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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Corn: "This is far bigger than a bribe, a break-in, or a blow job."
Donald Trump Is Getting Away With the Biggest Scandal in American History
Witch hunt.
DAVID CORNJUN. 5, 2018 6:00 AM
At the heart of the Russia scandal is the most fundamental issue for a democracy: the sanctity of elections.
.........................
In this ongoing fight, it is Trump and his bumper stickers versus a media presenting a wide variety of disparate disclosures that come and go quickly in a hyperchaotic information ecosystem, often absent full context. No wonder then that a recent poll found that 59 percent of Americans said Mueller has uncovered no crimes. In fact, he has secured 17 criminal indictments and obtained five guilty pleas. Accurate news reporting alone does not always carry the day.
The Russia scandal is the most important scandal in the history of the United States. President Andrew Johnson was impeached (but not convicted) because he violated an act of Congress to remove a secretary of war. In the Teapot Dome scandal, the secretary of the interior in Warren Hardings administration leased federal lands at low rates to private oil companies, presumably in return for bribes. In Watergate, a president and his aides engaged in political skulduggery against political foes. President Bill Clinton lied about a sexual affair he had with a subordinate in the White House. All these scandals raised serious questions about integrity in government. But at the heart of the Russia scandal is the most fundamental issue for a democracy: the sanctity of elections.
An overseas enemy struck at the core of the republicand it succeeded. Trump and his minions helped and encouraged this attack by engaging in secret contacts with Moscow and publicly insisting no such assault was happening. This is far bigger than a bribe, a break-in, or a blow job. And, worse, the United States remains vulnerable to such a strike.
Yet the full impact of this scandal does not resonate in the daily coverage and discourse. In many ways, the media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation. And many Americans, thanks to Trump and his allies, view it as a charade. All this shows how easy it is for disinformation and demagoguery to distort reality. That is a tragedy for the United States. For Trumpand Putinthat is victory.
the rest:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/trump-russia-scandal-media/
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)olegramps
(8,200 posts)The Republicans are following the fascist playbook line for line. The epilog for this fiasco will be "While Americans
Slept, Their Freedoms Were Stolen Without a Shot. This generation's heritage that they will leave to their kids is that they sold them out to the plutocrats.
The future can be summed up in one statistic: during the height of the Industrial Revolution General Motors was the largest employer. The average pay was $30.00 per hour in todays dollars and workers had health care and a pension. The largest employer today is Walmart. The average pay is whopping $8.00 bucks an hour. Good luck kids. Much of today's economy is riding on the wealth accumulation of the workers of post war period that spanned about forty years and that is rapidly coming to a close.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)It's an excellent epiphany about the entirety of Trump's and Russia's corruption of our electoral system.
I highly recommend reading Mr. Corn's well-reasoned article.
Thanks for posting the link, kpete!
C_U_L8R
(45,002 posts)triron
(22,003 posts)'meddling'!
renate
(13,776 posts)It was and is treason to interfere with the democratic process in the United States of America. Its quite simple.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)calimary
(81,267 posts)dalton99a
(81,510 posts)Stuart G
(38,427 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,002 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,593 posts)ffr
(22,670 posts)For all the good that the Clinton-Gore administration were doing for the country and all Americans alike, I would have given him a BJ if republicans had asked.
In this case, we have an entire political party so desperate to cling to power they were willing to conspire with a hostile foreign power, when it was fully disclosed that Russia's aim was to hurt America. You cannot be more of a traitor to America than to knowingly jump on that bandwagon.
Let the trials begin.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)uponit7771
(90,339 posts)"... media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation..."
llmart
(15,540 posts)It's an accurate reflection of our media and the disinterest of the general public in caring enough to see how dangerous this all is.
gave a donation to Mother Jones too.
ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)Russia is hacking our elections.
Repeat, repeat, repeat!!
lunatica
(53,410 posts)because this is true and wherever it leads our country it will not be a good place for us.
We had such promise, such great potential but we would have to raise our standards and care for more than just us. We would have to care about the planet more than about personal gain at the expense of it. So far were failing badly.
Were proving we arent very good at this.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)was a big win for Putin, but Trump is destroying almost everything that has been good about America
Hekate
(90,690 posts)Initech
(100,076 posts)Trump and Russia have caused this country to lose its' god damned collective mind! We need to get things back on track!
NBachers
(17,110 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)Even the word meddling sounds fussy and trivial, regardless of its meaning. Its a terrible word and I hate that its used more than interfering or skewing... or stealing.
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)It's a worldwide trend and our people are being duped. They'll never know, though. The same propagandists that spun this yarn will ultimately blame the liberals for the demise of democracy around the world, and the brainwashed masses will nod their heads in agreement.
How easily they are willing to give away our freedom.
calimary
(81,267 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Yes!!!!!!!
Gothmog
(145,264 posts)4dog
(504 posts)with or without foreign help. Voter suppression (remember the pioneering work of Jeb Bush), gerrymandering, Republican Secretaries of State covering up misfeasance, Republican-owned voting machine companies, voter ID, &c. So in addition to preventing foreign involvement, we need to work on undemocratic processes in domestic voting.
We used to have useful discussions here on specifics.
Google 'vote integrity' and I get a Heritage Foundation site listing half-truths about liberals and why voter suppression is needed.
https://www.verifiedvoting.org/ is still functioning.
Out of date but useful: http://www.thelandesreport.com/votingsecurity.htm
And votescam.org, which listed several useful sites related to black box voting and election fraud, disappeared, last archived April 12.
Related: https://www.electiondefense.org/
wiggs
(7,814 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Hope they're ready...
Nitram
(22,801 posts)False equivalency has been fighting the truth for too long. Trump will replace Benedict Arnold in the dictionary as a synonym for the ultimate traitor to his country.
Cha
(297,240 posts)say ".. the Russian Investigation is a distraction.. "..
They don't know what they're talking about.
Bob Mueller & David Corn