By Buck Sexton

Opinion Contributor

Is Russia targeting the U.S.?

The media posed this question to President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE, and unsurprisingly, they didn't like his answer.

They claim the president said no, Russia isn't targeting us, the White House has responded to say he meant "no" — as in no more questions.

Put aside who is right or whose interpretation is more accurate, this issue of "targeting America" raises an even bigger question, one that I doubt many of the most ardent Russia conspiracy theorists have yet to grapple with.

When will Russia ever not be targeting the United States?

If targeting means — as the media currently says it does — that a handful of Russians setting up fake Facebook accounts and spreading memes is a form of "targeting" America or even "an act of war," how can any person in the government ever know for certain that this isn't happening?

And even if Vladimir Putin — who has to be loving the effects of some email phishing scams and sock-puppet social media accounts on America’s political discourse — even if Vlad gave the order, no more meddling, could he really guarantee that some Russians wouldn't take it upon themselves to meddle?

This isn't an idle question. We've been told all along that the reason for the Mueller probe is, yes, to check for collusion, but more importantly, to investigate Russian election meddling and stop it in the future.

Yet no expert, nobody from within the intelligence community, none of the former top spies I talk to, none of them really believe you can stop election meddling, if you're really that concerned about Facebook accounts and phishing scams.

So, what we have here is a ready-made, perpetual excuse whenever one side loses a national or, who knows, maybe even state wide or local election in the future.

If Russia is always going to be targeting us with propaganda — and they will — and if we can’t stop it, which we can’t, how can you trust the results of any election going forward?

You see, what has happened here is that in the frenzy to warn their fellow Americans about the dangers to our democracy of Russian information operations, they are greatly inflating Russians’ chances of succeeding.

If undermining our institutions is the goal, it's not just the 2016 election we have to worry about. It is all of them going forward.

Or... We can take a breath, take a beat, and get some context.

Russia’s intrusion was bad, it was aggressive and should be called out. But it was about as effective as pouring a cup of vodka into the ocean and claiming you've changed its proof.

Technically true. And yet not really accurate.

We need perspective, we need context.

Russian meddling is not new. We are aware of it, we will combat it.

But there is nothing Putin would want more than for us to allow exaggerated fears threaten our sense of the legitimacy of our government, or the validity of the opinions held by the American

people.

Buck Sexton is the co-host of "Rising," Hill.TV's morning news show.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill.