Worse than Watergate?

Mark Levin, a conservative talk show host and former member of the Reagan Administration, makes the case of Obama Administration spying on the Trump Campaign by citing left-leaning news sources.  Of course, citing these same sources with equal brevity, one can make the case that Trump's Campaign was deeply entangled with the Russians.  However, which story is more prevalent?

That is the secret of spin, slant, and fake news.  When the accusation comes on page 1 and the retraction on the following day appears on page 20, how many readers will have read the former but not the latter?  Is that by accident or intention?  For weeks on end, the news will report about a hate crime, but when the victim turns out to be the perpetrator, silence.  The news had given the impression that rape is common and widespread on college campuses but every story that gets wide coverage turns out to be false.  The media picks which stories will go viral and which will get a mention - so they can honestly say they covered it - and then never go anywhere.  The majority of the media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, etc.) are staffed with Democrats.  It's an echo chamber run on confirmation bias.  The fact that the word 'narrative' is so popular in news coverage today speaks volumes.  The Op Ed page has invaded the whole of the news industry.

 

The Russia story is bogus.  It was used as a means to get a FISA judge to approve surveillance.  Russia had no reason to prefer Trump over Hillary.  Obama was the best US President Russia ever had.  He stood by with empty words when Russia invaded the Crimea.  He was flexible on weakening the US military.  He stood by as Russia sent forces into Syria.  He managed to improve the relationship between Turkey and Russia, which is not beneficial to America.  He gave billions of dollars to Iran - a Russian ally in the Middle East - and lifted sanctions, again benefiting Russia.  He nixed our missile defense agreement with Poland and the Czech Republic, which pleased Russia.  While Obama's Secretary of State, Hillary approved the sale of 20% of the US uranium mines to a Russian mining company, Rosatom.  With a series of victories like that, why would Russia want an erratic real estate mogul who keeps saying, "Make America Great Again" rather than Obama's chosen successor?  It sure looks like the Russia story is a clear case of projection.

 

As for the spying, one must ask what did Obama know and when did he know it?

Watergate Redux

In 1972, members of the Nixon campaign sought to steal documents and plant bugs in the offices of the Democratic National Committee at Watergate.  President Trump claims that the Obama Administration - which was actively campaigning for Hillary Clinton - did the same.  Here are a couple of Trump's tweets on the subject:

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

 

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

Donald J. Trump, Mar 4, 2017

 

Is that crazy talk?  Sadly, no.  The Obama Administration tapped the phones of the Associated Press for two months.  Even more invasive measures were taken against Fox Reporter James Rosen.  Edward Snowden was sufficiently alarmed that he went public with leaks revealing mass surveillance.  The Obama Administration used the Espionage Act of 1917 to punish leakers rather than to prevent espionage.  Add to that Krauthammer's view that the outgoing administration left "landmines" to hobble the early days of the Trump Administration.  With all that in mind, was this the kind of administration that would pull a Nixon?  Yes it was.

 

Obviously, it remains to be proven.  Trump makes wild claims (e.g. Inauguration crowd size, electoral college margin, etc.) but he is in a position to know what government agencies have been doing; they all report to him now, even if reluctantly.