There’s a new sheriff in town, I reckon. There must be, because the old one was a giant girly-man. The old sheriff allowed and even welcomed every world leader, except one (Israel), to walk all over us. But this new sheriff – we’ll call him Obama 2.0, apparently and singlehandedly stopped the Russian hacking.
And all it took from this new no-nonsense, steely eyed sheriff were three little words. “Cut it out,” he said to Vladimir Putin. I guess he just forgot to add “partner,” or “pilgrim,” or some reference to “sundown,” as in, “you have until sundown.”
The New York Times reported that, “Mr. Obama said he was committed to sending the Kremlin a message that ‘we can do stuff to you,’ but without setting off an escalating cyberconflict.”
Putin, apparently quaking in his jack boots, recoiled at this statement and acquiesced. From then, according to Obama 2.0, there were no more hacks by the Ruskies.
But were there hacks by the Russians, and did they affect the election? Did they assist pushing the Trumpster over the finish line? Most everyone agrees that it did, in fact, occur and did, in fact, assist Trump. I don’t happen to one of those believers.
I also don’t happen to be one of the non-believers. I do happen to be one who doesn’t know. And I have a lot in common with both sides. Why, or how? Well – because no one knows – and if they do, they’re not sharing.
As most do these days, we believe what we want to, with little or no evidence either way, and just run with it. If it’s reported the CIA is sure the Russians hacked the DNC – that appears to be good enough with almost everyone. Why! I have yet to see any compelling evidence, or evidence at all. And why is this? Because the “intelligence community” is evidently not in a sharing mood. Not with the public, nor with those who represent us in Washington.
The Washington Times reported that, “Sen. Ron Johnson said Friday that intelligence officials turned down his request for a briefing in the wake of recent reports that the CIA believes Russia actively meddled in the election to boost President-elect Donald Trump.’ I asked for … a briefing from the CIA this morning,’ Mr. Johnson, who chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said on Fox News. ‘They refused a briefing, so I don’t know what’s up with that.'” And neither does anyone else, Mr. Johnson.
Obama also stated in a press conference, that “… we make sure that we are preventing that kind of interference [election meddling] through cyberattacks in the future.”
A laudable goal to be sure, but he is evidently not averse to “face-to-face” meddling in national elections. Unlike the as-yet-unproved claims of Russian influence in our election, there was proof of Obama’s and his administration’s direct involvement in Israel’s election, however unsuccessfully, to prevent the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Recall that in 2015, prior to the Israeli election, Netanyahu accepted an invitation by John Boehner, to speak to Congress. The White House was furious over this and threatened “there would be a price” to pay for Bibi’s visit to Washington.
That price was to dispatch Obama’s campaign team, headed by Jeremy Bird, Obama’s national campaign field director, to Israel. Bird’s team, called “Victory15,” set up shop in Tel Aviv and even recruited anti-Netanyahu activists to mount a massive social network and personal contact campaign to defeat Bibi. Victory 15 was fully financed by an organization called “One Voice.” One Voice was found to be funded by John Kerry’s State Department.
I agree that if it is found that Russians really did influence our election, a price should be paid. But I don’t recall the same media outlets and pundits clamoring for accountability over the Israeli election as they are over yet unproven Russia involvement.
