There have been so many disturbing “revelations”, distortions, media journalistic failures, and outright lies in this horrific presidential campaign, that it’s easy to lose track, or determine which is the most destructive to our country and its democracy.
I’d have to say that for me, the most appalling betrayal of the public trust is the blatant partisan actions of elected GOP leaders and the FBI: “Republicans Weaponize Comey’s FBI to Kneecap Clinton”.
But the Republicans have gone even further than turning the the top Federal Law Enforcement Agency into a republican operation, in open rebellion against the Democratic POTUS and the Administration. Republican ‘leaders’ have also actively prevented investigating certain aspects of the Russian interference in US elections: "GOP Blocks Probes into Trump-Russia Ties." In their efforts to protect their nominee, they have, at the very least, unwittingly assisted a hostile foreign power in trying to achieve their goal of a “Trump Victory."
Privately, Republican congressional staff told The Daily Beast that Trump and his aides’ connections to Russian officials and businesses interests haven’t gone unnoticed and are concerning.
Russia has been meddling in Europe’s and now in the US’s domestic politics. Russia has deployed their “Powerful Weapon” of disinformation... by using cyber hacking, falsifying documents, use of propaganda outlets like RT and Sputnik News; social media, and enlisting people with a grudge against democracies like the US and European nations to:
“…stir discord in their (European and US’s) domestic politics and blunt opposition to Russia…”
The Republicans in Congress have deliberately minimized the fact that Trump is “The Kremlin’s Candidate.” The GOP knows that Trump has “Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia”; that “Many of the men behind Trump have Ties to Russia”; and that the those men in the “Trump Campaign may already have attempted to interfere with US – Russia policy”.
The Republican Congress has continually denied/ downplayed Russian cyber hacking, even as top House Democrats have Been asking the FBI to examine links between the Trump campaign and illegal Russian efforts to affect our election.
US intelligence has shown connections between Russian Intelligence and WikiLeaks: 1. “US Finds Growing Evidence that Russia Is Feeding Emails to WikiLeaks” . 2. Trump adviser Admits He Has “Tie to WikiLeaks”; He admitted he has been “briefed about Clinton emails” by “a mutual friend of Assange”.
But, where is the FBI? Is it pursuing investigating the Russians meddling in the US election? Is it investigating the Russia/ WikiLeaks/ Trump Campaign connection?
No, they are apparently far too busy pursing the GOP agenda of helping the Republican Nominee, and going after the Democratic nominee. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo cited an article in the Wall St. Journal , by Devlin Barrett that…
...describes a feud over the Clinton probe within the FBI, as well as between the FBI and the Department of Justice. It now seems clear that what are essentially rogue FBI agents have been looking for all sorts of different angles to pursue investigations into Hillary Clinton and her family.
"It Sure Looks Like FBI Renegades Are Trying to Swing the Presidential Election"
Three days before a historic election, a disturbing twist has emerged: the possibility that agents in the country’s preeminent investigative service are attempting to swing the outcome…
First (11/04/16) Guiliani Confirms that FBI Insiders Leaked Information To the Trump Campaign." Which, of course would be a violation of the law, the Hatch Act by these FBI mutineers. Oddly enough, Guiliani quickly Backtracked and said that Current FBI Agents didn't leak to him. But, here’s the thing: Retired FBI Agents shouldn’t have access to the current ongoing investigations—the type of knowledge that Guiliani claimed to have gotten.
The Agency has—for some reason… —apparently neglected to do everything possible to protect US citizens from Russian Intelligence Service Hackers: The FBI Took Months to Warn Democrats of suspected Russian Role in Hacks”:
The FBI did not tell the Democratic National Committee that U.S officials suspected it was the target of a Russian government-backed cyber attack when agents first contacted the party last fall, three people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
And in months of follow-up conversations...the FBI did not warn party officials that the attack was being investigated as Russian espionage, the sources said.
The lack of full disclosure by the FBI prevented DNC staffers from taking steps that could have reduced the number of confidential emails and documents stolen...the Russian government continued to have access to Democratic Party computers for months during a crucial phase in the U.S. presidential campaign, the source said.
