Humint Events Online: Why Trump-Russia Matters

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Why Trump-Russia Matters

Sarah Kendzior:
Though Trump has shifted position on nearly everything, he's never wavered in his devotion to Russia or his praise of Putin, whom he admires as a strongman. Trump praised Putin on American TV in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, and Russian state media similarly praised Trump, befuddling U.S.-Russia experts who wondered why the Kremlin seemed so interested in buttering up the host of The Apprentice.
But the Kremlin's motive for interfering in our election was simple.
They were presented with two candidates: One, Hillary Clinton, was a nemesis of Putin who sought to keep sanctions against Russia and honor U.S. commitments to international bodies like NATO. The other, Donald Trump, was a malleable egomaniac who had been trying to work with Russia for 30 years.
Trump was also an inherently chaotic candidate whose rise could weaken already struggling U.S. institutions. Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has been tanking economically and losing political influence—weakening the U.S. is a great way for the Kremlin to get back on top.
Like all Trump ventures, the disaster of this Russian interference plays out on many levels via many players. Trump himself may be at the center of the story, but it's his staff (and now his son-in-law) being investigated for potential ties.
Their alleged Russian collusion may have been motivated by money—former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was secretly on the payroll of a Russian billionaire to do work to"benefit the Putin government" back in 2005.
Or they may have been motivated by ideology—Russia is a xenophobic, increasingly white supremacist state with rhetoric that mirrors that of the Republican Party, particularly under Trump.
Either way, what's good for Trump and his inner circle may be good for Russia, and vice-versa—but it's not good for ordinary Americans or Russians.
As a hyper-capitalist, authoritarian state dominated by sleazy oligarchs and corrupt officials, Russia suppresses free speech, independent media, public protests, and brutally persecutes marginalized groups like LGBT citizens, Muslims, and migrant laborers.
When not busy repressing its own people, the Kremlin tries to repress citizens of other states, both militarily (as in Ukraine) and through media manipulation. It is not, in other words, a government whose ideals we want to align with or empower.
That's what's most disconcerting about the Russian interference scandal: It's the possibility that worst elements in each of our governments could collaborate secretly against the welfare of citizens. It's an affront to sovereignty and to humane governance.
As an American, you should care about that.

3 Comments:

Blogger the mighty wak said...


Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper claimed in an interview that Russians are “almost genetically driven to” manipulate and infiltrate as an explanation for his concern about alleged Russian interference into the US presidential election and alleged ties between Trump senior advisor Jared Kushner and Russian officials.

http://tinyurl.com/yadlw2hx

wow it's in their DNA! they just can't help themselves.

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When not busy repressing its own people, the Kremlin tries to repress citizens of other states, both militarily (as in Ukraine) and through media manipulation.

the kremlin is not "repressing the citizens of ukraine". they were more than happy to let NATO con ukraine into leaving the russian federation. on the contrary, it was NATO influenced ukraine that was repressing crimea, who being predominantly russian, opted to remain with russia.

oh russian manipulation of western media? hilarious. who is actually in charge of literally every single western media outlet? by their own admission, jews.
the jews in charge of western medias actually laughed about it. are we really supposed to believe that these inbred khazar motherfuckers would actually allow any interference of their agendas by russia? right.

11:51 AM  
Blogger the mighty wak said...


team trump has or at least has tried to contact and make secret deals with russia. no doubt with the intent to hand over the keys to the city to putin and subvert uncle shmuel's democracy. if true, isn't that treason?
uh oh!:

Judicial Watch finds new e-mails showing HUMA DOING CLINTON FOUNDATION FAVORS FOR RUSSIA

wait, Jared, Huma - GOP, DNC - which one is the pot and which one is the kettle?

11:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


Where in the wide wide world is there "humane governance"?

Trump is no more morally bankrupt than any of the Clintons, and our government is no better than the best and no worse than the worst.

12:13 PM  

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