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Condi Rice Warns DeSantis Against Weakness On Ukraine

Condi Rice Warns Ron DeSantis Against Weakness On Ukraine (VIDEO)

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice warned Republicans eyeing a run for president in 2024 of the dangers of appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin's conquest of Ukraine on Sunday's edition of Face the Nation, arguing that history has left stark examples of what happens when imperial aggression is left unchecked.

"At this early stage of the 2024 presidential race, foreign policy is already getting talked about a fair amount. Former President Trump criticized the amount of US funding for Ukraine. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis, widely expected to run, said the US cannot provide Ukraine an open-ended blank check. They reject your point of view, in many ways, by saying the US needs to kind of pull back here," CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan observed.

"Well, I'm not going to put words in the mouth of future presidential candidates. We'll see where they -- where they end up. But I will..." Rice began.

"You mean Ron DeSantis?" Brennan interjected.

"Right. But I will – but I will say this. It is really important that whoever runs for president of the United States understands the essence of this conflict, the fact that we are defending not just Ukrainian independence, but we're defecting a rule – we are defending a rules-based system that says, might doesn't make right, you can't just extinguish your neighbor," Rice said. "And, oh, by the way, for those who would say, oh, we ought to be concentrating on the Indo-Pacific because China is really our adversary, Xi Jinping is telling you what he thinks about that, because he is not only watching what is going on in Ukraine. According to our intelligence, apparently, he's even considering getting in on the side of the Russians."

Brennan wondered "why do you think he would make that judgment?" and "why is it in his interest to extend the war?"

Rice explained that "we have – we have – yes, so, I think we have to recognize that the Chinese-Russian relationship is perhaps more strategic than many of us had thought, that it really is a relationship that is aimed at the heart of US power in the world."

Rice opined that "these two are not divisible. So, if you want to say, let's just concentrate on the Indo-Pacific, that's not going to work. And oh, by the way, many of our allies, Australia, Japan, fundamentally understand that. So, I would say to those who are going to run for office, be careful what you say. And I would just make one other point."

Critically, Rice further added that "if the American people see a world in which Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have won this engagement, this first volley, if you will, in the larger strategic picture, and they see that Ukrainian independence has been extinguished, and they know that the United States could have done something about it, I don't think that's going to be a very good message for a future president to have to deliver."

Everybody should "just remember dates, 1914, 1941, 2001," Rice suggested, because "these conflicts always come home."

Watch below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Still More Appalling Revelations About Trump’s Misogyny? Coming Right Up!

Still More Appalling Revelations About Trump’s Misogyny? Coming Right Up!

After ex-“Apprentice” producer Bill Pruitt promised more disgusting Trump revelations would come, sure enough the drip continues. The adolescent man-boy and confessed sexual predator bragged about being able to gawk at beauty pageant contestant’s naked bodies because he owned the pageant, according to a Buzzfeed report.

“I sort of get away with things like that,” Trump told Howard Stern in a 2005 interview CNN released Saturday. The story had been around since spring when a pageant contestant in Miss USA 2000 told of how Trump would invent an excuse to barge into the dressing room. Trump vehemently denied it. Surprise, surprise! He was lying.

In other news, in a fine piece of irony, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the womanizing former GOP governor of California who replaced Donald Trump on “The Apprentice” TV show, has said Donald Trump should step aside in the presidential race.

On Saturday, Pruitt tweeted that there are still far worse Trump tapes to come. (You didn’t really think bragging about grabbing women by the pussy was just a one-time thing, did you?) “As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justthebegininng,” Pruitt tweeted. This followed the revelation Saturday that Trump told shock jock Howard Stern 13 years ago, after a graphic discussion of his daughter Ivanka’s figure, that it was okay to refer to her as a “piece of ass.”

Republicans are stampeding to exit the Trump bus. After sticking it out for as long as he could, John McCain has finally had enough. Saturday afternoon, the Arizona senator and former GOP presidential candidate rescinded his support for Donald Trump in a statement to Politico.

“I have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated. He was not my choice, but as a past nominee, I thought it important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference,” McCain said. “But Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy. Cindy, with her strong background in human rights and respect for women, fully agrees with me in this.”

McCain did not call for Trump to drop out, as Condoleezza Rice and a rising chorus of Republicans has since the Friday release of a 2005 video of Trump making lewd remarks about women, asserting his ability to kiss and grope them because he is a star (just months into his marriage to Melania Trump).

His exact recorded words: “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p*ssy. You can do anything.”

After huddling all day in Trump tower with campaign insiders Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani and others, Trump remained defiant about staying in the race until the bitter end. Apparently, that is what Republican voters apparently want. According to a new Politico poll, only 12 percent of Republicans and 13 percent of Republican women want him to drop out.

Giuliani was dispatched to Sunday morning programs as Trump prepared attacks on the Clinton and lashed out at his high-ranking Republican critics. “So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers – and elections – go down!” Trump tweeted.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Saturday, Trump said there is “zero chance” he will drop out.

He reiterated that sentiment in all caps on Twitter Saturday afternoon. “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly – I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!” he tweeted.

It would be uncharted territory if he did drop out. As Reuters notes:

There is no precedent for a major party to replace their nominee this late in the campaign and it remains unclear if there is an avenue to force him from the race. Voting has already begun in several states, including the important swing states of Virginia and North Carolina.

