Deplore away; the fact is he did 'meddle" in our elections along with some nefarious Americans and it was criminal. If Putin's criminal success makes some Russians approve of him more, than something is deeply disturbed in their psyches. Criminal acts do not make one smart or strong; it just makes them criminals.
17
I don't think that Russians understand Americans any better than we understand them. If they did, then you wouldn't see a piece like this in the NT Times. Democracy and representative government are pretty important to us. China seems to understand this, and if rogue oligarchs made rich by the marketplace revolution within her borders attempted to interfere in our elections they would be executed, not sent a cases of Scotch and Beluga caviar. It's irrelevant that Russians who hate Putin are perturbed by a fantasy that Kremlin meddling somehow makes Putin look smart. We know full well that Putin is no master strategist, and neither are American businessmen who got rich in Russia, and prefer the Kremlin to the the Democratic Party. Many Americans have watched a political movement coalesce around vulgarities spewed from a noise machine that has been selling the narrative that that Putin is just fine for decades; a movement that is now very much in control of our country. No one believes the Kremlin is controlled by geniuses, by any stretch, which makes it even more appalling that the Americans who have become Kremlin stooges have gained so much power.
18
Facebook says Russians appeared to have placed about $100,000 worth of political ads on Facebook during 2016. Facebook says the “Russian ads” targeted both Clinton and Trump. It also says “Most of the ads appear to focus on divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum, touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights.” According to Facebook, most of the ads did not mention a specific candidate, whit means more than half were legal. (Foreign nationals can legally place paid political advertising connected to U.S. elections as long as they don’t promote or disparage a specific candidate.) According to Facebook, only “an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. saw the ads” and only 44 percent of the ads appeared prior to the election. Most of the ads (56 percent) appeared after the election. Facebook says none of the Russian ads used its Custom Audiences Targeting tools to tailor their message to specific demographic groups. This appears to indicate Russian agencies didn’t mastermind a social media campaign designed to influence the election. Does anyone really believe Moscow would have spent such a measly amount as $100,000? Besides, what campaign would spend most of it advertising dollars after rather than before an election?
18
I dont live in Russia, so I could never understand the complexities of living there with propoganda instead of media, but like a lot of readers, I think that just the fact that there's an investigation does not mean Putin is a brilliant strategist - he's a criminal.
Unfortunately, how the Russian media spins it has less to do with what is really, factually, being investigated. If these opposition leaders need help in countering this false narrative then American media could do more to help them understand and frame it.
I believe that the complexities of this plot is being conflated with brilliance, because we were vulnerable. They were criminals. Our divisions and lack of media literacy were exploited, we were tools, that were not hard to move, which may make us gullible, but we are.
We are not as media literate as we need to be. We are too trusting of things that we see on the internet, on facebook, and we paid the price for it.
Putin can sing his own praises. When the final scope of the truth comes out, he will NOT get away with it. We found out. And its up to us to mitigate the damage and try and control the narrative based on truth rather than weird lopsided bare-chested personas.
Good for him, he weaponized media, he weaponized the internet, and we were his victims. If theyve ever seen a Bond film they should know - those villians are thought of as dangerous unstable criminals, and there will be a reckoning.
7
Even if the Russian opposition had a point that Americans' "obsession" with Putin contributes to his popularity in Russia - but actually it's not a serious point, the roots of his popularity among the Russians are all in the Russian context, but even then it wouldn't have had much bearing on our investigation of what has happened to us, to our Democracy. Period. If for no other reason that to ensure that "it" would really "couldn't happen here".
2
They have their problems, we have ours. I am more concerned about ours.
13
What is really going on here? Well, Donald Trump is very jealous of Vladimir Putin. He wants to have the same power and control over the USA that Putin has been given/or taken for Russia. Trump is a follower who wants to be a leader who like his dad feels that no matter what he does as long as it is in the interest of his immediate family it is good. Putin could be the wealthiest person on the planet today and he does know how to hide his money, something that Trump has tried to also do. Trump wanting to become America’s Putin will do whatever is necessary to hide his tax filings from the real American taxpayers. A crook always wants to be the best crook and will do whatever is necessary to achieve their self-focus goals which is greater control of their followers by themselves having more of everything.
6
The liberals in Russia are barking up the wrong tree. No one in the U.S. is blaming Putin's government for any discord or getting Trump elected. What we cannot accept is having any interference in out society or or democratic process by another country. This our country, not theirs. Putin will learn that the hard way once Trump goes back into retirement. No one likes a murderer and a despot interfering with our country. What has done is to attempt to exacerbate our country's differences and meddle in an election for his own gain.
Who knows that Putin is effective. What we want him to be is ineffective and Mr. Trump should heed his congress directive and get down to business.
Americans, we may fight like family but we do take of our won. If we find Russian apologists and operatives at the highest levels of our government, we are not going to be apologetic about putting them in jail.
The sanctions are there for a real reason. Foreign governments tearing at our democracy cannot be tolerated. If Russia ever wants to act fairly, then we can talk. Not before.
4
People in comments are saying that we the Russians didn't understand the whole point of the investigation and concerns of election meddling. But we do understand it. It's just that we feel like the article mentioned that you are simply blaming us for your own issues same as USSR and now Russia constantly blames the west for our issues, and Russian liberals (i do not consider myself one, just to be clear) feel betrayed or their image of the US politics/democracy tarnished.
The deep divide between democrats and republics didn't happen when Trump came to power - it has been worsening for decades. It is also hard to swallow or process American accusations when you do not provide a concrete proof or portrait us as inherently evil, devious, hackers bent on destroying everything you love and our government as some sort of nefarious masterminds bent on world domination. Yet in our own country we see army releasing game screenshots in fake news about the US, stagnant economy, social issues, corruption and constant ineptitude of our government which just makes your accusations seem implausible.
Basically what our liberals are seeing that any government, regardless of their supposed alignment can be petty and paranoid, and every action your politicians make towards Russia is easily subverted by our media to make it look like we are being attacked be our enemies in the west while squabbling over their own issues.
26
I wholeheartedly agree with many of the comments already made that point out that, while the narrative of the American media may be frustrating to Russian journalists, the fact is that Russia was able to meddle in our election. Many have been saying all along that Putin's ability to manipulate the Trump campaign/administration is not so much a testament to Putin's genius as it is to Trump's gullibility and fan worship of a strongman, however Potemkin-esque.
And yet, I also understand the frustration toward a narrative of cunning that misses the mark so spectacularly that it plays into the hands of the despot. The same dynamic is at play in the US, when the media decry Trump's "mastery" at manipulating the media and dominating the news cycle. Trump has no more cunning than a toddler who repeatedly throws Cheerios on the floor, and watches gleefully while Daddy jumps to clean up the mess. Like Daddy, the media, too, can learn. I was heartened to see reporting on Trump's latest tweet about the NFL fade rapidly into the oblivion, it so richly deserved.
There is hope, but only if we, like the Russian journalists, recognize opportunism as a primitive, emotional impulse of a simpleton with few options in his intellectual tool box, and not evidence of"geopolitical genius."
11
“American liberals are so upset about Trump that they cannot believe he is a real product of American life...”. Might be the result of ignorance about life in general, and in particular about the products generated by a normal, functional digestive system.
5
Americans are still shell-shocked of a true black swam political event since its independence in 1776. Donald Trump was elected president.
From a propaganda standpoint, a new narrative must be constructed to explain such political apocalypse. The so-called Russian meddling fits nicely in the new political discourse.
According to the narrative, American voters -- millions of gullible folks -- were tricked by the Russians to elect Trump president.
If this narrative gets traction and accepted, voters will not be fooled in the election of 2020. The question is: can American voters be fooled again?
8
Wait...who won the popular vote again?
4
I suggest you hold your own country accountable while we grapple with the issues created by government. Our current President would like nothing better than to sweep this under rug and continue his charade of governance. We need to know the full extent of the meddling and how to prevent it in the future. Trump's behavior towards Putin is more than suspicious.
8
Perhaps more Russians should start to question what Putin has done to stay in power in Russia?
7
Why does he American press focus on Putin and possible Russian interference in our election?
It sells papers and advertising. There isn't that much else going on. Most of he press hates Trump and preferred Hillary, who got the majority of he popular vote, so anything that de-legitimizes Trump gets played up.
9
It is easier to blame the Russians than for Democrats to accept that the voters rejected them. And preferred Trump of all people.
The psychological shock of the Democrat elites, who had previously assumed that they were universally loved, to be tossed aside, for Trump!, is too much to handle.
