Monday, December 12, 2016

On Russian Activities During the Election

There is a great deal of discussion in the media over the past few days about intelligence community assessments that Russian security services attempted to play a role in our election. There seems to be NO doubt among them that the Russians played such a role--but there is doubt as to whether that role was designed to favor one candidate over the other. Apparently, the CIA believes that Russia was trying to throw the election for Trump, and the FBI is not convinced. One (FBI) is a law enforcement agency and so is likely more interested in a tighter case, whereas the CIA is a classic intelligence agency where making calls on "good enough" information is the name of the game.

Here is what I think.

1) I believe the CIA is correct. Wikileaks has been thought by our own security services to be a front for Russian intellegence for some time now, and the information put out be Wikileaks was almost exclusively prejudicial to Hillary Clinton.

2) I do not believe that the Russians were involved in ANY voting mischief, because there is no evidence of it. Their involvement was a classic information operation designed to sway opinion. I am unsure how successful their operation was, and I do not believe we can ever know.

3) The election is over. Period. Donald Trump is the President-elect.

4) That said, we cannot as a sovereign nation allow foreign interference in our electoral process. Both parties (and every patriotic American) should get behind a thorough investigation designed to reveal the tactics and measures that Russia took, expose them for their perfidy, and figure out ways to mitigate this kind of thing in future elections.

1 comment:

"The Hammer" said...

There have been denials from some credible folks that the Wikileaks's (Podesta) email hacks were NOT the work of Russia. Many think it was Seth Rich, a disillusioned DNC staffer since murdered. Regardless, suspicions aren't evidence and if one wishes to overturn an election, which is what many Democrats have demanded, then we need PROOF!
But let's say the Russians and Vlad Putin are indeed behind the hacks. He has reason, good reason, as in 'pay back is a bitch' BITCH!
"When mass protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin erupted in Moscow in December 2011, Putin made clear who he thought was really behind them: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
With the protesters accusing Putin of having rigged recent elections, the Russian leader pointed an angry finger at Clinton, who had issued a statement sharply critical of the voting results. “She said they were dishonest and unfair,” Putin fumed in public remarks, saying that Clinton gave “a signal” to demonstrators working “with the support of the U.S. State Department” to undermine his power. “We need to safeguard ourselves from this interference in our internal affairs,” Putin declared."
Politico 07/25/16.
Why is it ok for the Obama/Hillary State Dept to meddle in Russia's election but it's not ok for Putin to meddle in ours? If all this is true, she got just what she deserved.
My problem is the criminal activity described in the emails is being ignored. Is not inciting violence at Trump events an attempt to influence an election? Where's the outrage about that?
Look, this is all panic driven liberal mass psychosis. They cannot accept Trump won, and apparently neither can our GOPe. This will blow over in due course. The takeaway is Hillary, Obama's Justice Dept and the IRS need to be investigated PROPERLY AND THROUGHLY and let the chips fall where they may.

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