Recognizing Reality
by tristero
CNN:
President Trump just directly contradicted his Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats regarding whether Russia was still actively targeting the US.
What Trump said: Asked if Russia was still targeting the US, Trump said, "No."
I truly want to be wrong about this, but... please consider:
The president's behavior has been called treasonous by far cooler heads than mine. He has just publicly signaled to Putin that he will not be paying much (or no) attention this fall to reports of Russian interference.
Think of this from Putin's point of view. Considering the success of 2016, Putin will certainly be doubling down, increasing his intelligence agencies' budgets for attacks this summer and fall. The intent is sure to create a perfect storm all fronts — social media, ratfucking, machine tampering, and undercover payments to Republican candidates.
And now Trump has signaled that the American agencies entrusted to ensure a fair election — who are deeply alarmed about the potential for malicious Russian behavior in the upcoming election — will not get the extra funding and personnel they will need to counter Russian interference. So, as I said, I would very much like to be wrong about this, but...
I think we need to recognize that we are likely living in a post-democratic United States. The hedge word "likely" represents as much optimism as I can muster right now.