Nevertheless, there is a movement for Presidential Electors to be given intelligence briefings on the potential hacks prior to casting their ballots.
“The bipartisan electors' letter raises very grave issues involving our national security,” Clinton's former campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement on Monday. “Electors have a solemn responsibility under the Constitution and we support their efforts to have their questions addressed.”
“Each day in October, our campaign decried the interference of Russia in our campaign and its evident goal of hurting our campaign to aid Donald Trump,” he said. “Despite our protestations, this matter did not receive the attention it deserved by the media in the campaign. We now know that the CIA has determined Russia's interference in our elections was for the purpose of electing Donald Trump. This should distress every American.”
Hey, welcome to the party Mr. Podesta! When then presidential candidate Mitt Romney indicated in a 2012 debate with President Barack Obama that Russia was out biggest geopolitical foe, Obama et al mocked him for being entrenched in 1980s foreign policy. But now that the Russia angle can be made to fit a certain narrative (i.e. Trump being illegitimately elected), even the staunchest of Clinton lap dogs are emitting mea culpas.
Absolutely. When @POTUS mocked Romney in 2012 for saying Russia was top threat, I cheered. @POTUS was wrong. I was wrong. Mitt was right. https://t.co/spF0zRZWEG— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) December 10, 2016
But over the past year or two, there have been some serious hacks which have occurred, specifically involving North Korea as well as Wikileaks. So what was being done to address those incidents? Not nearly enough, according to Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA).
NBC host Chuck Todd asked Schiff whether it was a mistake for Obama not to come out more definitively against the hacks before the election last month.'
“I do think it was a mistake,” Schiff said. ”I think it was a mistake even earlier frankly not to react more forcefully when North Korea hacked us because I think those that lack of deterrence invited the Russians to meddle and consider they could do this with impunity.”
Schiff said that he hopes that there can be a nonpartisan joint investigation with the intelligence communities.
“This ought to be a nonpartisan issue. This is not about re-litigating the election. it’s about getting good information to the American people about what happened and preventing it and deterring the Russians in the future,” Schiff added.
Amen.
Of the myriad opinions conveyed on this topic, I believe my friend and Northern Alliance Radio Network colleague Mitch Berg best summed up Russia's motivation for this alleged hack. And it wasn't necessarily to get Trump elected as many leftist bobble heads reflexively believe.
I've done some reading - and by "reading", I don't mean "Occupy Democrats" photo memes and "Young Turks" tweets. And here's what I think is going on.
I'm pretty sure the Russians did, in fact, try to exert pressure on our election, via propaganda and, likely, online skulduggery.
Why? To benefit Trump?
Nah. To sow chaos.
Putin is a former KGB guy. Intelligence guys know - when in doubt, create chaos. From chaos comes opportunity.
If the Russians (basically a third world country in a demographic death spiral, with a lower GDP than NY State but with nuclear weapons) can get the US to eat itself from within - say, over the results of the election - it saps the nation's political will to gain and hold the initiative on other things.
Like, say, exerting diplomatic pressure to help Ukraine or the Baltic States. Or extending and, lets be honest, repairing its influence in the Middle East. Or containing Iran.
Russia can't beat us in a head to head confrontation (short of nuking the Northern Hemisphere); they have to be smarter and more nimble than us.
Nimbleness is easy; Dictatorships don't need consensus.
As far as brains go? Well, if Putin manages to paralyze a much stronger nation via simply getting it to eat itself from the inside, we gotta give him that; that'd be pretty good. If you're a Russian nationalist.
In the end, anyone who just blindly states that potential cyber hacks alone cost Mrs. Clinton the election should be mocked mercilessly.
Russian hackers blocked anyone on Hillary's campaign from accessing the Wikipedia page about the electoral college. https://t.co/W1J5TlAjtV— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 10, 2016
I'm mostly impressed at Russian cloaking technology that hid the entire states of Wisconsin & Michigan for 4 months. Brave new world. https://t.co/JNrc9aBX1w— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 10, 2016
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