Tweets Of The Day - "No Puppet, No Puppet"

Following neo- fascist dangerous dimwit and Putin poodle Donald "Rump" Trump's inflammatory Russian- inspired blathering about an "obsolete" NATO -- and German Chancellor Merkel --  (see post below), here's some of the outraged reaction:

#BREAKING Europe's fate 'in our own hands', says Merkel after Trump criticism

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 16, 2017

Your fathers and grandfathers risked nuclear war for 65 years to avert this day https://t.co/jlfJaCLwRC

— David Frum (@davidfrum) January 16, 2017

Whoever replaces Trump, that enough Americans voted for him to take power means German governments will never entirely trust the US again

— Alexander Clarkson (@APHClarkson) January 16, 2017

Churchill's plan to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down had a nice 70-year run. https://t.co/vF77QZ1yoN

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 16, 2017

Just guessing here, but I'm pretty sure this guy is a Russian asset and shouldn't be President next week https://t.co/nF1rOO7AnR

— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) January 16, 2017

whatever Putin has on Trump must be good.

Trump is dynamiting NATO and aligning with Russia, which actively tried to help him win, before our eyes. And the GOP is silent.

— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) January 16, 2017

this is Putin's dream – an America that abandons NATO & a fractured Europe. https://t.co/4yUoJGuaJn

— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) January 15, 2017

Trump is dynamiting NATO and aligning with Russia, which actively tried to help him win, before our eyes. And the GOP is silent.

— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) January 16, 2017

Give Trump credit: he's managed to subvert the US-created postwar international order even before being sworn in as president. https://t.co/oV3RQFA54C

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 16, 2017

And,

Russian government spokesman says Russia agrees with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that NATO is obsolete

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) January 16, 2017

"No puppet. No puppet," https://t.co/WaQlJjAhiU

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) January 16, 2017

The last reference, of course, is to this.

Nothing about this is normal. The intelligence community -- here and/or in Europe and Israel -- needs to step up to the existential threat posed by Cheeto Benito, and fast. There's nothing more important than this right now. It's not being alarmist to say the future of Western democracy is at stake.

BONUS : Martin Longman has a good read on this.

Music To Putin's Ears

In a joint interview with German publication Bild and the Times of London, neo-fascist Putin puppy Donald "Rump" Trump called the alliance NATO "obsolete" and suggested that sanctions against Russia for its invasion and annexation of Crimea could be lifted in return for a "deal" on nuclear weapons. Rump's complaint about NATO seemed to center on its design "many, many years ago," and that some member nations were lagging in their defense contributions. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier indicated that the members of NATO were shaken by Rump's continued disparagement of the alliance, which has provided security for Europe for decades, first against the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact, and recently against Russia's aggressive moves against Georgia, and Ukraine. He also suggested that Rump's position was in opposition to his own Defense Secretary nominee Gen. James Mattis.

Not surprisingly, siding with Rump's views was the Russian Federation. Russian autocrat Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin's spokesperson claimed that the goal of NATO was "confrontation," something Russia doesn't appreciate when it's busy gobbling up other nations' territories. Russia has had a long history of opposing a unified free Europe, and has been funding nationalist/right wing parties in a number of NATO countries to undermine the alliance which stands in the way of their ambitions. In Rump, they appear to have a new ally in their effort.