Senate Staffer Portrayed In ‘The Report’ Responds To Mike Pompeo | All In | MSNBC

Mike Pompeo says a new film about the report on the C.I.A. torture program is "fiction." The man behind the report says otherwise. Aired on 01/02/20.
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Senate Staffer Portrayed In ‘The Report’ Responds To Mike Pompeo | All In | MSNBC

56 comments

  1. And Trump Said he wanted to, Bring back Torture, He thought it was Find, But he Never did a Day in the Military, Old Mr, Bone Spur the Traitor and Chief ! 🤔👍🏻

  2. If this story had come out a week ago, I would say “This is one of the best stories you’ve done all year!” And now, I have the same sentiment, and I believe that this story will withstand the test of time.

    1. We are giving them too much credit calling them mafioso. They are all simply pieces of $hit crooked MoFo.

  3. Deflecting or changing the subject is called “what-aboutism” — a simple rhetorical tactic heavily used by the Soviet Union and, later, Russia. And it’s use in Russia helps illustrate how it has been a useful tool for Trump and his sycophantic defenders here in America. It’s an attractive tactic for populists in particular, allowing them to be vague but appear straight-talking at the same time. What-aboutism is essentially a schoolyard taunt, brought to a national and global level.

    The idea behind what-aboutism is simple: Party A accuses Party B of doing something bad. Party B responds by changing the subject and pointing out one of Party A’s faults — “Yeah? Well WHAT ABOUT that bad thing you did?”

    It’s not a complicated tactic — any grade-schooler can master it. But it came to be associated with the USSR because of the Soviet Union’s heavy reliance upon whataboutism throughout the Cold War and afterward, as Russia.

    One big reason whataboutism is so attractive: it’s a simple way to shrug off criticism or even responsibility for any wrongdoings.

    Whataboutism has been common in Putin’s Russia. The Atlantic cited one such example in 2014, noting that when the Kremlin faced criticisms of its treatment of protesters, government officials responded, “What about the United Kingdom? Breaking the law during public gatherings there could lead to a fine of 5,800 pounds sterling there or even prison.”

    One reason that Trump and Putin find whataboutism useful, is because they both have common political impulses.

    Putin and Trump are both populist leaders. They always try to be as uncertain as possible. And for a populist that’s important. Whataboutism is a very substantial part of populism rhetoric.

    A populist leader wants to keep his masses of supporters on his side. Getting too specific on a policy or a position risks creating rifts within that base of support. Pointing to a common enemy, on the other hand, is a great way to unify a group.

    Whataboutism flattens moral nuances into a black-and-white worldview. But in this worldview, it’s very difficult to be the good guy; idealism is the ultimate naïveté, and anyone who dares to criticize another can be “unmasked” as a hypocrite. This creates a useful moral equivalency. If nobody is perfect, there’s license to do all sorts of imperfect things.

    Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev warned American journalists that Trump might take on some Putinesque media tactics:

    “The thing is that when you think it’s your mission to make Putin admit a lie, or an inconsistency in his previous statements, because he tends to make U-turns in his statements on policies, when you try to point out those inconsistencies or catch him red-handed lying, there’s no point because he’ll evade your question, he knows that he can just drown you in meaningless factoids or false moral equivalencies or by using what is called ‘whataboutism.'”

    Kovalev was right on many counts: Trump has indeed proved to be inconsistent, make political U-turns, repeatedly lies, and, of course, engage in whataboutism. And even though  Putin has caused Trump so much trouble, Trump nevertheless often sounds an awful lot like his puppeteer Putin.

    1. Everything about Trump is schoolyard brought to a national level. His bullying, name calling & his knowledge of the world seems to be, at best high school level.

    2. Great comment thanks. Trump employes 3 tactics –
      1. Whataboutism
      2. Delegitimising the media
      3. Trolling his critics
      These three, used in combination, is what is creating the delusion in his supporters, the helpless anger in his opposers, and the division between good Americans. It is astonishing that he gets away with this is a developed country such as the US.
      Please vote him out in 2020 – here in South Africa we are holding onto the hope that this will happen.

    3. Most parents know that when their child has been caught doing something wrong the first defense is what about what their brother or sister did. Most know not to concentrate on the distraction and deal with the issue at hand but when it comes to politics people’s bias will always use the distraction as an out.

    4. @jim cricket Great idea to throw this onto Fox propaganda videos comment sections but they won’t read it, they need it boiled down to a jingoistic phrase or they can’t follow.

    5. . Nailed it. Good hammer one swing nailed it. However, you’d never be able to dumb it down enough for a trumper to understand. They will get 3 words in and ge tired, then mad, lol follow trumps prescription as you described to come to his defense. man they make me tired. again.. Fn you nailed it.

  4. By Mike Pompousass disclaiming the merits of the film – he is in essence validating the validity of the film.

    1. USA has never been the good guy , USA invaded Quebec in 1775-1776 , than again 1812 , Mexico in 1840s …you cant find a 3 year period from USA history that it has not been involved in a war …. and still its somehow everyones else fault … all these countries that most have ZERO feet border with USA are the guilty ones .

  5. Why do I feel like Pompeo is lying every time I hear him talk? And I’ve never heard a high level person giggle like he does when he talks. It’s weird.

    1. Probably because Hillary Clinton and John Kerry held the same position before. And both were known lier’s.

  6. You know doing the wrong thing and they know that they are doing the wrong thing is when they cover it up .

    1. @Dave Schultz
      Why is it whenever I see a post from you, I picture an ignorant hillbilly missing both of his front teeth?

    1. Dictatorial govts. are never held accountable. Looks like that’s trumps admin new year resolution, part 3

  7. he ,like the rest,cant handle the fact that when theyre portrayed as criminals ,they hate it…fyi..great movie!

  8. Really, what do you expect out of this administration though? They just pardoned a war criminal despite the protests of all the top army chiefs.

    1. @Pete thundabox , the charge was: Conduct Prejudicial to good order and discipline, ART 134. Not a war crime. He was acquitted of all other crimes in court. You’re not very well informed.

    2. @Dave Schultz You can choose to think an investigation begun 1year after a complaint appropriate. Me not. Most of the evidence was long gone by then. But I guess you believe the 1 over the many. Guess you are a Qnong who believes in a Deep State and every other harebrained conspiracy theory. Or is it just you think, no one in military can do wrong?

    3. 1 3 20 Hey@Pete thundabox , @DavidShultz>troll alert. They have been on a lot of other MSNBC sites with the same nonsense. Don’t they get a rest break in Russia? Be well. v

  9. Don’t ever forget the fact that George W. wanted Congress to pass a law absolving all American military personnel for war crimes before the illegal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

  10. I’m in training to Waterboard Pompeo, and Colon Powell is volunteering to be my supervisor!
    Happy New Year!

  11. I thought “The Report” was a good film and an important film. Not surprised Pompeo would come out against it. He’s despised by his former CIA employees. Pompeo has shown no skill or leadership heading the CIA or the State Dept.

  12. *Vote against every single Republican, in every single election, for the rest of your lives. Make them pay for the horrible things that they have done to America.*

  13. “Who so ever shall do battle against monsters must avoid becoming a monster himself.” Friederich Nietzsche, in “Beyond Good & Evil.”

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