Are you alluding to payment to this contributor who posted the thread, the newspaper owner, the editor of the newspaper or the American official making the claims?

@FrayedBear Perhaps I was being facetious. Those who support Trump's phony conspiracies (as against China) are supporting an agent who has often acted in Putin's interests (and almost certainly at Putin's direction). Trump's actions have been decidedly unnatural in the context of a citizen loyal to the United States. Thus, those that support Trump, support Putin. That support might be naive, but such naivete is intentional as the conspiracies of Trump and Putin are well documented. Indeed, the aspirations of Trump/Putin and supporters seek to turn the US into a (much more) fascist state.

@racocn8 lol. I'm reminded of Bush's ridiculous "if you're not for us you're against us" argument in starting the war of mass destruction of the truth. American citizens have not been compensated for that one nor has America compensated those killed & maimed.

@FrayedBear The difference being the evidence. The UN inspection said no evidence for weapons of mass destruction, so Bush got bogus evidence together to persuade Colin Powell to give his speech. And when the US went in, no evidence was found.

In contrast, evidence of GRU and troll farm activity was abundant. On the front end, Bannon and Manafort's activities were well documented. And, GOP policy was changed. And, Putin used Trump all too effectively to dismantle numerous critical agencies while continuing their propaganda brainwashing via Fox and RT. Those that watch that stuff uncritically are indeed, useful idiots.

@racocn8 "That support might be naive, but such naivete is intentional as the conspiracies of Trump and Putin are well documented." Like a dog with a ham bone, USA & citizens has made Russia & its people the bogeyman of US existance. The US drove the collapse of the USSR. 30 years on the myth of conspiracy has been created because the US, like the baby with its dummy, still needs its bogeyman to deflect from its systemic faults like believed white superiority & xtianity.

@FrayedBear Russia and Putin are not illusory bogeymen. They are all too real. While the USSR may have changed from the Cold War era, it is far from collapsed. It continues to engage in Syria, Ukraine, and by its cyberwarfare, most of the West. It is certainly not anything like a benign entity looking for cooperation and profitable trade. The installment of Trump has caused enormous harm. And yet, scarcely anyone considers Russia a threat, so it is doing a poor job of distracting from racism and the stupidity of Christian evangelicals, both of which are clearly recognizable threats.

@racocn8 do all dogs become attack dogs? No! What makes some become viciouskillers & predators?

Pavlov had the answer, oh but he was of Russian origin & their first Nobel prize winner so he can't be relevant if the finger points back at America?

It is stated in the post. Can you not read or just too lazy to follow the url. What part of Daily Mail do you not understand ?

@FrayedBear Wow. That was rhetorical. That's a conspiracy theory that's been debunked several times, yet people are still posting that garbage.

@JeffMurray Rhetorical with a double?

@FrayedBear Well, a single question mark would be proper. I always figured the double had a 'are you fucking kidding me' vibe. Sorry I offended you and your internet response curriculum. Won't happen again. For good measure, please post all the other grammatical errors dummies like me make in your presence so we can avoid them in the future. You're the best.

@JeffMurray not necessarily made by you. I'm not perfect nor can I often read intent or minds.