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Intent on Unsettling E.U., Russia Taps Foot Soldiers From the Fringe

...That Russia, a nation intensely proud of its huge role in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany in World War II, would want anything to do with marginal, anti-Semitic crackpots who revere Hitler’s wartime allies in Hungary might, at first glance, seem beyond comprehension.

But Andras Racz, a Russia expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said it fit into a scatter-gun strategy of placing small bets, directly or through proxies, on ready-made fringe groups in an effort to destabilize or simply disorient the European Union.

President-elect Donald Trump late Friday publicly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for attacking Trump’s former Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In a striking statement that seems to further align Trump with Putin, the incoming U.S. president tweeted that he agreed with the Russian leader’s assessment that Clinton and the Democratic Party generally have not shown “dignity” following widespread loses in the November election.

“So true!” Trump tweeted of Putin’s comments, apparently referencing statements the Russian made at his year-end news conference.

EJ Dionne ‏@EJDionne 12h12 hours ago
EJ Dionne Retweeted Donald J. Trump
I never thought an incoming president would quote a foreign autocrat to attack his fellow Americans. He has nerve to say "America First."

Christopher Hayes ‏@chrislhayes 11h11 hours ago
Continues to be the case that most people, across the political spectrum, haven't realized just how bad it will get.

More of Kremlin’s Opponents Are Ending Up Dead

Ryan said: "Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke."

Financially, Medicare isn’t entirely in the clear, given that actuaries project that a key reserve fund will run out of money in 2028.

But the Medicare trustees themselves, along with a host of experts, say the Affordable Care Act’s changes to Medicare -- including holding the line on spending and raising taxes -- actually puts Medicare in better shape than before the law was adopted. That’s a long way from making Medicare go broke.

We rate Ryan’s statement Pants on Fire.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for national security adviser partnered in recent months with a technology company co-led by a businessman who pleaded guilty to trying to sell stolen scientific material in the 1980s to the KGB, the former Soviet intelligence service.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn joined the advisory board of Brainwave Science in February, company documents show. The Massachusetts firm develops controversial “brain fingerprinting” technology designed to assess whether people under interrogation are being truthful by measuring their brain waves. The firm offers training in how to use the technology, in partnership with Flynn’s consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, according to Brainwave’s website.

I just can't see how Trump can make it until February without getting impeached.