Wow…this just got interesting.
(To be clear, at this point we don’t know if this will be something, or nothing at all, but the intelligence agencies have at least deemed the story credible enough to investigate)
As this Russia story has burbled on the newswires over the past few weeks, few seemed to be asking the right questions. It never should have been about whether there was a measurable impact on the election. The question that every politician, pundit, and policy-maker should have been asking (repeatedly, considering the 24-hour news-cycle) is: why?
If it were true that Russia sought to influence our election in his favor, why? Why is Trump viewed as such a favorable American president from the throne in Moscow? For the sake of debate, let’s concede the point that Trump voters needed no coercing to punch the chad in his name. Let’s concede the fact that it was Candidate Clinton’s choice not to campaign in Michigan, not the Kremlin’s. Let’s concede the point that we’ve meddled unwelcomingly in foreign elections throughout history, and we should expect the same in our own. In short, let’s concede Trump would have won regardless of any foreign intrusion. The story, which hasn’t gotten nearly the same press as the pervasive did-they-didn’t-they narrative, is…why would they? Shouldn’t that have been of more concern to Joe Patriot?
Beyond that, if we were told eighteen months ago that Putin had a clear favorite – that he believed his interests would best be served by one candidate versus all the others – Republican or Democrat – wouldn’t that have been cause for alarm? Wouldn’t there have been bipartisan support for investigation and potentially disqualification of that candidate? As it’s become clear that candidate was Trump, was it not exceedingly irresponsible of the GOP to permit his nomination without further investigation?
It’s been clear to this point that the GOP has let its appetite for legislative dominion exceed any remaining sense of patriotism. Put simply, Putin has no interest in making America great – again or at all. What comes next, as I’ve felt every day since November 8th, is beyond prediction.
And if any of the more ‘colorful’ rumors trickling out in this evening’s news dump are true? Let’s remember these wise words from Obama’s mom: reality has a way of catching up with you.