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From Caitlin Johnstone Website
HRC 2016 concession 20 %28cropped%29.
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Both Tulsi Gabbard and the Green Party of the United States have issued scorching rebukes of Hillary Clinton for baseless accusations the former Secretary of State made during a recent interview claiming that both Gabbard and former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein are aligned with the Russian government.
"I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate," Clinton said in a transparent reference to Gabbard. "She's the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. And that's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she's also a Russian asset."
Clinton provided no evidence for her outlandish claims, because she does not have any. Gabbard has repeatedly denied centrist conspiracy theories that she intends to run as a third-party candidate, a claim which establishment pundits have been making more and more often because they know there will never be any consequences when their claims are disproven. There is no evidence of any kind connecting either Jill Stein or Tulsi Gabbard to the Russian government.
Of course, this total lack of evidence hasn't dissuaded Clintonites from falling all over themselves trying to justify mommy's claims anyway.
This is so important. Russian "assets" are not formal relationships in the USIC sense of the word. If you are parroting Russian talking points and furthering their interests, you're a source who is too dumb to know you're being played to ask for money. https://t.co/arMPulvi9H
Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) October 19, 2019
"Russian 'assets' are not formal relationships in the USIC [US Intelligence Community] sense of the word," CNN analyst and former FBI agent Asha Rangappa explained via Twitter. "If you are parroting Russian talking points and furthering their interests, you're a source who is too dumb to know you're being played to ask for money."
"It's important to point out here that a Russian 'asset' is not the same thing as a Russian 'agent'," tweeted virulent establishment narrative manager Caroline Orr. "An asset can be witting or unwitting; it's any person or org who can be used to advance Russia's interests. It's pretty clear that Tulsi satisfies that criteria."
"One doesn't have to be on the Kremlin's payroll to be a Russian asset. One doesn't even have to know they are a Russian asset to be a Russian asset. Have you not heard the term 'useful idiot' before?" tweeted writer Kara Calavera.
Yep, yeah, that makes perfect sense. One doesn't have to actually have any formal relationship with the Kremlin to be a Kremlin asset. One doesn't have to know they're a Kremlin asset to be a Kremlin asset. The Kremlin doesn't even need to know one is a Kremlin asset for them to be a Kremlin asset. Nothing has to have happened except the accusation of being a Kremlin asset. It's just kind of a vague, shapeless nothing thing that doesn't necessarily have any actual meaning to it at all besides the way it makes people feel inside. It's more like a religious belief, really.
Isn't it interesting how that works? Establishment loyalists get a damaging and incendiary tag that they can pin on anyone who disagrees with them, with the sole evidentiary requirement being that disagreement itself.
Author and antiwar activist David Swanson noticed this bizarre intellectual contortion as well, tweeting, "Notice that they carefully define 'Russian asset' to mean not necessarily an asset and not necessarily with any connection to Russia."
Notice that they carefully define "Russian asset" to mean not necessarily an asset and not necessarily with any connection to Russia. https://t.co/Yp6rR1EElh
David Swanson (@davidcnswanson) October 19, 2019
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