

"Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, were shocked by Trump’s decisive election win. For the last four years, Garland has argued that strictly following post-Watergate norms that require the Justice Department to work in a nonpartisan manner in criminal investigations would restore public trust in the Justice Department."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-fbi-officials-reach-lawyers-potential-trump-revenge-prosecutions-l-rcna179737

Actually -faithfully executing the law "without fear or favor" would have done so much to protect us all.

I am heartbroken for my country!

[Beringia]

66. Garland always struck me as a doddering fool

[usonian]

14. Is water wet?

Been that way for many years.

Putin can't beat Monaco at war, but he can defeat the US with an army within.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Maybe it's just all the oligarchs in it for themselves and cutting deals

This has been several decades in the making. Hints were dropped along the way.

[markodochartaigh]

32. For all intents and purposes

Russia is just Putin and a few oiligarchs.

[bdamomma]

51. Maybe

the oligarchs will eat their own. I would enjoy seeing that.

[underpants]

16. They infiltrated the GOP years ago

Senators In Moscow on the 4th of July
$40+M to the NRA
Fox promoted Putin as the white anti-Obama
Trump siezed on that.

Trump has been seen as a possible Russian asset for decades.

Laura Logan, Tobias, Tulsi, & Greenwald all turned.
Tucker was turned.

Putin is the richest man in the world and he, very smartly, went tech while Russia was in ashes.

Intel and money.

[Inkey]

17. This is the dawning of the age of the

Oligarchs. Sad to say 😞

[calimary]

45. It's even on the beat.

Cue the 5th Dimension. You could sing it to “the Age of Aquarius”.

[oldsoldierfadingfast]

18. Paranoia; no...

it is more like astute observation!

[AverageOldGuy]

20. It's not that u r paranoid . . .

. . . It’s that u r not paranoid enough . . . It’s worse than u think.

[Submariner]

22. When Putin displays a nude Melania across 11 time zones of Russia TV

it is pretty likely he's was informing the planet that Caligula is his bitch.

That the President-elect of the United States of America, and America itself, is Russia's bitch. You're not paranoid.

[Beck23]

50. Trump said he would stop the Ukraine war

..the day after the election. Putin just bombed Ukraine's electrical infrastruture. It's 12 days after the election.

[jmbar2]

23. I'm right there with you

Trump and the magats are so easy for Russia to infiltrate and manipulate. Now add in the cyptobros and Elon, and we are facing a full takeover of the US government.

I am hoping and praying that a resistance movement is forming inside the critical agencies that can hold things together until midterms.

It will be crucially important for us to hound our Republican elected representatives every time some terrible policy is proposed. They will have to face reelection with a lame duck president just about the time that the ill-effects of Trump's rule are starting to be felt. By that time, Putin should also be much more weakened.

JMO, of course. Could always be wrong.

[markodochartaigh]

34. Well,

"Trump and the magats are so easy for Russia to infiltrate and manipulate."

Authoritarian followers are, by definition, easy to manipulate. Just give them a Strong Leader and they goosestep blindly in line.

[Demobrat]

24. Seeing the evidence before your eyes is not paranoia.

[Wicked Blue]

25. No, you're not

They've been planning to wreck the U.S. for decades

[JoseBalow]

26. drumpf's longevity is proof the CIA didn't kill JFK

[Mr.Bill]

27. Today's CIA

is not your parent's CIA.

[Cherrycheeks]

28. Nope..

I have said all along that anyone who thinks he don't give away secrets in Helsinki are drinking the koolaid or are in on it.

Another,thing they have had yrs to go through all of the classified info at Maralago.

[barbtries]

29. if you are, then so am i.

we're fucked. we must resist.

[Hekate]

30. If you mean are you imagining things -- no. Sometimes they really out to get us, & this is such a time.

[TommieMommy]

31. I also agree about Russia infiltrating. Not good 😡

[jaxexpat]

33. You may be paranoid, but that doesn't mean there's no conspiracy.

In profound ways, American government has, over 200+ years, evolved into a sort of secret society. It's like a multi-layered cabal whose priority is to prevent the electorate from possessing accurate information on issues which may shine a bad light on their intentions and it's working perfectly. Just over half the voters are totally misinformed on important issues preventing even the possibility of them making informed choices. So far as I can tell, it's been this way ever since I was old enough to notice stuff outside my hometown.

Don't know why it's that way, but it definitely is that way. Why has it always been this way? Because people like to guess and imagine stuff. It keeps them preoccupied. So long as people are preoccupied, they won't try to change things. Sometimes it works that they let people think things are changing but then it comes out that it's still the same shit and nobody's gonna be allowed to lift a finger to change it.

[Evolve Dammit]

35. No you're not

[relayerbob]

36. Not paranoid in the least

There's no doubt

[mamacita75]

38. True

statement. Do not be paranoid of something that is true.

It happened. We've been so compromised it is mind blowing.
We were just living our lives while the fascists plotted and planned and welcomed this intrusion into America.

Too many obviously don't even care.

[kimbutgar]

40. Putin now owns the USA

And he will be paying a national state visit to look over his new country and get the state secrets especially the nuclear codes from his puppet dictator.

[orwell]

41. It is more likely...

...that Russian Oligarchs have united with western Oligarchs in a global push for the triumph of capital over governments.