Trump has been attempting to do his brand of damage control ever since the tape was first revealed on Friday, though the damage does continue to spread like wildfire, throwing both his campaign and the party into disarray. to recap, first he issued a lame, “I’m sorry if you were offended” apology. Then he released a brief video saying, “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.” He proceeded to threaten to bring up the Clintons’ marital troubles. Later he made light of the whole thing tweeting, “it sure has been an interesting 24 hours.”

In a first, even his wife Melania has issued a statement critical of her husband. “The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me,” it read. “This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.”

Ivanka Trump has yet to weigh in.

Of the other Republicans who have decamped besides McCain, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has said she will write-in Trump’s running mate Mike Pence when she votes. Paul Ryan canceled a campaign event in Wisconsin with Trump calling his comments “sickening,” though stopped short of withdrawing his endorsement. Crowds reportedly jeered at Ryan at the event, and Trump tweeted about the “great crowds” there. Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah did withdraw his, saying, “I’m out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.”  By Saturday night, 9 Republican Senators, 11 Reps., and 3 GOP governors had decamped from Camp Trump.

A pained-looking Mike Pence issued this brief statement Saturday: “As a husband and father I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in an eleven-year-old video released yesterday. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them.” Pence is reportedly busy praying in hopes that God will give him some guidance on how to handle this whole mess.

Click to enlarge.

There are also indications that the RNC may also be bailing on Trump, with chairman Reince Priebus redirecting funds away from his campaign. On Friday, Priebus immediately denounced Trump’s comments as “indefensible.”

On Saturday, the RNC also appeared to be halting some of the operations of the “Victory” program that is or was all about getting Donald Trump elected, according to Politico, which reports:

In an email from the RNC to a victory program mail vendor, with the subject line “Hold on all projects,” the committee asked the vendor to “put a hold” on mail production.

“Please put a hold/stop on all mail projects right now. If something is in production or print it needs to stop. Will update you when to proceed,” Lauren Toomey, a staffer in the RNC’s political department, wrote in an email that was obtained by Politico.

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.

IMAGE: THE APPRENTICE “Episode 306: The Writing on the Wall” — Pictured: Donald Trump — NBC Universal Photo: Kevin T. Gilbert  

Rice Aides, Powell Got Classified Info On Personal Email Accounts

Rice Aides, Powell Got Classified Info On Personal Email Accounts

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and aides to his successor, Condoleezza Rice, both received classified information a handful of times via personal email accounts, the top Democrat on a congressional oversight panel said on Thursday.

The findings come after nearly a year of controversy over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s decision to set up a private email server for her work as secretary of state. Democratic lawmakers and staff on Clinton’s presidential campaign seized on the report as vindicating some of their defenses of the controversial arrangement.

Representative Elijah Cummings said the disclosures about Powell’s and Rice’s aides’ emails were made by the State Department’s inspector general, who is reviewing the email practices of the last five secretaries of state.

That office told the State Department on Wednesday that it found 12 emails containing classified information sent to Rice’s aides or Powell, according to Cummings, who is the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.

In a statement, Powell said the two emails he received were not judged to contain confidential information at the time they were sent to him by American ambassadors.

“I wish they would release them,” Powell told NBC News, “so that a normal, air-breathing mammal would look at them and say, ‘What’s the issue?'”

A representative for Rice, who, as with Powell, served under Republican President George W. Bush, said the 10 emails sent to her aides did not contain intelligence information.

More than 1,500 of Clinton’s emails, which are being made public on a federal judge’s order, have been found to include classified information so far, according to the State Department.

Clinton both sent and received information the State Department now deems to be classified, including the privately shared thoughts of foreign leaders, as well as highly classified U.S. intelligence agency secrets.

It became public last March that Clinton set up a private email server in her New York home for her work as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state between 2009 and 2013. Accusations that she exposed government secrets to hackers and tried to side-step record keeping laws have since dogged her campaign, and the arrangement is being examined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Clinton’s campaign staff suggested the findings announced on Thursday helped vindicate her claim that she did nothing wrong or unusual and repeated their accusation that the State Department is overclassifying her emails, an idea the department has dismissed.

“Hillary Clinton agrees with her predecessor that his emails, like hers, are being inappropriately subjected to over-classification,” John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said in a statement, calling for their unredacted release.

J. William Leonard, who oversaw the government’s classification regime as the Information Security Oversight Office director until 2008, said so-called “spillage” of classified information into unsecured email systems was common.

“That’s why from the get-go it was exceedingly poor judgment to set up a private email account because of this very real fact,” Leonard said in an interview, referring to Clinton’s arrangement.

The government forbids sending classified information via email, but the .gov email system, which Clinton circumvented, is monitored and protected on the assumption that classified information spills into it.

Powell has said the State Department was technologically backward when he joined in 2001 and that he had to fight to get an Internet-connected computer installed in his office, from which he continued to use his personal email account.

Georgia Godfrey, Rice’s chief of staff at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, said Rice did not use email while at the State Department, and that the 10 emails to her staff were reports on “diplomatic conversations.”

Government regulations require that information shared in confidence by foreign government officials should be treated as classified.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay and Tom Brown)

Photo: Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell salutes the audience as he takes the stage at the Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, September 30, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst