This is not a thread about Trump in any shape or form. This is not a thread on collusion. There are a thousand threads on those subjects, go there if that is what you want to talk about.
There is a lot of outrage over Russia and the fact that they tried to influence our election as well as the reality that they are very likely to continue to do so. There are a lot of calls to prevent them from doing so in the future as well.
I find this outrage not only misplaced but insanely disingenuous. First, there seems to be almost no outrage whatsoever when the US directly interferes with other nations elections as we have done before and will continue to do so in the future when we feel our foreign interests dictate we do so. We have been doing so for over 50 years.
Russia Isn’t the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too.
“If you ask an intelligence officer, did the Russians break the rules or do something bizarre, the answer is no, not at all,” said Steven L. Hall, who retired in 2015 after 30 years at the C.I.A., where he was the chief of Russian operations. The United States “absolutely” has carried out such election influence operations historically, he said, “and I hope we keep doing it.”
Not only is what Russia did apparently normal on the world stage but I grantee that we have been far more damaging in some of the smaller nations we have interfered with than Russian attempts to interfere with our elections. Even more hilarious is we have interfered with Russia.
More telling is what Russia actually did to interfere with our election. They hacked and released emails which amounted to releasing truth about some of the more distasteful things the Democratic Party engaged in. This is not really something I am about to set my hair on fire for. It is not even a problem for the nation at large but rather a private digital security problem for the party. As far as I know, Russia failed to hack any governmental system in this attack.
Russia also paid trolls to post fake shit on Facebook, Twitter and fake news pages. This is where the real problem lies but not with Russian actions. The problem is that the electorate believes this crap. Fake news is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Today, the electorate has more tools and sources to verify false reports than at any time in history. People swallowing troll BS is the core of the problem, not trolls. Most of the reporting that focuses on Russian interference seems to be nothing more than trying to blame our ignorance as an electorate on Russian trolls.
There is almost nothing for the government to do here to 'prevent' future Russian interference. What we need to do in general is stop being so apathetic with respect to our own obligations in electing our representatives. That is the true problem - the tendency for partisans to swallow any swill that appears to agree with their preconceived notions. Interference is a very minor blip in that problem as well as it corrupts our society in many ways most more pervasive than this.
There is a lot of outrage over Russia and the fact that they tried to influence our election as well as the reality that they are very likely to continue to do so. There are a lot of calls to prevent them from doing so in the future as well.
I find this outrage not only misplaced but insanely disingenuous. First, there seems to be almost no outrage whatsoever when the US directly interferes with other nations elections as we have done before and will continue to do so in the future when we feel our foreign interests dictate we do so. We have been doing so for over 50 years.
Russia Isn’t the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too.
“If you ask an intelligence officer, did the Russians break the rules or do something bizarre, the answer is no, not at all,” said Steven L. Hall, who retired in 2015 after 30 years at the C.I.A., where he was the chief of Russian operations. The United States “absolutely” has carried out such election influence operations historically, he said, “and I hope we keep doing it.”
Not only is what Russia did apparently normal on the world stage but I grantee that we have been far more damaging in some of the smaller nations we have interfered with than Russian attempts to interfere with our elections. Even more hilarious is we have interfered with Russia.
More telling is what Russia actually did to interfere with our election. They hacked and released emails which amounted to releasing truth about some of the more distasteful things the Democratic Party engaged in. This is not really something I am about to set my hair on fire for. It is not even a problem for the nation at large but rather a private digital security problem for the party. As far as I know, Russia failed to hack any governmental system in this attack.
Russia also paid trolls to post fake shit on Facebook, Twitter and fake news pages. This is where the real problem lies but not with Russian actions. The problem is that the electorate believes this crap. Fake news is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Today, the electorate has more tools and sources to verify false reports than at any time in history. People swallowing troll BS is the core of the problem, not trolls. Most of the reporting that focuses on Russian interference seems to be nothing more than trying to blame our ignorance as an electorate on Russian trolls.
There is almost nothing for the government to do here to 'prevent' future Russian interference. What we need to do in general is stop being so apathetic with respect to our own obligations in electing our representatives. That is the true problem - the tendency for partisans to swallow any swill that appears to agree with their preconceived notions. Interference is a very minor blip in that problem as well as it corrupts our society in many ways most more pervasive than this.
