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At the Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on Tuesday, all of the heads of the primary intelligence agencies emphatically agreed that the Russians initiated an aggressive campaign to influence the past presidential election. They also agree that the effort was successful, cost-effective and “we have seen Russian attempts to impact the 2018 elections” and the intelligence chiefs said the Russians will be even better at it going into the midterms. Both by interfering with the voting system itself, and by playing with the minds of the American citizenry, which is the easiest part of all.

Propaganda today is less like a Gatling gun in the Old West, and more like a sniper with a silencer. It is visible only to those whose demographic stats, lifestyle and interests match the algorithm targeting the kind of guy or gal who is susceptible to the particular message that can anger, confuse and direct their opinion. That message is invisible to those who sympathize with Black Lives Matter or #MeToo. They are also given text and images that relate only to them and their peers, again to anger, confuse and retweet.

With this threat to the bedrock institution of the nation, the voting system and how we select our leaders, the intelligence chiefs were asked if the president ever gave a “specific request” to stop Russian interference. They all said no.

Which begs the question, “Why is the president the only person objecting to the notion of Russian interference?” Why does he believe Vladimir Putin when he says, “I didn’t do it?”

After the hearing, Rep. Gerry Connolly, a member of the (D) Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the president not taking the reports seriously, says something “unbelievable and deeply troubling about this President of the United States.”   A cynic might be forgiven for thinking that the “something” that is so “deeply troubling” is that the Russians have something on our Commander-in-Chief. And because of the curiously unique nature of the man and the secrets the Russians have proof of, he would rather destroy the nation than have it revealed.

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And when people say that’s preposterous, and that the president is only “in denial” because he doesn’t want his election questioned, perhaps its’ because they’re being kind or in denial themselves.

In any event, all of this smoke is just a prelude to the main event — Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the one who will show us whatever fire is there and begin to clear the air.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party, seeing that our national consciousness is being warped and is threatened by both Trump and the Russians, is still following the dictum, “No crisis should be wasted,” and have engineered a theft of the nation’s wealth and natural resources that will hobble the country for generations to come.

 

 

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