When 69-year-old Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the election Nov. 8, she readily blamed FBI Director James Comey. When that excuse fizzled, she then turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin for having a vendetta against her, watching the press and intel community swallow that excuse hook, line and sinker. Even as recently Jan. 8, did CNN report on an addendum to an intel report suggesting that Russia interfered with the U.S. election. CIA Director John Brennen insisted Dec. 16 that Russia tried to influence the election to help Trump. One day later, FBI Director James Comey, whom Hillary blamed for losing the election, agreed with Brennen. One minor problem: Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million, throwing ice water on the theory that Russia tilted the election toward Trump because he won the Electoral College.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper insists that Russia interfered with the 2016 election because it engaged in propaganda, disinformation and fakes news. Clapper knows that since the end of WWII, both the U.S. and Russian have engaged in aggressive propaganda campaigns to influence the minds of individuals, groups and countries deciding to affiliate with Western-style democracies or Soviet-type totalitarian regimes. If Clapper were right about the vast influence that former KGB Col. Russian President Vladimir Putin had on the U.S. election, how is it possible Hillary won the popular vote by nearly 3 million? Trump won the election because he appealed to Midwesterners who’ve watched their jobs outsourced to China and Mexico. All the chatter about Russian interference in the 2016 election doesn’t hold water with Hillary winning the popular vote.
Giving his first post-election press conference Jan. 11, Trump was peppered with questions about Russian influence in the 2016 election. He called the recent intel report’s two-page addendum covering unconfirmed claims about his vulnerability to blackmail utter nonsense. CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta went ballistic when Trump refused to call on him. “You are fake news,” Trump told Acosta, referring to CNN hyping “Breaking News” Jan 10 about the two-page addendum suggesting that Russia had the goods on Trump. Citing paid opposition research by the Hillary campaign to discredit Trump hardly qualifies as intel, something CNN knew before it hyped it as “Breaking News.” Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), one of Trump’s biggest GOP critics, turned the 35-pape opposition-report to the FBI over last summer, suggesting, without proof, the Russians had damaging info on Trump.
Hillary tried her best during the campaign to tie Trump to Putin, calling him a “Putin puppet” in the Oct. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Trump’s made clear during the campaign that he plans to develop better relations with Russia, largely to deal with a host of global hotspots, including China and North Korea. Cold War hawks in Congress led by McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) seek to sabotage Trump’s attempts to reset U.S.-Russian relations. When President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions Dec. 29 for alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, it signaled a new low in U.S.-Russian relations. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), another Trump-critic, hammered Secretary of State nominee former Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for not agreeing to call Putin a “war criminal.” Now the press hypes the Cold War hysteria with Gen. Michael Flynn.
Hammering Trump’s National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn for talking Dec. 29 with Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak, the press pushes more Cold War hype, insinuating Trump’s clandestine relationship with Moscow. “The call centered around the logistics of setting up a call with the president of Russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in, and the exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call,” said Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer. “That was it, plain and simple.” No one in the press mentions anything Dec. 29 of Obama expelling 35 Russian diplomats for alleged spying. Threatening to retaliate, Flynn’s contacts prompted Putin to hold off on any response until Trump takes office. Since Trump won the election Nov. 8, it’s natural for foreign leaders to begin the process of making contact with the soon-to-be president.
Hyping Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak, the press wants to finger the Trump team for secretly engaging the Russians. Still hot on the preposterous theory that Putin influenced the 2016, the press ignores the fact that Hillary collected nearly 3 million more popular votes than Trump. Trump’s detractors want you to believe Putin influenced only voters in the Rust Belt where Trump cleaned up on Election Night. Instead of pointing fingers at Flynn for talking with Kislyak, the press—and Capitol Hill war hawks—should thank Trump for deescalating a potential crisis. With Obama deploying 3,500 troops to Poland, the world is nearing another crisis point, requiring improved U.S.-Russian relations. More Cold War hysteria from the media and on Capitol Hill does nothing defuse a ticking time bomb. Obama’s 11th-hour moves have left the world closer to the brink.
