My Liberal Friends are Going Too Far.

My Facebook is crawling with people on the right showing a mean-spirited attitude I always knew was just under the surface, while my center-left friends are showing something like a right wing gullibility [1] or xenophobia or hatred that I consider just as scary. In these posts, like the meme above, single phrases by Trump are used as an example of his betrayal of America. [2]

This saber-rattling of a nuclear power no less, seems unwarranted. This Intercept article does well to point out that the evidence for a Russian interference is not exactly ironclad. And if we’re carrying out acts of war based on it, shouldn’t we have more evidence? Or as the article says, “The integrity of our presidential elections is vital to the country’s survival; blind trust in the CIA is not.” That people, ostensibly on the thinking left, are taking all this on blind faith is beyond saddening.

Are there any lessons learned from prior engagements and the “evidence” or lack thereof shown to us? And I know that Trump is using the same argument, pointing out the Iraq War mistake as cover for himself. And, look, I know that he’s a master at this throwing every argument out there to win, but that doesn’t mean the argument is flawed [3]. We need more evidence before we go about launching into a new war, let alone one with a nuclear power.

And I also understand that our intel agencies are vital. That doesn’t mean that they don’t play a shell game with the information they have [4] thus leaving us to wonder if what they’ve said is correct or a lie. They certainly are rarely held accountable for mistakes, so what difference does it make to them that they don’t have all the information with regard to this? It makes none, and it even plays into their hand to mix up the results for the public. But that makes us, citizens of a republic, responsible to ask for more, not be obedient fools.

Update 7: And finally, Jacobin with a good point about the center-left using the red scare tactics to simply purge their own ranks: it will only weaken them even further.

Update 6: And here’s yet another article to read on the matter. This update will hold all views from now on.

Update 5: And here’s another point from Corey Robin, that this move by the intel agencies represents quite the overreach. You already know my views on the matter, that I think we need evidence, that I think even if true we need to know how much it actually affected the election.

But we should also step back and try to see what this is all about. Why exactly make such a huge deal out of it (especially if it’s not known how much it affected the race [6])? Part of me thinks that it’s all part of some oligarchic power play. Perhaps the intel agencies want it to be known that they will get the funding they want? Remains to be seen, but for those of us who want a well informed citizenry, it’s back to the same shell game of information and lies.

Update 4: Couple more articles to read. One on the so-called hacker involved denying it. And this one as well. I welcome any other articles in the comments.

Update 3: And it keeps on getting worse. Some people have replied to this by saying the point doesn’t matter (I agree, the Russian scare reeks of trying to obfuscate matters). Okay, I’m in agreement that Trump has many other issues/instincts that are bigger and worse to deal with. So why waste so much time on this one? Juan Cole has a decent piece out. Much of this does seem like theater and that my ostensibly thoughtful liberal friends are falling for it is even worse. Here’s the thing: Let’s assume Russia used propaganda on our election and hacked the DNC. How much did it actually affect things? Seriously asking because that helps us focus on things that matter rather than some trolls online. Is it worse than voter suppression? Is it worse than the Fake News that the right naturally engages in? What about the bias of the mainstream media? Shouldn’t they have dealt with the emails in a proper manner, actually talked about real policies? All of this is now being brushed under carpet over some odd fight in Washington over this issue.[5]

Update: To clarify a few points: the main point here are 1) We don’t know for certain that the Russians did it. 2) If they did do it, how much did it affect the election and are they the ones to “blame” for that outcome? Like the attempt to blame “Fake News” (read: a shotgun blast that included independent news doing real good journalism) this reeks of passing the buck by the mainstream media who did not cover the emails or policies in any proper or coherent manner. And if it’s simply the action that we’re focusing on, is it worth starting a war (even a cyber one) over it?

Update 2: Worth a look: the WaPo’s attempt to raise the fear factor.