This has been decades in the making. It is now becoming apparent as the masks come off.

Fascism is winning.

[czarjak]

42. "Russia's a ruse" vs "Russia, if you're listening"

Having it both ways with rubes..

[voteragain]

43. loyalty

I keep remembering one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies when the British East India Company finally shows up and the governor is told loyalty to the crown is no longer the currency of the realm. something close to that.
my point is money can buy anyone who has no boundaries.

to me no you are not paranoid to me thinking there could be a political 5th column. it was used in WWII.

[Beck23]

47. Do you mean through Trump and Musk

who have been in regular contact with Putin over the last few years?

If the election is not recounted and challenged based on valid evidence, be prepared to see a radical dismantling of our government and a lot of hardship, as Musk said.

[Lawjo]

48. I fear Trump is trying to align the US with

the axis of evil, US, RU NK, CN, Iran. Think about it, Trump lets Russia take Ukraine. China moves on Taiwan. N. Korea launches some missiles just to add to the chaos and Iran goes all in on Israel, and the US does nothing. It would be a new World order

[Beck23]

52. Maybe that's why Musk recently

asked his suppliers to move out of Taiwan.

[bluestarone]

54. My conclusion as well.

The RETHUG closets were so full of VERY FILTHY UNSPEAKABLE things. ( yea their religious alright) Worst creeps on the planet. I actually fear a complete take over without a shot fired. Our hands are tied because of our legal system. Supreme court included. Only one thing we could do is fight like our forefathers did in 1776. (yep all the way back to that year i'm afraid.) Do we have it in us? I doubt it!

[H2O Man]

55. Maria Butina.

Paul Erickson. The NRA & Butina's "group," the "Right to Bear Arms," which fronted for shoveling Russian money to the NRA and its puppets in DC.

Putin's Russia is a white power outfit. It is strongly anti-Muslim, that Tulsi Gabbard breaks bread with them. And 100% of the sociopath's cult of white christian nationalists support Putin's violent aggression in the Ukraine. My son-in-law in Europe's background is international human rights law. They know that the in-coming administration will trash NATO, and that Putin will widen his invasions.

No, my Good Friend, you are not paranoid.

[KT2000]

56. We have been destabilized

from the inside. We are crumbling apart at the most basic level because our freedoms have been manipulated by an enemy. How much is our economy paying off ransomware? How much misinformation has gotten into the national dialog? How much division and distrust has been driven into our most intimate relationships? Aiding the most un-American politician in this country's history to take control so he will further disintegrate the bonds among citizens.
Putin headed their spy agency and is very familiar with these tactics - of course he would direct them against us. Not even a bullet was fired and we are falling apart as a country.

[wendyb-NC]

59. No you're not paranoid

The things he's said out loud, or stuff that would land any other person would be in jail.

The crap he pulled last week, in naming, his choices to fill his Cabinet. It was a blatant, indecent, treacherous, mockery of traditions and all guidance for choosing a candidates who will uphold the named purpose of each department, most of his choices so far fly in the face of everything that would be considered appropriate.

This whole thing is aimed at destroying our constitution, and turning it into, who knows what.

[Lawjo]

61. The risks will be been when Ukraine collapses and Poland

in no way is going to allow Russia on their boarder, so Poland will move in and help defend Ukraine which will start WWIII

[Skittles]

63. that is pretty much a GIVEN

and Trump and Gabbard, it will be a FREE FOR ALL

[Meowmee]

64. No imo you are not paranoid

One of the first things the psycho did last time was to invite that Russian diplomat- as well as others, I have forgotten his name, into the oval office without anyone observing it. Soon after that, Israeli intelligence was leaked, possibly costing the lives of counterintelligence people there.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the psycho and many others in the R party are compromised. It was obvious when he met with P that he was terrified of him, in Helsinki.

In addition there is evidence that psycho and his first wife, whose father was an informer for stb, traveled to Russia with her where he was targeted to see if he could be used as an asset- he was after that an asset. One of the things suggested to him when he was targeted was that he should run for president of the US. Not long after that, he paid for an article in the New York Times, criticizing the foreign policy of the US among other things and eventually started pursuing a run for president. They traveled to Russia frequently and he eventually held a miss universe pageant there. It’s probably at that time that they gathered Kompromat on him in my opinion.

[Mike Niendorff]

67. I think it's broader than that.

It's a mafia network of oligarchs and their compromised frontmen. It's in motion worldwide, and moving with lightning speed.


MDN

[electric_blue68]

68. Um...I think you are going a bit overboard - for now...Russians controlling our Gov't already? Uh, noooo....

All our agencies that compromised? No.

Yes, I've pretty much followed all the news about Russian meetings drumphf has had. The documents he's stolen. His horiffic love for Putin, and other dictatorial Strongmen.

And the awful people he's already appointed.

Otoh... once that monster returns to office - that's a different story.

[dlilafae]

69. The election was tampered with

...and it looks like the Dems are gonna sit on their hands.

[Emile]

71. I believe you are right! Our Democratic Republic is being threatened from within.

[Kid Berwyn]

72. AG Matt Gaetz is a distinct paranoia.

A nightmare from history inspects a POW camp run by the SS.