The question of possible Russian election meddling has dominated recent news, which is disheartening. It’s disheartening because it’s a manufactured issue, created without evidence by cynical politicos for the sole purpose of delegitimizing the president of the United States.
If undue Russian influence was truly a pressing concern, then would this issue still dominate the news had Hillary Clinton won last November?
Of course not.
Ironically, had Clinton triumphed, there would have been a cause for concern about Russian activity, given that, according to the New YorkTimes, Russian interests donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation after Hillary’s state department signed off on a deal that gave the Russians control over one-fifth of America’s uranium production capacity.
Given the strategic importance of uranium, that situation should have prompted many times the attention that it received. Instead, we’re bombarded with bogus stories of Trump people colluding with Russians.
Recall George Orwell’s admonition: “Myths which are believed tend to become true.”
It’s nonsensical, but the anti-Trump forces truly co-opted the media to successfully position Russian bogeymen in the minds of American voters at the expense of the president.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer darkly warned about Russian influence and then photos emerged of Schumer laughing it up with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi similarly demagogued the issue, which of course resulted in photos being released of her laughing it up with the Russian ambassador.
That some Trump people inevitably talked to some Russians from time to time does not delegitimize the 2016 elections. The Mueller investigation will likely confirm this reality, but that will take many months.
A real irony is that people who know history understand that when it comes to influencing elections, the United States takes the gold medal. Our CIA subverted elections everywhere from Guatemala to Iran. Indeed, that America prevented popular elections in Vietnam (contrary to the 1954 Geneva Accords) brought about the infinitely tragic Vietnam War.
Clinton operative James Carville was dispatched to Israel in 2001 to work for the election of Labor Party leader Ehud Barak. Similarly, an Obama operative named Jeremy Byrd was dispatched to Israel to support the anti-Netanyahu forces in 2015.
We could go on and on. Most countries seek to advance their national interests by influencing elections – which would “shock” only the Captain Renaults of the world. (See Casablanca.)
Give some credit to a discerning and free American electorate – one that is not pathetic, pliable or susceptible to foreign manipulation.
Eventually the reality will set in that Republicans won in 2016 not because of Russian meddling but because enough voters simply could not stomach what Hillary Clinton seemed to represent.
Not that my Democrat friends need my advice, but had they run a centrist like former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, they’d have won in a landslide. Instead they chose a craven and corrupt candidate who pandered to our worst instincts while espousing discredited and dubious dogma.
Hence the improbable presidency of Donald J. Trump.
It wasn’t the Russians.
It was the Clintons.
(Michael Moffett, a retired Marine Corps officer and professor, is a state representative for Merrimack District 9, which includes Canterbury and Loudon.)