As late as June, hackers had access to DNC systems and the network used by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee…”
And still, Russia’s hacking of Democrats continues: "FBI Probes Hackers Targeting Democratic Officials Phones (as recently as the past month)--Russians Are Suspected to Be Behind the Hacking Attempts." (9/27/16)
U.S. officials have said they believe those attacks were orchestrated by hackers backed by the Russian government, possibly to disrupt the Nov. 8 election…
Yet, despite months, and months of “investigating”—the FBI still doesn’t seem to be able to come up with any conclusions—before the November 8 elections. They also don’t seem to have any ability (or desire?) to be proactive enough to stop the cyberhacking. One could be forgiven for wondering if the FBI is making any effort at all to stop the Russians from attacking Democrats and meddling in the US elections.
As for the Fourth Estate— whose role should be functioning as a watchdog, with an ability to question those in power in any of those three branches of government? Instead, of a “watchdog” what we’ve seen during much of the campaign, and has become even more apparent in recent days has been "The Utter Failure of the Corporate Media: Colluding with the FBI"? Instead of government watchdog, the media seems to be functioning as a GOP lapdog.
...The consolidation of Corporate Media has resulted in over 90% of all of it being owned by only SIX mega-corporations. News has became a source of massive profits...
Utterly devoid of journalistic integrity and accountability, too many talking heads have become the GOP’s echo chamber. Lies go unchecked and fake scandals proliferate. All too often, the majority of “news” comes directly from the GOP!...
The failures of the media aren’t just shameful, they could cost us our democracy. The media’s lengthy failure to accurately report on an unhinged, unqualified republican candidate, and their giving him so much free media exposure made him seem to be a legitimate candidate—as they mostly ignored the Democratic nominee. Their unquestioning repetition of Republican talking points continually and falsely portrayed the Democratic Nominee in a negative light, while also falsely portraying the Republican Nominee positively.
The actions of the Trump campaign, the Republican leadership, and the FBI are more than just partisan. They are anti-democracy. They are anti-American.
What can we do? We can fight back as if our democracy depended on it. We can
GOTV. We need to get out and vote, and get as many other sane people as possible out to vote as well.
"Don't let the FBI Decide the Election."A few links to the ongoing efforts of Russia, the republicans, and the Trump campaign to use any means to elect Trump:
(7/27/16) “How Russia’s Putin Is Trying to Throw the American Election for Trump.”
(9/27/16): “FBI Probes Hacks Targeting Phones of Democratic Officials”
(11 /4/16) : "DNC Has Told FBI it Found Evidence HQ was Bugged."
(9/27/16) DHS: 18 States Seeking Help Securing Elections…in the wake of suspected breaches blamed on Russian hackers.”
(9/22/16) “Russian Hackers Trying to Influence US Elections, Conclude Top Intel Dems.”
(10/14/16) “Entire US Political System ‘Under Attack’ By Russian Hacking, Experts Warn”.
(9/5/16) “US Investigating Potential Covert Russian Plan to Disrupt Elections”.
(10/12/16) “Time to Get Real About US Cyber War…Trump Denies, Obama Delays, and the media enables in the face of unprecedented attacks on US Democracy.”
(11/15/16) "Meet Trump's Top FBI Fanboy".
(11/3/16) "Harry Reid Accuses Comey of Sitting on Proof of Trump-Russia Ties, Possible Hatch Act Violations." .
(11/04/16) "Trump and Russia: 8 Shockers From Newsweek's Blockbuster Expose."
(5/13 /16) "Russia 'Was Behind German Parliament Attack."
(10/11/16) “How Assange Turned WikiLeaks Into Trump’s Best Friend.”
(10/31/16) “Russia’s Cold Decrepit Hand.”
(7/30/16) “Trump and Russia, A Web That Gets More Tangled All the Time”.
(9/22/16) “From Russia With Trump: A Political Conflict Zone.”
