I think we need to give a little more credit to Russia. There was a hell of a lot more done than just some well placed Facebook ads here. Servers from both political parties were hacked. Sensitive Emails from one of the parties were released to be used as weapons against HRC in aiding Trump’s win. States critical to an electoral college were targeted. Just today I read that a district in Florida has now reported Russian interference from 2016. Because of the electoral college, all it takes is so well placed targeted hacking and you can swing a few states into your favor. As a remember, had Hillary won just 3 states in the Midwest, gained 80,000 more votes in just those 3 states, she would’ve won the electoral college.
If you don’t think sensitive emails about politics and election fraud wont heavily sway elections, then you’re missing out.
Russians have been doing disinformation campaigns for decades. Not too long ago they spread false claims of America’s CIA organizing the JFK assassination. They claimed in the 1980s that the United States had created AIDS and was purposely spreading it. The difference now, is that instead of producing pro communist propaganda via disinformation, pamphlets, and military coups, they’re doing it through online hacking and election fraud.
While in a way, I share @LogGrad98’s frustration with our ignorant populace, I feel like any society will have weaknesses. Any society will have sensitive fault lines. America’s most severe fault lines are race, gun rights, LGBT rights, rural and urban economies, and the two political parties. I think we should give Russia credit for figuring out which buttons to push to exacerbate these fault lines and work towards protecting our democracy.
Unfortunately, we have a White House that is completely disinterested in doing that. In fact, the reaction from the entire GOP welcomes further Russian intervention. At some point we’re Going to feel the effects of having a White House crippled by Trump and “acting” secretaries and a Congress crippled by a Republican Party that would rather stay in power than protect the country’s democracy. At some point, Trump’s nonstop exacerbation of these fault lines is going to bring some devastating damage. We may not feel the immediate effects. But unless this cancer is removed soon, I feel like our democracy will be headed to irreversible divide and destruction.
This isn’t going to be pretty.