The Art of the Denial...

17 intelligence agencies have confirmed that they believe, with a high degree of certainty, that Russia, under the direct orders of Vladimir Putin, hacked our election systems in order to affect the outcome of the presidential race. In layman terms, when intelligence agencies use the words, “high degree of certainty” that translates into, “we know beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Donald Trump and his lackies have denied, and ridiculed the intelligence reports, taken to twitter to cast blame on President Obama, claiming that its some sort of liberal plot designed to overturn the election results and subvert the will of the people. Obviously the modus operandi of the President-elect and his team is when in doubt, and you have no facts to back up your wild claims, bludgeon the messenger, and deny, deny, deny.

Putting aside partisan politics,  17 intelligence agencies are sounding the alarm loudly and clearly, the sovereignty of our nation and our democratic institutions have been attacked by a foreign government. By launching a cyber attack on our election systems, Russia at the behest of Vladimir Putin, has declared war on our nation!  

Why you may ask?

Submitted for your consideration:

The Russian president is a very rich man; his fortune is estimated at $85 Billion! And he amassed that fortune by robbing, killing and destroying anyone that has dared to get in his way. Hillary Clinton spoke out against Putin in 2011 and from that moment she became his target. The hack of our election systems was meant to deny her the presidency and more importantly, show the world that America was weak and couldn’t be depended on.

Needless to say, hacking our election systems with the intent of undermining our democracy is a deliberate act of war!

And no amount of political double-talk by Kellyanne Conway, or incoherent, conspiracy-laden tweets from Donald Trump are going to change that fact. The strategy of deflect and deny is not going to cut it. The 3 a.m. tweets about the biased media and liberal democrats is not going to change the situation. The “Make America Great Again” slogan is not going to stop our enemies from attacking our nation.

This might come as a complete shock to Trump and his stunningly overblown ego, but the President of the United States works for 300 million citizens. He swears an oath to uphold our constitution and protect our nation from foreign and domestic threats. The job of the POTUS is to put the interest of the nation before that of himself and his family.

Real leaders take the world as it is and implement policy according to verifiable information rather than hiding their heads in the sand. Real leaders don’t disparage our intelligence community when they are sounding the warning bell. Real leaders see Vladimir Putin as a threat and call him out when he actively tries to destroy the sovereignty of your nation.

The United States of America is indeed a great country and we need a great man or woman to lead us starting January 20^th …

Sadly, we got saddled with Donald Trump and his twitter account.

Enemies At The Gate

For many years going forward, academics, political scientist, historians, media consultants and average working men and women are going to debate the dismal Presidential election of 2016. However, for the time being, we must focus our attention on two very real threats to our democracy.

 The first threat is the fact that a foreign government influenced the Presidential election of 2016. The Soviet Union successfully launched a series of cyber attacks that undermined our political process. Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin is a stone cold killer and he views America as a sunset power that must be neutralized and Donald Trump as simple-minded, political opportunist that can be easily manipulated.

 The second threat is internal and ideologically driven. The rise of the alt-right media machine is dangerous and seriously undermines the tenets of our democracy because at its core it predicated on racism, xenophobic fear mongering, sexism, white nationalism and anti-Semitism.

Propaganda websites like Breitbart News, the Drudge Report, and conservative radio hosts like Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh have systemically engaged in conspiracy theories, trafficking in fake news reports and attacking and demonizing Democrats, Independents and principled Republicans that are not radical or conservative enough.

The first threat is unacceptable and must never be allowed to happen again. Homeland security, and all the other security agencies that are suppose to protect our nation, fell down on the job. Hard questions need to be asked and changes need to be made. Foreign governments (and the FBI) should never be allowed to influence our elections. EVER!

The second threat is equally troubling, but it must also be confronted and defeated.  

To be sure, propaganda is not a new phenomenon in American politics. Case in point: President Woodrow Wilson used the Creel Commission to manipulate the American people into marching off to World War I, which resulted in over 37 million military, and civilian casualties!

If allowed to continue on its merry way, the alt-rights media machine could easily derail our democracy and push this country into another great depression or another war to end all wars.

Sadly, the new incoming regime has shown its disdain for real journalism, fact checking, and freedom of speech. As a way of calming fears and showing what “making America Great Again” will consist of, President-elect Trump decided to appoint Steve Bannon, CEO of Breibart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor.

Yes, that’s right, a white nationalist is the new White House Chef Strategist!

Suffice it to say, the enemies are at the gate and the American people can expect no help from the anti-Christ of NY and his administration made up of gazillionaires and white supremacists. 

The fight for the heart and soul of our nation is going to be long and costly, but in the end, the American people will answer the call, rise up against the forces of intolerance, fear and hate and protect our democracy from threats, both foreign and domestic.

Truth, justice and liberty will not quietly go off into the night.