The non-stop outrage voiced by political and media pundits about the “surrender summit,” “treason summit” and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, is unbelievable and mind boggling. One is led to believe and think that Putin has some kind of hold over Trump and it was the first time Russia meddled in a U.S. election — and that Russia is the only country interfering in other countries elections.
Russia, like America, China, Britain, France and many other countries, have been spending billions of dollars annually trying to influence adversaries politics and elections, online and offline. Nothing new or surprising really.
The 1966 movie The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming was a funny timely reminder at the height of the Cold War.
Russian meddling in U.S. and Western democratic elections, although scandalous, is not news. It is stale political reality. The difference today is social media. It relentlessly keeps the subject in the headlines. Many millennials, whose only source of news is social media, believe it is a new political phenomenon. It’s not!
Russian meddling and Trump collusion with such meddling are two different subjects that cannot be confused. Trump claims, notwithstanding his numerous business dealings with Russian oligarchs who are close to Putin, there was no collusion. He is innocent until facts can prove otherwise. That is up to the Special Prosecutor to prove, if in fact there was collusion.
A 2017 poll shows more than half of Republicans want the U.S. and Russia to have a closer relationship. Granted, it is still less than 20 percent of Americans, but they are the core Trump supporters who voted him into office.
In the meantime, let’s keep in mind that 90 percent of the world’s 15,850 nuclear weapons are in the hands of the U.S. and Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. These weapons are a pressing issue that needs to be addressed and accept the fact the Russia is an adversary and, like America and other countries, will continue meddling in America’s and other countries elections into the foreseeable future.
Trump and Putin, like the multiple U.S. and Soviet leaders before them who sat down across from each other — even during the height of the Cold War — must talk to each other. When they do, there is no room for finger-pointing or Russophobia if we are to avoid Armageddon.