Putin Got His Money’s Worth
More and more information is coming to light that suggests direct coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian manipulation of the 2016 election. This post is not about that. There are others who are better situated to uncover the actions of the Trump campaign and its surrogates and to untangle their relationships with Russian intelligence.
The question here is this: Whether the Trump campaign conspired with the Russians or whether it was simply the beneficiary of Russian efforts, what did Putin get out of this effort?
I have no sophisticated expertise on geopolitical strategy. I am going to focus on a few of Putin’s likely aims: (1) Undermining American opposition to his actions in Ukraine and possibly other places where he has territorial or political ambitions, (2) Undermining NATO as a check on Russian activities and (3) Undermining the United States as an effective adversary and as a moral authority on the world scene.
So far, so good.
On the international scene, Trump has been aggressively sabotaging American relationships with long-time ally after long-time ally. He has appointed a Secretary of State who has no experience and who may not have wanted the job. He has ignored the State Department’s expertise and placed delicate international diplomacy in the hands of his inexperienced son-in-law and his own supposed negotiating genius. It is difficult to imagine a more satisfying scenario for anyone whose goal is fracturing the postwar Western alliance and its effectiveness,
Trump’s Muslim bans and aggressive hostility to immigrants and visitors, whatever their legal status, has already cut into the tourist industry and discouraged the tradition of foreign talent coming to this country to study and work. In the long run this is likely to undermine US innovation and technical prowess. In addition, the naked bigotry he has encouraged has already diminished American moral stature in the world, and terrorists are ecstatic over the provocative attacks on Islam. Score another point for knocking the US off its world leadership pedestal.
The destruction of the United States suffered a setback when Congress failed to snatch away health insurance from millions of Americans, but Trump has promised to use every available administrative tool to achieve this goal. Meanwhile, his appointees and his budget will facilitate the poisoning of our air and water, drain the resources of our public schools, and eliminate protections against infectious diseases and climate change, leaving us armed but sick, weak, and ignorant. If you fear US opposition, what’s not to celebrate?
Our ability to protect ourselves against future sabotage has also been weakened. Both Congress and the Justice Department are now under the control of people who have shown that they are more willing to live with Russian control than they are with American opposition. Neither is willing to investigate thoroughly the manipulation of the last election or to take steps to prevent the manipulation of the next one.
Indeed, we no longer know who is on our side. Though no one seems to remember this story or know what became of it, there were allegations before the 2016 election that Russians had interfered not only in the presidential election but also in some Congressional races on behalf of Republicans, possibly including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. In view if these stories, it is difficult to determine whether the reluctance of House Republicans to investigate the Russian manipulation is based on what the representatives themselves have to hide or whether they are merely willing to tolerate treason in others to protect their regressive and antidemocratic legislative agenda.
It also makes a remedy even more difficult to craft if wrongdoing is proved. No matter what the degree of Trump’s entanglement with Russia he has already committed impeachable offenses by any reasonable standard, though he is in no imminent danger thanks to his allies (or partners in crime) in Congress. Vice President Pence has not thus far been shown or alleged to have any illegal ties to Russia. He does, however, owe his position to any wrongdoing that occurred, just as much as Trump does. This is also, by extension, true of everyone in Trump’s cabinet. At this point the only person in the entire line of succession who is not (as far as I know) tainted by Russian electoral shenanigans is Orrin Hatch. I hope there are Constitutional scholars somewhere crafting a legal remedy for this unprecedented problem. I hope it includes undoing all the harm done by the people who have no legitimacy in the offices they hold, because if it doesn’t, the harm Russia bargained for will go on unchecked.
Although I don’t know what unbiased investigations (assuming they are allowed to proceed) will reveal about the administration’s complicity with Russia, they are an incredibly, almost comically, guilty-acting bunch. For purposes of culpability that matters. While active treason is still frowned upon by many, passive treason is practically patriotic. (Note to Trump’s lawyers: I just made that up. When you use it I would like to be cited as “numerous legal authorities,” or even better and more Trumpianly, “numerous authoritative legal authorities.” Pretty sure Justice Gorsuch will go for it.)
For purposes of the effectiveness of the sabotage, however, the degree of entanglement makes little difference, if any. As long as we have an administration that subverts our democracy and our faith in the rule of law and justice for all, our health, our openness, our leadership in the world, our moral authority, our sense of equality, our belief in science and our ability to innovate, Putin can go on congratulating himself on the success of his scheme.