10
We must not lose sight of the fact that there are TWO different - theoretically separate - connections between Trump and Russian persons or entities.
The first is any attempts to influence the electorate through false advertising and news stories; or to actually hack the process of voting itself.
A second is the possibility that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian entities during the campaign to give him an advantage.
The third is Trump's alleged extensive business connections and vulnerability to blackmail/kompromat.
This article really only seems to deal with the first; it's ambiguous if it deals with the second.
But Americans should be deeply agitated about the third - a corrupt and compromised leader. What liberal, left-leaning Russians think of that is not touched on - it might have been interesting to know. Corruption and blackmail are hardly products of genius or masterful strategy; any mafia thug knows how.
7
Message to liberal Russians-- the US, dominated by big money political donors, is no longer “an exemplar of democratic values & journalistic excellence.” Being better than Russia is a low standard.
Our free media obsesses on Russia/collusion, but avoids how the US is unique--- other democracies don’t put their elections under control of corporate donors. They long ago financed health care for all. They don’t let an electoral college contradict their popular vote. They ban privately paid campaign ads that manipulate US voters & cost a fortune.
Al Gore said on CNN “ Our democracy has been hacked by big money long before Putin hacked our democracy.”
Richard Painter, Bush ethics lawyer said in a NYT op ed “Our politics is a protection racket run by big money who simply threaten candidates who don’t play ball--they'll run somebody against them who will.”
For some interesting objectivity, MSNBC Ari Melber devoted Friday’s show to a debate between 2 lawyers & law students on the pros/cons of the ‘collusion’ issue.
But the real US “Collusion” is domestic and legal---it's between our elite campaign financiers dominating lawmaking and the lawmakers we elect. It affects all our lives.
The Gop rw dominates our 3 branches. They have their own party media --the Fox News radio/TV monopoly.
The Gop admits to voter suppression & closing polling places making it hard to vote. The party gerrymandering mocks democracy.
Plz look to other role models to someday reform Russia.
11
Happy Thanksgiving!
Instead of being Person of the Year, I propose Trump as Turkey of the Year.
That should mollify the Russians fixated on American's fixation with him.
2
Why blame Putin? The destruction of our government is entirely the fault of the electorate. .....Or is the U.S. not a democracy?
6
Thank you NYT for publishing this article. The entire Russia subverting the American elections is like some badly conceived Hollywood movie.
10
As long as Trump is our president, Putin will always look more fit, smarter, more strategic, a better tactician... How wouldn’t he be viewed as a more professional leader? Even in their favorite leisure past times. Imagine the photos of Trump at golf or tennis and Putin riding horses or playing hockey.
1
How can anyone feel bad for Americans, even if it turns out to be true that Russians influenced the American elections? It's called karma ! When President Boris Yeltsin eventually won, the cover of Time magazine was “Yanks to the rescue: The secret story of how American advisers helped Yeltsin win”.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/americans-spot-ele...
7
I would have hoped and expected that their outrage would have remained stronger and better directed for longer.
Furthermore the legal focus on the US is on potential illegal *collusion* between the US and foreign operators.
Finally no one should worry that Putin is being mistaken for a mastermind. If the Russian people have swallowed that fiction, it is only because it is easier than to look in a clear-eyed fashion at the dramatic decay of their demographics, health, technologocial and scientific excellence, and economic output.
4
Not to go too far down the rabbithole, but wouldn't we reasonably assume that the "opposition" in Russia is also to a certain extent influenced by Putin? Isn't this a classic move? Given how unconvincing this article is (how is Putin a genius for making it harder to get sanctions lifted? How would anything we do here impact the Russian state media glorifying Putin?), it's not ludicrous to think that the author of this article got tricked into sowing confusion.
5
Judging by the facts that are publicly available, there seems to be a high probability that there were multiple people in this disaster of an administration that are compromised by Russian actors. This includes trump.
Navalny's chief of staff has his opinions about the attention that these basic facts are getting but his opinion is meaningless and questionable.
4
I sympathize with Putin's political foes, but this will eventually backfire on their fearless misleader. We're much more concerned about American collusion and the dismantling of our democratic institutions by his idiot stooge who was elected less by Putin's genius than by our own feckless misinformed electorate.
7
"our own feckless misinformed electorate" is going to have another election in a year, an important election.
If you hope to win it, you need to stop insulting those voters, and start to understand them, and have real communication with them. "You're stupid" is not real communication.
Anyway, the losers last time don't really have so much smarts to brag about either, since they nominated a disaster and then lost to someone as awful as Trump.
Wise up, then try to talk to the others about where we are.
7
In reading some of the comments, I cannot help but wonder what percentage are Russian trolls. As for the fact that some Russians are upset that we are investigating the subversion of our election, too bad. If our President and his campaign, in any way, shape or form, sought or accepted help from the Russians in order to win or to placate his Russian creditors, he should be impeached at a minimum or be prosecuted for treason if the facts merit.
20
There are real Russian trolls. They often appear to agree with you, because their goal is to stir up trouble. Hence they were pushing extremist views on the Democratic left too.
However, accusation of "Russian troll" has come to be "he disagrees with me." Real Russian trolls must be delighted with that.
6
Democracy cannot be undermined when it is true democracy! Here we are going on and on ad infinitum about Russia's meddling in our elections when both democrats and republicans have done more harm to our electoral system than ANYTHING Russia could have done toward that end. We need to get serious about the path we're on- like yesterday! Because humanity can arbitrate its applications in Nature but NOT their outcomes! which, like democracy itself, are all subject to Cosmic Law.
It's hard to believe that we are so pathologically wedded to delusion!
11
Without Russian oligarch financing, Trump would have disappeared with his Atlantic City Casino bankruptcies, but instead rebounded. Manafort was a crook, but Russian oligarch financing allowed him to develop and incidentally help Putin and 7th he oligarchs considate hold on Once sSoviet states.
2
OK, I'll go with Mr Volkov's opinion, "Putin is not a master geopolitical genius."
You don't need a genius when you're dealing with the childish checkerboard mentality of our current President and the inept Republican Party.
Russians always want to pretend geopolitics is a great chess match. I doubt it. Basically people are believing what is most convenient for their current positions and ambitions. Apparently many Russians have a nationalistic pride in their billionaire thug for the oligarchs. He's a tough guy, and the Russian media and opposition don't have many great options.
11
The not-genius wanted to defeat the other party, not the one you call names. They seem to have been smart enough to help do that. So who showed as stupid in all that?
4
The Trump Russian connection shows Trumps total disregard for social norms and law.
The real subversion is Talk Radio and to a slightly lesser extent Fox News. Talk Radio has been spreading misinformation and lies for 20 years. If you live outside a major urban area and spend much time in a car, Talk Radio is about the only radio you can get. Where I live NPR is often blocked.
Maybe the Democrats and liberals ought to invest in some long term counter propaganda in the red states that ate our lunch and saddled us with a crazy person.
8
The real treasure here are the comments, LOL. First, messing in other countries elections is nothing new for the USA. The Obama administration has just spent $350K on anti-Bibi propaganda in the Israeli elections of 2015, for example. Second, can someone explain to me, if Russia is a "kleptocracy" and US is a "democracy", why then the measures of inequality in both countries are roughly the same? The GINI index is 45 for the US and 42 (somewhat better) for Russia; the Palma ratio is 2.0 for both countries. And if you look at the income charts, no matter whom do Americans elect for the past 40 years, it is mostly the income of the top 1% that really grows, leaving median income far behind. In fact, the real median income in US is now back to its early 90s level. So it is kinda funny to read the comments here: the top 1% rules the country but Americans, who in 2016 were selecting between the Bad and the Ugly, are nevertheless "proud of their democracy" and defend it with vigor from (hypothetical) Russian tampering.
So, in my humble opinion, the Russian investigation is a quest for power inside the top 1% and, therefore, is of little interest to me. It works wonders, though, as a distraction from real issues. Maybe we should listen to Russian liberals? Indeed, enough already.
18
ok Graf- nothing to see here, right? why bother?
2
Of little interest to you? The rest of the country, except for Trump supporters, care deeply what type of government we have and how they were selected. Our greatest competitor in 100 years boasts openly about hacking the election while those of us who know about how the Russians have devoted their resources to undermining the US government are living “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Our Republican leaders do not care. Our next election will be lost in the tabulations at the Secretary of State’s Office. There is no plan to stop the hacking.
It is a false equivalence to suggest the American efforts at influencing elections is the same as agitprop and active measures to tampering with tabulations. This has undermined democracy and created a government with less that 40% support. Trump is more disturbed with each anti democratic statement and refusing to enforce sanctions on Russia passed by Congress. He will not check Russian dominance in world affairs. He is a white supremacists, white nationalists supported tin horn dictator undermining the rule of law
Ninety-nine years after the American Expeditionary Force’s invasion of the new Soviet Union in 1918 some Americans are indifferent to Russian domination of our Congress and Executive and the Russian invasion of our electoral process in 2017. Tax breaks and destroying health care for millions matters that much?
4
Russia may have meddled in the 2016 US presidential election, either through articles it placed and promoted, or through hacking into the databases of several states' electoral operations. Ideally, Robert Mueller will get to the bottom of it. But a few points still need to be made:
1) It's hard to imagine a country on earth in whose internal politics the U.S. hasn't meddled. Americans who complain when the favor is returned are either ill-informed or hypocritical.
2) While Putin, like Trump, is a grotesque, this isn't about personalities. The U.S. has ringed Russia with military bases and has many nuclear-tipped ICBM's pointed at it (as they have pointed at us). It only makes sense for Russia to try and produce a U.S. leader more to its liking. It’s the responsibility of the U.S. to protect its vital electoral systems, a task at which it apparently failed.
3) For at least a generation, the Republicans have made it harder for people unlikely to support it to vote. Why aren't people complaining about the Republicans as well as the Russians?
4) Finally, Putin's domestic opponents are right: as your headline correctly states, many Americans are fixated on Putin as the boogeyman of the election. Why? Because Hillary Clinton and the DNC, through their incompetence and corruption, blew the most winnable presidential election in modern history. They need a fall guy, and Putin will do as well as anyone.
17
"They need a fall guy, and Putin will do as well as anyone."
It isn't only the Stages of Grief, denial, anger, etc.
They "need" a fall guy in order to get back the donors, who are furious that a billion dollars of their money was wasted to lose to Trump.
5
Some questions for Mueller and the Congress to ask:
1) What was Putin (or his agents) doing, and when was he doing it?
2) What does Trump know and how does he know it?
Subpoenas and real investigation are overdue...
7
I can agree Trump is a completely american creation out of the muck of political innuendo. That he and his cohort are easily manipulated is a completely different story.
Truth is republicans have been harvesting political outcasts since the days of Goldwater. And it's these outcast who have finally realized they had the numbers ... thanks to republican leaders gerrymandering a solid voting majority at the district level enabling single party control over the House.
Unfortunately for the party leadership, they lost control over their base in 2010 with the teat party. As it now stands, all the Freedom caucus needs to do is deny their support to Ryan and create a separate, independent group which would deny both republicans and democrats the necessary number to claim to be the majority.
This is what the Russians are saying. Trump is the after-birth of the republican efforts to dominate the political establishment ... it's their base who is responsible for Trump ... the Russians just fed more fuel to the roaring fire the republican leadership set fire too.
6
“There is constant US propaganda, and direct funding of US NGOs… Is that not interference, which continues year in, year out? Take a globe, spin it, and randomly put your finger on any spot – I can guarantee that there are American interests and meddling there.
What do the Americans want? For everyone to just bow their heads in deference? We have our own opinion and we express it openly. It is not some form of undercover sabotage.”
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin, June 2017
5
Another false dichotomy. You can deplore Russian efforts to impact the US elections at the same time as you recognize its limited impact. It's not our job to oust Putin. It's the Russian people's job.
11
Sorry Russian critics, but Putin is a genius. More precisely an evil genius. The way he manipulated Facebook to provide effective and hidden propaganda with such a minimal investment will go down in the history books. Sometimes we don't recognize the brilliance of those close to us. From afar though, we can see that Putin has succeeded in marginalizes the United States to a degree we never thought possible. It takes brilliance to do that.
2
If it helps any, Putin would not have accomplished anything without help from American traitors.
16
Neither traitors nor fools could have done this if the Democrats had done their jobs. Thrash around and blame everything but that, and you only convince yourself.
4
If Geopolitical Genuis means overseeing the collapse of an empire, then yes, Putin is looking good! His regaining the useless bit of land, that costs them billions a year, called the Crimea, along with his new military bases in Syria, amount to a spitoon's worth of success.
3
Someone explain it to these people. You never needed any "master strategist" to control Donald Trump, not anywhere, not any how. Also, if liberal-minded Russians want to save their country, they have to face totalitarianism as a reality, not a fiction.
4
This is a crazy development in Russia. I had no idea that this made it harder for opponents of President Putin to challenge his authority and making him look invincible. This is excellent reporting on the NYT end. I hope knowing more about this situation will prevent further empowerment.
5
"Ultimately, they say, Americans are using Russia as a scapegoat to explain the deep political discord in the United States." The critics from the Russian opposition make an important point. Too many Americans are so entrenched in grievances and victimhood that they are suckers for Russian manipulation, and we have only ourselves to blame for that. Nonetheless, we do have establish how Putin's government and his minions meddled in our elections and send a clear message to everyone - from the White House to the Kremlin - that we won't tolerate this again.
8
True, we must not tolerate even the appearance of meddling, even the suspicion.
That appearance of impropriety is entirely different from the craze that Putin imposed Trump on an America that really wanted Hillary. That excuse-making is as dangerous as the appearance that we can be meddled with.
It avoids dealing with the real issues, that voters rebelled and might very well rebel again if presented with the same things to rebel against. Understand those, that part of what happened.
Don't just do it again and expect a different result because "Putin."
3
I can’t help but wonder if all the quoted “anti-Putin” activists here might be suffering from a form of Stockholm Syndrome?
Do they spectacularly miss the point that they live in a country where election results have been routinely distorted for decades (e.g. Stalin: “The people who vote decide nothing. The people who count votes determine everything.”), have coopted the traditionally rabid anti Ru$$ian-Soviet party to help make American elections look more like Ru$$ian ones.
10
It's helpful to know what Russian who are anti-Putin--and have the courage to express their views--think of American response to the cyber-attacks, and I'm certain there's validity to what they say. But cultural ignorance is a two-way street. Russian anti-Putinists can also fail to understand Americans. By all means let's tone down our hysterics, but we need to take the Putin government's attacks on our system very seriously, and we must respond as vigorously as possible.
10
Thank you for this article, NY Times. This is the kind of reporting I would like to see more of. We need know how our actions are affecting our image abroad, and particularly in Russia. Russians used to look to the US media for the truth, but no longer. I think that's a shame.
15
The election of Trump marks the end of the world as we knew it and the rapid decline of the United States as a leader in the world. Some people think he would have been elected regardless of the Russian interference. I don't believe that at all. I also don't believe that the voting machines counted the votes properly especially in those key states. Still used software made by Kaspersky labs? Why?
5
The sad fact is that hatred and envy are endemic to Russian society. It is something that binds together Putin and his enemies. Ironically, it also binds together the Alt Right and the Oliver Stone Left, blame America first, last and always.
5
This was the craziest article I've seen in a long time. The whole premise is insane. He wants us to do what now exactly?
In no way has anyone investigating the election hacking made Putin out to be a 'master manipulator'. If anything Putin's spies are uncovered to be bumbling, stupid and most obvious of all, terrible at covering their tracks. The very notion that we are somehow making it worse for Russians because we are investigating a blatant attack(not a genius one) is a lie only stupid people could believe. The NYT's did walk a fine line in not giving much credence to this asinine idea and instead just let us know that some people are propagandizing this weirdo contortion of an argument for letting our president get away with TREASON. Honestly, no one smart is worried about Putin, he's pathetic, we are concerned about our fellow Americans who committed heinous betrayal.
12
In the United States, we have lost our balance. In the past, we have been relatively successful at accepting the results of elections which include a change in parties in power. Right now, we have a president whose main modus operandi is to keep everyone off balance, allies and foes alike. I doubt that McConnell has a clue what Trump will do in the next hour. Given this mix, a good portion of the political class is quite suspicious that Trump gained the White House illegally.
Trump has a history of escaping legal consequences while circumventing the law. Russian meddling matters to the US for two reasons that I can think of: national security and the integrity of whatever vestiges of democracy we have. The Russian opposition is right that the US is unduly fixated on 2016. But there is evidence around the edges (FCC net neutrality) that Trump intends to rule America rather than govern America. In the United States, we now have a president who is unwilling to criticize Russian behavior or say anything negative about Vladimir Putin. President Trump will criticize the FBI and the CIA for their assessments and gives Putin wide latitude. We have never had a president who treats adversaries so deferentially while tearing into our own government. The United States is quite vulnerable and we don't have a president who is protective of the US. That is why knowing what happened is so important--how compromised is this president?
6
This is so upside down. If Putin's opponents were decent people, they would confirm Russian meddling and make a moral case about how it is bad for the world. They are not going to be elected anyway. Might as well inject a dose of reality. Or are they afraid of being murdered?
5
Well, the Russian opposition can butt out too. If this whole episode is boosting Putin, that's all the more reason to establish what happened, punish Trump and company, and ensure nothing like it will happen again. Then, Putin won't look so smart for hitching himself to Trump's wagon
4
I think that Russians that are foes of Putin and complain about our concern with Russia meddling in our affairs should take a good look at their country. Political foes of the Kremlin are either jailed, "disappear" or wind up dead. Minimizing what Putin and his gangster government will do to those they see as a threat is foolish.
7
By now it is no longer about Russia's interference in the election, it is about Trump being a Russian intelligence asset. That is I believe the main thrust of Mueller investigation. Trump may have been compromised by the Russian intelligence services, and could actually be a Russian mole. But lets say for a moment that he's not, still the fact is that we have not been able to learn whether Trump is enriching himself using the presidency as cover. Russia might have promised him certain business arrangements for his cooperation in removing the Magnitsky act which hinders the ability of Putin and other Russian oligarchs to enrich themselves. So until we are able to clarify all these issues, it will not be possible to improve relations between the 2 countries.
4
Sorry, but I really don't care what Putin's "opposition" thinks about any issue. At this point we have to clean our own house. And Putin deserves everything that's coming to him, sanctions or otherwise. As well as Trump.
9
I can only hope those directing the coverage of our government by the NYT have read this.
2
The "Pro-Western" Russians have it wrong, I believe. We don't think Trump was created by Putin anymore than we think the Mafia was created by Mussolini. At least I don't think that and don't know anyone who thinks that is the case.
I do think, however, as do many other Americans, that Trump was/is a big neon sign advertising "I NEED CASH NOW AND DON"T CARE WHERE I GET IT!" A match made in hell was created and two countries's citizens suffer as a result.
Trump has lived in a sycophant world since childhood, what a nice catch for Putin the master puppet maker. Trump was easily, and cheaply, bought.
5
Thede Russian experts seem to be missing the point of the profound concern regarding Russian intervention in the US presidential election. I don't know anyone who thinks that the Russian meddling definitely caused the Trump victory. What is definite is that there was a wide spread, systemic assault on democracy by Russian hackers & sources of fake news and this was coordinated from the top- by Putin. This is the conclusion of numerous American intelligence agencies. This is and should be the focus of major concern and continued investigation in this country. Any impact that may have on how Russians perceive Putin (or America) must remain beside the point. This is the nature of democracy: an independent judicial system, held accountable by an informed populace, pursues the facts until Justice is served.
most people I know, myself included, have had no difficulty in separating the problem of Russian intervention with the problem of an American populist movement that made an incompetent, narcissistic con man president.
2
Oh, one more thing to contrast the gist of this article. Many Americans knew Trump was a sleazebag long before Vlad entered the scene. Ask any banker on Wall Street in the 90's (and thereafter) who is the biggest loser/creep? They'd all tell you "The Donald"!
America created 'The Donald', Vlad fostered the mutation.
4
Wow!
Talk about a rare case where: "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy!"
2
"Enough already"? Too bad. If the U.S. did what Putin is doing, they would be screaming and demonstrating with anti- American slogans. This far from a trivial matter and the opposition better come to grips with reality. BTW, you elected Putin how many times now? Three times? You Russians are worse than the right wing yokels we have here. Baa, Baa. I hear sheep's a calling, with Putin as your shepherd leading you over a cliff.
3
This didn't show that Putin is a master strategist... it shows that America is a nation of some very DUMB people. He tried to do the same thing in France and it didn't work.
10
And yet, if the interference calls the legitimacy of our elections into question, it's not just the US that is diminished. Anybody, anywhere in the world who looks to this country as an example - however flawed - of self government also loses. And that includes Putin foes.
1
It's not that Putin is super smart and a great strategist, he just got very lucky. He's not stupid, but he is lucky and got a great ROI.
In what insane way does it take a 'mastermind' to take advantage of GOP greed and ignorance to get a moron elected president?
The only thing Putin did was reveal himself to be just another Russian dictator desperate to hold onto power. Interesting that Russian "liberals" are towing the same line as the Kremlin... Why would we listen to them anyway, they've failed much more than American liberals lately.
3
Oh and by the way, this isn't the first time Americans or westerners have betrayed their country and democracy for Russian autocrats. Always ends the same for them, bottom of the dustbin of history.
3
Image as "master strategist"?
Maybe so. But we still must continue Mueller's investigation.
[And it's vacuuming on both sides of the aisle.]
President Trump's tweet distractions (such as his fight with Ball over apologies) and "America first isolationism" are opening the door to Putin's rapid and highly strategic incursions into international power vacancies left empty or almost empty by the US. Russian meddling in the US election and prevention of future election meddling is important. Not enough attention is however being paid to the opportunities created for Putin to advance his influence on the world stage: the recent talks with Assad and Erdogan (goodby influence of Kurds), Crimea bridge, Eastern Ukraine destabilization. the feeling of threat in Balkans. The US is leaving the world stage open. Please do some serious analysis and give prominence to this issue.
3
Russia surely was a factor in the trump win (hardly a victory) and caused AND CONTINUES TO CAUSE damage to the political system in the US, the UK, and is actively meddling in democracies. If that makes Putin a master strategist, so be it. The bottom line is that trump will be out likely sooner rather than later, Brexit will prove to be a major mistake, and democracy will hopefully prevail since it's a system that is strong enough to weather fake news, and even trump and his naive enablers.
So, to those in Russia who think making Putin out to be a master schemer, that may be the truth. Time will tell but the truth must prevail.
3
I don't doubt that the American media's focus on Putin's role in the 2016 election only heightens his standing in Russia -- or that he indeed made a concerted effort to tip the election in Trump's favor. I likewise agree with these anti-Putin Russians that whatever role he played in actually affecting the result has been grossly exaggerated by many in the media. No amount of foreign meddling could have convinced a reasonable and informed electorate to elect a man so clearly unqualified, morally bankrupt, shallow and ignorant as Trump. Only pervasive and longstanding homegrown causes can be blamed for such a catastrophe: a degraded educational system, festering racism and nativism, a toxic tribal political environment fostered and manipulated by a Republican Party that has abandoned rational policy making and ceded its message to Fox News and other "conservative" outlets whose success depends on a perpetuation of that environment, and an archaic Electoral College system that undemocratically inflates the votes of those most likely infected by these viruses.
So, sure, let's get to the bottom of Russia's role, but not at the expense of looking in the mirror for the real reasons American voters have freely elected miscreants like Trump and his Republican enablers to govern this country.
10
1. The author is a bit too quick to label the Russian opposition figures cited (Navalny, for instance) as being pro-democracy and pro-America.
2. Russian opposition figures seem upset because the US conversation about Russian interference in our elections and Trump administration collusion in this interference complicates their efforts to resist Putin's authoritarian / kleptocratic regime. They need to remember that disinfecting their nation's politics is their job. For the people of the US, foreign subversion of our electoral processes is a catastrophe and it's ridiculous for Russian voices to complain that our reaction to it might be an obstacle to their shrinking Navalny's margin of defeat from 50% to 48%. This is not to impute any sinister intent to Putin's opponents, many of whom do their work with undeniable courage -- but a sense of the US context and perspective is needed here.
3. The Russian opposition may all too readily view the US conversation about Russian interference as hysterically excessive because they are inescapably exposed to so much media coverage labeling it as such. "American liberals are so upset about Trump that they cannot believe he is a real product of American life," says Prof. Kurilla. No, we know this all too well. The US response that matters most is evidence-based and under legal due process. The accompanying public discussion is a necessary counterpart of the legal investigation; the facts will guide it as they emerge.
2
Our democrats and their lackeys in the "progressive" media are doing for Putin what he couldn't even dream of. Putin's obvious intent was to raise concerns over the legitimacy of the US federal government and our "progressive" useful idiots are doing the job for him.
1
Dear Mr Volkov,
While I certainly can appreciate YOUR plight with Putin, don't try to minimize ours with DT. The "collective eclipse of the mind" you refer to actually best describes those who voted for DT in spite of all evidence of what a horrible decision that would be.
Additionally, I don't think our interest in protecting our democracy is propping up Putin as a mastermind, rather it's propping up the fact that a large swath of our populace is intellectually and morally ill-equipped to make decisions about who leads this county.
Lastly, please know the primary reason our media isn't universally shredding and exposing Putin as the thug and fraud he is, is because we, too, have a propaganda problem in the form of FOX "news" that prays on the same intellectually daft and angry segment of our populace that put DT in office. Oh, and let's now forget those 'checks and balances' that our GOP congress has stowed away until we have a Democrat as president again.
It's dark days over here as well and we all need to hope that the investigation reveals something that even the GOP congress can not hide from.
27
An absolutely amazing article, and in the NY Times, no less. After a year of Trump-Russia hysteria, we finally learn that this obsession unjustifiably strengthens Putin. The only collaboration we find with Putin is by with those who have beat this Trump-Russia collusion drum to explain the unimaginable loss of HRC to the Orange One. Unreal, and sad!
24
We are the fools. Not Republicans not Democrats- all of us. We fight not to seek truth but to get a political win for our side. Trump supporters care only about exonerating him. Trump opponents only care about convicting him. And either side would gladly sacrifice truth to score the win.
Putin's real goal was to have us thrown into chaos and to undermine our democracy. With our wiling participation, he has succeeded . Big time.
13
A massive number of assumptions about the motives of people (like me) you've never met. That doesn't bode well for our future as a nation either. In any event, if there is foreign interference in our elections, we should investigate. That's all.
Putin is clearly playing a game. Even keeping the status quo is not an option for him. The west is slow to react, but it is reacting. Having invested so much in his actions it seems improbable that he will back down. So what are his next steps? What could be his next steps? He must have a lot up in his sleeves. I hope that I am wrong, but I fear some angry surprises on a short notice.
The lack of spine of the republicans during this crises remains amazing. Their silence is incomprehensible. Please say something, it may be something stupid, but say something!
3
The goal of the investigation is to determine the facts.
The consequences for various groups should not factor into the execution of the investigation.
18
The goal of the investigation is not to get the facts. Don't delude yourself. I speak from considerable experience. The goal of the investigation is to get a political win. The only facts that count are those that let you score one for your political team.
4
Just because Putin has successfully siphoned over $200 Billion of the Russian people’s money into his own bank account making him the richest man in the world doesn’t mean the US people are going to sit by idly with our democracy under fire from a formidable foe.
8
How do we know these are real posts and not manipulative propaganda to be used by Russians against Russians? If the Russian population admires Putin's behavior we have even more reasons to be vociferously outraged and become and remain perpetually suspicious of Russian speak and motives.
4
The article is missing the point. The point about Russia. There are two persons. One studies hard, burried in books in evenings, pays tuition, work extratime. Another person also does nothing, or almost nothing - just practices forging documents. Then comes an examination. The first person rights a test. But the second person steals the results and puts his name on the test. That's it.
The nation can fight for freedom, build democracy, sacrifice lives, pay taxes, work honestly, live by the law, invent technology, invest tons of money in it, share it with the world, attract tech professionals, invent, develop, improve, upgrade....
But then, there is another country that does nothing (well, it does its share of certain training). It simply breaks the system.
One - builds. Another - breaks.
To win something you should not necessary be better in something. Balerinas or some dances for example put broken glass in dancing shoes of their rivals. It is assymetric. And that's why it is dangerous. Something is dangerous not because it is stronger or smarter. Because it is always easier to break than to create.
8
This isn’t really news even though the NY Times is reporting it as such. The essence of the story has been obvious to anyone with an objective mind, whether you voted for Trump or not. It is illuminating that it took Putin’s foes to finally point out the obvious and bludgeon the NY Times into acknowledging the reality. That being that in their desperate and unwavering attempts to portray President Trump as a willing enabler of Russian intrigue it turns out that an American press unable to accept the results of an election that repudiated any claim Hillary Clinton had to his mantel are Putin’s true enablers.
10
Look comrade Igor - Trumpski is learning a lot from comrade vladimir.
Da, I see Pushkin, the more bad Trumpski is, the more the Republianiskis love him - just like vladimir!
Ha, ha, ve don't have to do any work in the US; Trumpski does it all for us.
It should only be so easy in our other "satellite" countries!
2
Let me get this straight. The Russian ... opposition ... wants us to get off Trump's back and Putin's back? Hmmmmmm ... I smell fish ...
14
An absolute distortion or total ignorance of what this piece said. We should not bark up only one tree.
3
We ought to keep in mind that no one expected Donald Trump to win the election. That included Donald Trump himself and the Russians.
Apparently the Russian meddling was intended to undermine Hillary Clinton's administration. We can be certain she would have been barraged with all kinds of accusations on social media and in the right-wing press.
The Republicans in Congress were prepared to oppose her with every trick, dirty and otherwise that they could contrive. Even now, they fall back on the Uranium Scandal as the normal response to any challenge.
Putin seemed to win, but he still hasn't gotten what he really wanted: ending the sanctions. I think his opponents in Russia should concentrate on that bigger picture.
11
"Putin seemed to win, but he still hasn't gotten what he really wanted: ending the sanctions."
Putin would like those to end, but he obviously wants other things more, the things he won't stop doing even though they bring sanctions.
He wants to keep NATO back away from Russia. That means right now keeping his main base in his south, and parts of Ukraine.
He also wants to keep Islamic crazies now in Syria back away from his own nearby Muslim regions.
He is getting a good part of what he wants most. He's got Crimea, and NATO does not have eastern Ukraine, and the rest of Ukraine is so ruined NATO does not really "have" that either. He's secured Syria against the Western terrorists he feared meant to go from there onward to trouble him far more.
Sanctions? He'd rather live with those than accept the other things. In a perfect world for him, he'd get rid of that weapon against him too, but he's shown his choice, his priority, and it isn't sanctions.
We elevate sanctions because that makes us look more powerful. Really, we've lost what Putin wanted more.
2
The anti-Putin foes referred to in this article apparently fail to understand that the important thing is to find some reason to remove Trump from office, of which I am entirely in support.
9
Indeed, that is the real thinking. The only thing that matters is get Trump. It is very Republican thinking, really, as Trump's opponents do what they think worked for Republicans.
But really, Republicans lost to Trump before the Democrats did. It did not "work" for them. Ask Eric Cantor how well it all worked. Ask John Boehner, who left Congress rather than be Speaker of the House for these "winners." They are on the cusp of losing it all, ask McConnell how secure he feels today.
2
Navalny's observation about "the investigation into Russian interference" (into the 2016 election) as a "collective eclipse of the mind" is aptly put.
8
"Putin is not a master geopolitical genius.” He didn't have to be. He only needed to outwit about 700,000 of America's least educated, most opiate-addicted citizens in four key states. Putin and Trump waged a war on truth and they won.
42
70,000
5
If they are so smart, how come the other ones lost? No, it wasn't magic by Putin. Own it.
2
Putin - master strategist?
No doubt about it. He knows how to manipulate US media to a fault. Look how many Republicans thought he did a better job of running Russia than President Obama did of the US.
14
I'd think a Putin foe would be smart enough to look a little longer term. Longer term, once the meddling investigation is complete, Trump will be gone (impeached, otherwise removed, or by failing to get re-elected), Putin will be unmasked to the world as a world-wide sower of sedition in order to empower his personally created authoritarian-oligarchic society, and the sanctions will be ratcheted up to harm Putin personally. I can't wait.
7
From your mouth to God’s ear, DR!
The Mueller investigation remains the best way to expose and clarify, through a free press, the misdeeds of Putin and Trump. Mr. Volkov should be lauding the process in a democracy that is succeeding where his opposition has failed in an tyrannical autocracy.
12
What many are missing - including the Times - is that the purpose of Russia’s hybrid warfare is to cause the sort of political upheaval we now have in DC and to undermine the administration’s credibility. Thanks to political opportunism on both sides of the aisle, the Russian operation in the US has been a near total success. The talk of the Beltway elites is the Mueller investigation, not expanding Russian influence in the Middle East. It is hard to say whether wanna-be sleuth Democrats like Rep. Schiff or Team Trump are the ones playing more into the Russians’ hands. Putin is no doubt chuckling about how predictable and easily manipulated we Americans are. We are not disappointing him.
6
NY Times, I'm ashamed of you! You fell for another Russkie disinformation campaign with this article.
Think about it - - Putin was caught almost immediately by US intelligence and the current investigation shows how dopey and amateur the whole thing is.
Every Russian related program in the US is now being examined with a microscope. Trump and the republicons will be defeated.
Total failure by the Russkies and Putin. Laughable!
6
let's see. Trump got elected despite of all millions spend by democrats. Americans are admitting that the American Democracy is easy to manipulate. Americans themselves are tarnishing their own elections creating more dividing society and supporting further suspicions about American political elite among American and Russian population. Putin looks mighty and American Democracy is much less attractive. Laughable? I am sure it is to Putin.
1
You have to feel sympathy for Putin´s Russian opponents in their attempts to undercut his mystique as geopolitical mastermind. Unfortunately, the FSB did have a role in hacking the election, and as Mueller´s investigation goes ever deeper into the Trumpian swamp, we are sure to discover that it has always been fed by a Russian stream. But there is something else to keep an eye on as the investigation puts the US on the brink of a constitutional crisis. The Russian military has been conducting exercises at its western border, and just this week Putin warned Russian industrial leaders to prepare for war. We must wonder what he and Trump discussed in their recent long phone conversation besides Syria and Korea.
12
Along with everyone else, the Russian criminal Oligarchs and their gangster Intelligence didn't think Trump would win. Their surprise at Trump's victory was not insincere.
Given this, the campaign to "help" Trump was chiefly a method to besmirch Hillary and the Democrats for future discord to further de-stabilize our Democracy. Every single high U.S and NATO intelligence official knows this.
Additionally, the hacking of election precincts and State Democratic voter organizations is also without question true. Are we supposed to take our lumps and just carry on? Preposterously enfeebled, is how I would describe this notion.
-----------------------
The only way for us to regain international ---and our own self respect--- is to throw the mugs out of office and into prison where they have belonged for many years.
The Russian dissidents (whom I admire) have been under Putin's thumb too long: because such anti-corruption justice is impossible in Russia, doesn't mean it's impossible here.
It's quite simple. We have to acknowledge Putin's interference and lock those U.S citizens who helped perpetrate that, in jail. That's the only method to publically and internationally heal the illness this has spawned.
We are the leaders of the Free World. There is only one way to act that way. The entire (good part) of the whole World is waiting. This cannot be left unaddressed.
21
The U.S. might have been the leader of the Free World, but that went out with the invasion of Iraq. It was already strained with the Viet Nam war. Now the U.S. is simply the biggest bully on the block. America's awesome military power is readily available to the highest bidder, and is primarily used to further Israeli and Saudi interests in the Middle East.
1
We, as well as Russian liberals and dissidents, will not gain much (if anything) if we stop or scale down discussions about Kremlin meddling in our elections. Russian interference was an invasion of our country designed to damage our democratic system and weaken us. Unfortunately, it was very successful. The best way to deal with Russia now is to prove to Putin that this invasion caused much greater damage to him and his Russia and that his “brilliant” strategy turned against his interests. Consequently, we must keep talking about this disaster, continuously analyze it, set up effective firewalls both digital and legal against those who invaded us, and penalize those who collaborated with Russia. We must keep sanctions without end in sight for now and strengthen them. We must work with our allies to diminish Putin position and influence in the world. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that these steps will be effectively implemented with the current residents of the White House. Therefore, the only thing we can hope for is that Republicans have not lost totally their minds and that they will carry out the correction rather sooner than later.
6
Paranoia is not your problem when the knife is actually entering your back. And unrelenting alarm is not hysteria when your house is actually on fire and there's nothing extinguishing it - not possibly for another three agonizing years. I believe that's sufficient time for a house to burn down.
15
What will Putin's critics say if intelligence confirms Russia was successful in infiltrating the voting booth?
5
The Keystone Cops disaster currently occupying the White House is not anything that would exemplify strategic planning unless your goal is acquisition of the lunatic asylum. O’Henry’s, ever, timely “Ransom of Red Chief” shows the delimma in acquiring a stooge in the best laid plans of KGB gone awry.
3
These Russian critics should realize that we in the West, while empathetic to their steeply uphill battle against Putin’s tyranny, are having to deal with our own threats to democracy- which are clearly linked to your leader. We realize that Putin does not have to be a genius to set loose hackers who can gravely impact our political system. But to expect us to clam up about it lest, by some twisted logic, that aggrandizes Putin is ridiculous—and not going to happen!
11
Master strategist? Putin outsmarted Trump and people who were willing to vote for Trump. That's a bit like taking candy from a baby isn't it?
3
And, if your worldview is correct, triumphed over Hillary with just a few Facebook ads. Feel better about your heroes?
4
Putin and his crew are known to be inept and are not strategically great chess masters. So they do things the Russian way, with excess and vodka fueled optimism. Occasionally they get lucky and something works. Since this happens rarely, who can blame them for throwing a party to forget all the disasters?
American intelligence is no better.
2
Without a doubt, the Kremlin interfered in our elections. Yes, the American people have a right to be angry.
However, many American citizens need to see this interference as an extension of Putin's kleptocracy, making Trump a full accessory to Putin's crime. Putin's foes need the same patience as American citizens who loath both Putin's interference and Trump's complicity -- all awaiting the outcome of the Mueller investigation and the final take-down of Trump.
4
I don't know. Russians have never truly lived in a free and democratic nation. Unlike us, generation upon generation of Americans have been born and raised with the deep cultural values that the constitution describe. It is a our ten commandments, per se. If Russians, even liberal Russians, find our outrage a little overblown, well, why should I care? This is our country. We fought for our rights and continue to fight for our rights. We're going to be a little "touchy" about a third rate dictator installing his operative into our highest office, yeah.
8
Putin’s foes are welcome to their opinions. Americans are welcome to theirs. It’s America’s electoral process that was infiltrated so I think their opinion prevails. Do Putin’s foes think democracy is what they have in Russia?
4
I agree that Americans elected trump without kremlin help. Putin has been waging Cold War 2.0 from almost day one he was given the reigns of Russian power. Wherever America is weak Putin jumps in to fill the void. He grabbed Crimea because he knew that no one could or would stop him. The fact that Russians would use the internet to sow discord comes as much from watching Fox News at work as anything else. Americans can be gullible and marketed to. Without Russian fake news, trump would have been elected. Much the same way Hitler got himself elected. Sowing discord and propaganda against the opposition. Trump crushed all the republican primary candidates on his own.
4
@William Wintheiser.
It would be good to believe assertions that, essentially, Fox won the election, not the Russians, but they're dubious. In fact we have no clarity on the extent of Russia's influence on the Republican primaries. The evidence is that it was significant. The influence on the general election is undeniable. 125 million hits of Russian propaganda can hardly be dismissed. The massive campaign of released emails can't be dismissed; it was so powerful that voters conflated hacked emails with the fake media-promoted "scandal" of the State Department emails. The timing and demographic focus of the waves of Russian propaganda would, even to the least cynical, suggest treasonous complicity. In addition, an NSA leaked report speculated just enough to lead one to believe the Russian campaign may have even changed tallies on voting machines. The evidence in Michigan and Pennsylvania in particular is deeply disturbing. Whatever Hillary Clinton's massive and undeniable failings, whatever one thinks of the president she would have become, whatever one thinks of the Democratic Party's failure to address the dreams of Americans left behind, the Russian victory has resulted in the destruction of large number of Americans' faith in our institutions — especially an independent judiciary and a free and unfettered press. Putin saw weakness at the core of the American republic and exploited that weakness. The damage will not soon, if ever, be undone.
5
Perhaps these opponents of Putin's should look at their own situation and give Putin credit for outsmarting them instead of underestimating him.
1
Guess here in Amerika, we'd have to give Puty the same credit...he's outsmarted us too!
2
The problem is that, unlike the incompetent, bumbling boob in the White House, Russia really is being led by a decisive, effective, ruthless leader. That's exactly what makes Putin so dangerous.
6
There is unquestionably a political class in the United States, and the idea that 60 million people could relate to someone like Donald Trump shocked them. He's fat. He's obnoxious. He openly enjoys his wealth. He has been married several times. He doesn't care about sexual harassment much. he's never held political office. He openly despises the press. And he hits back.
This is the kind of person the Washington political establishment works very hard to exclude from having serious political power, and they cannot comprehend, much less fashion a response to, Trump. They are hopelessly out of touch with an enormous segment of the electorate, and so they fixate on a third party, Putin. To anyone who knows anything about Russia, this is absurd, but it's all they've got.
6
That's true. Trump appeals to people who just want to stick a finger in the eye of anyone they perceive as powerful - DC, Hollywood, gays and blacks and women and immigrants and all the rights they have nowadays, not like in the old days! No surprise that their candidate of choice is good at nothing but sowing disaster. I wonder how big the disasters will have to get before they wake up?
4
Insightful and accurate article that reveals deep insight into how modern Russia currently, "works"; both the genuine limitations of the Kremlin and how Russian authorities benefit from the anti-Trump writing is a cautionary tale. As a Democrat who didn't vote for Trump I strongly suggest the David Remnick and the staff writers (Davidson et. al) view Higgins' piece as required reading in order to contemplate how they are regrettably, inflating the Putin myth. Sad. Infuriating even, but true.
2
NYSoM, You are absolutely correct. It would be better for all if the democrats would stop pushing the Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller to look into collusion. Just stop and let him do his job. The more that news(?) is pushed to the for front the greater Putin is made. As it is Obama's action in the war on ISIS which allow Iran to enter the war has given Russia, Turkey, and Iraq to push the US out of any say so in what happens there. It also makes Putin greater in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Now there is a reason that there is so much said and written about the Russian collusion. The speakers and writers don't have to know anything to speak or write. The way that they write and speak shows that they don't know anything more than any one else would know by all the hedging they use. None of says any thing but make innuendos that says nothing but does paint Trump in the worst light as possible.
The US would be doing much better if every body was focused on the economy and rebuilding the US leadership in the world which was lost before Trump became president.
1
Putin isn't a master strategist, Americans are just superior stooges.
8
I agree that US media often makes Putin into larger-than-life geopolitical actor. Take the discovery that Putin's actors spent 100 000 $ on Facebook ads. Attempt to meddle in US election - yes. A major factor - not so sure. Definitely portrays Clinton as an inefficient candidate, whose multi-million spending was supposedly undone by crafty Russians at a cost of balloons and hats on one of Clinton's rallies. There is so many smoking guns, making it difficult to figure out who shot where. But if you find a huge hole in the wall that was to keep Trump from being elected, you probably shouldn't focus on a .22 .
4
In their mission to reestablish their reputation and prominence worldwide, most Russians are willing to forgive or forget all of Putins transgressions and see him as the path to a new Russian dominance in their region perhaps the world. Putin always openly says he rues the day the USSR came apart, and his nationalism and not so subtle warnings to the West, especially the Baltics, and even Poland are also supported by most Russians.
So, sadly, I would say to Putins opposition, Putin and Trump are seen as the golden twins there, and it wont change anything for the US and its electorate not to go after them. The Russian opposition is going to remain in the minority for at least one more generation, maybe more.
2
No doubt this will never happen, but it would be very interesting to see a list of countries where the US has attempted to influence elections or cause regime change and the techniques used to do that.
Remember, the US tapped Angela Merkel's cell phone. If that is falls within the standard of behavior considered acceptable by US agencies,, election tampering is not just possible, it is likely.
Plus there are so many Americans attempting to affect the outcome of US elections with lies and exaggerations, distortions and misinformation, the addition of a bit more coming from Russia hardly makes a difference does it. Every American voter listening to any comment about any candidate sduruing the course of an election must be on the alert form lies at all times, must expect lies.
Plus the blockbuster action the Russians may have engineered was the Wikileaks disclosure of DNC emails which caused the resignation Waserman Schultz and others, for valid reasons, all of which was true, it was real news, and the consequences of it were justified. These disclosures added truth to the election process. Is that what people don't want the Russians to do? Meddling is exposing the lies told by the candidates and their parties?
.
4
One of the things I'm sick of hearing are false equivalency arguments that are supposed to lull us into excepting the foreign usurping of what's left of our democracy. Tapping of Merkel's phone isn't the same as flooding German populace with divisive fake stories with the goal of undermining German governance and security. The past sins of our foreign policy doesn't mean we should sit pat today and let a narcissistic, used car salesman turn us into a dysfunctional oligarchy like Putin's Russia.
2
Is this an error ? About 1/2 way down the name of George Kennan appears as if from the 19th century. He belongs in the mid 20th century unless there is a coincidence I'm unaware of;
"The first time this happened, he said, was in the decades after the American Civil War, when amid deep trauma over the conflict and a series of corruption scandals, Russia suddenly became the focus of feverish discussion as a model of menacing tyranny. This was largely because of the writings and influential public lectures of George Kennan, an American explorer who returned from Siberia in the 1880s with horrific stories, mostly true, of Russian despotism."
2
No, there was a famous American explorer of Russian Siberia named George Kennan who was active in the late 19th century, was a friend of Mark Twain and Russian emigres like Peter Kropotkin and died in 1924
2
The article is correct. Rare, in the NYTimes these days. There were two George Kennans:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kennan_(explorer)
2
We should definitely ignore those critics. And they should smarten up if they want sympathy from those in the U.S. who would be their natural well-wishers.
2
No one paying attention thinks Putin got Trump elected. That's not the point. it is not about what Putin did but about what the Trump campaign did. I wish Putin's opponents well but the oneq5who are quoted don't understand what is at stake here at all.
5
Well, hey, even incompetents get lucky sometimes. Look who got elected president. But yeah, we'd all do a lot better if we paid less attention to the hype and more to reality. I for one hope Mueller's investigation will help.
4
The truth is that the Russians didn't do the voting. Americans who listened to propaganda like stupid fools and voted for communists or the Green party or Bernie Sanders, even as Sanders was begging voters to vote for Clinton undid her. Americans do not understand their own country or it's laws. We think our elections and government a tool for moral elevation, not a blunt political hammer and tongs that all electoral system are.
If We had been paying attention to our own interests instead of demanding more "real liberal" activity from Clinton, including having her
end any relations with political groups they disagreed with then she might have won.. Far too many Democrats were willing to listen to the propaganda emanating from the red candidates and from the tired, old Soviets.
Russians cannot possibly be the masterful political powers that so many claim, if they have to obtain their power through the back door by trying to influence Americans to unlearn to tie our shoes. This is probably a trick you get to pull once.
8
"The truth is that the Russians didn't do the voting." I do not understand the significance of this self-evident declaration. So what? Russians may not have done the voting (we're not certain yet) but they definitely did the manipulating. So what's your point?
5
And of course many, like stupid fools, voted for Hillary even though she is as corrupt as Trump. Hell, they are friends and their kids are best friends. If Hillary were president today, she would be giving the rich a tax cut and we all know it to be true. She would have sold weapons to the Saudis, danced with them, and then extended the war in Afghanistan. i could go on all day but the only real difference between Trump and Hillary is the quality of their Tweets. Hillary seems to have discovered spellcheck.
I am still waiting for the Hope and Change that Barack Obama promised me when I voted for him. Gitmo is still open and Afghanistan is still going strong. Biden did find some loose change on a sidewalk one day but that is about it. Other than that, not much difference from the Bush years as far as policies go.
5
Your argument reminds me of the vapid could-have, would-have prognostications saying a President Gore would have made the same blundering mistakes as President Bush like invading and occupying Iraq. They were useless and unconvincing then as your baseless premise is now. Only the most useless nihilists would imagine as corrupt a Clinton administration as trump's. Think about it - a National Security Advisor secretly simultaneously working for the Russians and Turks? A self-dealing senator hired on as HHS Secretary? Campaign officials and surrogates meeting with officials and go-betweens of an adversarial country? Can you imagine Hillary excluding America press but allowing Russian ambassador and foreign minister and THEIR photographer in the Oval Office, while given classified information. At least we knew Putin hated her and she's patriotic enough not to sell us out to Putin.
2
It is fascinating how Putin got the Democrats to work in parallel with him to discredit the 2016 American elections.
6
This is one of those too cute by half pronouncements. Why? Because the electoral misfire that yielded President Trump is what has discredited the 2016 election. The post-election investigation is simply dealing with the reality.
3
Really, NYT? Let's continue being obsessed with the takeover of our government by Putin, and with the American players who cooperated and collaborated with him. And let's give Putin credit where it's due. He saw an opportunity and he grabbed it. Did he have the cooperation of a consummate con artist and his low information voter's? Surely. But did he succeed? Yes, and, he got a lot of bang for his buck to boot. Bots on Facebook are a very good investment. There are the very definition of a geometric progression.
4
I have nothing but respect and admiration for anyone trying to resist Putinism in Russia. It is a courageous thing to do and these are brave people.
Unfortunately, I don't think the political opposition in Russia has an accurate understanding about the central issues that triggered the Mueller investigation. We may be interested in Russian manipulation of social media--what they deride as a silly thing--but we are deeply concerned, and rightfully so, about illegal conspiring with Russian operatives that affected the election and/or American policy--usually for the financial gain of American citizens with an economic and political conflict-of-interest (see here, Flynn, Manafort, Gates and.....).
119
What really affects our elections is domestic big money elite donor influence--to both parties, limiting our nominees and party platform solutions to their benefit, not ours.
That's the real financial gain and conflict of interest that's harming the US, worse than Russian hacking, yet is legalized. The average citizen can no longer get representation for their taxation.
We're the only democracy that puts our elections under the control of a minority of elite super rich. Our media never reports that other democracies even ban the privately paid campaign ads that cost the US a fortune and swamp our media with fake political manipulation.
This is what's harming our nation worse than any foreign hacking. But since the big media profits from our campaign system, they hardly discuss this.
Yes, stop Russian influence, but also shine a light on our own warped, undemocratic politics.
1
What about americans interfering in politics around the world in far more drastic methods like in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq - to only name a few victims.
2
The Russian opposition is either out of the country or dead. These so-called Putin foes are simply shills for him. Nothing (read that to mean absolutely nothing) happens or is put forth from Russia without his blessing. It's called a dictatorship people! Wake up and smell the coffee.
25
This article is very interesting but really has no baring on the investigation into Russian meddling. Deliberate efforts to destabilize a country is nothing anybody should be proud of, particularly if the strategy is to foment civil conflict and magnify racial tension,. The devil has it's fans, but civil people recognize that the devil is evil. Albeit, a successful strategist in achieving evil acts and outcomes.A master strategist indeed.
41
I believe this article is missing the point. I like many furious about the Trump administration do not necessary believe that Trump could not have won without Russia's help. I believe he could have and probably would have. The frightening thing is that we have a President who was WILLING to use the aid of Russia and Putin to get elected. This terrifying fact necessitates no conception of Putin as some brilliant mastermind, only Trump as a ruthless traitor to American values.
201
“I believe he could have and probably would have.
Based on what? He lost the popular vote and won the Electoral College through small margins in a handful of states. A butterfly effect could have reversed this, much less active electoral sabbotage by Putin.
7
Having grown up in cold war era America the suggestion that Putin interfered in the election was quite easy to accept without question or further investigation. In fact, adding another layer of potential misdirection sourced in Russian Journalism either convinces me to stick with the comfort and genius of the twisted Trump / Putin scheme...or to start afresh.
As mentioned in the article, Russia as a scapegoat feels plausible too. Before the election, who would have thought America housed so many mean-spirited, ignorant people that they could float a boatload of rats into the White House. Enough rats to possibly sink the country.
The only problem to me is explaining why republicans would want to disable such a well crafted wealth creating machine? How do build a country Much easier to believe an old rival like Russia would find happiness in a disabled and failing USA.
So who's in charge of this mess? I personally will NOT believe we've been outfoxed by the Trump gang. Please let it not be in the words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy and they are us."
And based purely on not having been raised by conservatives, Trump is not good enough for America and is welcome to leave anytime soon.
1
What aid are we talking about please inform us?. Now you are stating that Trump did what with Russia?. I know you have nothing but merely the same Hillary (she of fame for rigging her nomination) surry spinning that the Democrats scream about.
Well done, NYT.
This article presents an alternative, international viewpoint at a time when it's sorely needed!
In some ways, the thesis that Trump's victory came primarily because of "foreign" meddling is specious with the nationalistic dogma Trump himself purveys. Volkov's point feel on the mark; It is not outsiders we should look to blame for Trump's victory - the source of his success comes from much closer to home.
Meanwhile the view presented that Putin's government is not as organized and capable as it is often made out to be illuminates a continuing theme in US-Russian (formerly Soviet) relations: One where the US constantly overestimates the threat presented, to the possible detriment of progress.
Ironically, Trump is correct in one respect: The world would benefit from closer relationships among superpowers, Russia included. Part of the puzzle will be a more clear-minded perspective on our part - one that articles like this will hopefully help bring to fruition.
4
why not offer Putin or one of his cronies a book deal that he can't turn down, to come clean about all their spying and meddling to fix the election. and of course verifiable. the movie might start with the new jersey neighborhood spies who were kicked out, humiliated, but bucked up by Putin, leading them in a remote retreat singing he-man russian anthems, with all of them eventually becoming ambassadors and master spies who cleverly win an american election, but due mostly to the fortuitous bungling of american intelligence agencies (we have SEVENTEEN of them), all the participants of which will get to play themselves, with an inspector clouseau award for the best performance. (A monkee.) box office so big, no need to sell oil.
I guess people in a country like Russia (where free and fair elections have never been a longstanding tradition) would have a difficult time comprehending why any meddling with the election process, particularly by a foreign country would cause any consternation.
Since the United States has one of the longest traditions of democracy of any country, it stands to reason that we would feel much more threatened by any attempt to interfere with it, regardless of where that threat comes from.
9
You are right. Poor Russians were told that Democracy is a strong system that is not afraid of free discussion or the truth. America is showing how wrong these views are. According to Americans, democracy is based on secrecy and on banning of unsupervised discussion. That's why the social media and open borders are viewed as threat to American democracy
2
While there may be some bits and pieces of this article that carry a kernel of truth, there is the evidence from our intelligence agencies that Russia did meddle as well as increasing evidence of at the very least eager willingness to collude with Russia to influence the election. Follow that with some odd behavior of the president and some of his cabinet, such as the meetings with Russians where Trump shared secret intelligence and allowed only Russian but not US media inside, the hollowing out of our State Department, the Kaspersky software debacle and more. Something's not right here. There may be a little more Russian hysteria than necessary, but something is going on and we have a right to find out what it is.
12
Sure, Diane. But let's take everything in chronological order. Like when these same intelligence agencies made us slaughter millions of people in Iraq and leave us in the present quagmire.
Or do you not care to investigate that anymore?
3
Another nihilist false equivalency argument, which if we accept it, we're supposed to sit and except the undermining of what's left of our democracy - 'cause we deserve it? Not buying it. Our house is on fire. We're going to investigate to find the arsonists right now.
I so hope these liberal Russians are correct and we ate fantcizing all this about Putin and that Russia may be a historic national scape goat for the US. But I am quite happy that all of this is being investigated. If Putin really isn't a brilliant spy master, we will learn through investigations. I would like that to be the outcome. Sorry of all of this is helping Putin's image in Russia, but we must have our investigations in the US to assure ourselves of that.
Surely, Putin's faith in Trump as a great leader is misplaced. But we already know he is as shrewd and ruthless as he is obnoxious and egotistical and could very well inadvertantly help Putin.
Investigation is part of out national process. Hopefully, after the investigations we will have a clearer view of what really happened. Some good may come of this, such as limiting google and facebook's ability to spread misinformation. Maybe not.
Though this may be disturbing to Russians who admire the US, investigating Russian interference is something Americans need. Hopefully. we will restore Putin to his correct size.
5
I don't care what a liberal or any type of Russian thinks. I care very much that we get our country straightened out. The Trump administration has created a leadership vacuum by design or sheer ignorance or both that is very dangerous. As I get tired of reminding myself, it is easier to destroy something than to build it. We have a precious democracy built over many years by thinking individuals.
The Russian meddling in our election is bad but the corporate takeover of our government by the Trump administration in every department is appalling at best.
9
'Putin has denied'..... to be fair, so has the President of the United States....
1
Which POTUS? The one who said the 1980s wanted their foreign policy back?
3
In a funny way Volkov's response to the United States taking care of its business indicates how the detente of the 80's inevitably devolved back into a kleptocratic autocracy, run by Putin, today. I give Volkov and other resisters points for courage and persistence, but his failure to grasp what makes democracy possible -- the kind of work it takes -- just shows how hard democracy is to instill and maintain. This is particularly true of a country like Russia which lacks any collective memory or experience of popular government.
Things are bleak here at home, but enough of us still know what democracy is to see what Trumpism can become. Volkov may seem selfish, but in fact it's just that his vision is limited to the range of his experience. Mine too, which is why this is such an interesting article!
3
Why should Americans care how and why Russians think about their leaders'/oligarchs' role in meddling with U.S. elections and so many other countries' politics? What we all need to better understand is how and why we as Americans think about Russia the way we do. Whose news are we using to reach conclusions about politics and current events in general.
U.S. intelligence agencies know a great deal about how and why Russia is conducting its cyber warfare against its adversaries but the Trump administration seems to view that information with as much credibility and fear as Putin himself.
5
Concerning the viewpoints of Putin's opposition, I consider them valid since they have long endured Putin's efforts. The notion of the media problem is spot on, as many parties, organizations and operatives have mastered the manipulation of media in the US and globally. Putin's position has been founded and strengthened on shrewd maneuvers and experience. Trump is his perfect pawn, make no mistake, using our own constitution, laws and legislature to make gains through media manipulation.
1
It seems that the Russian authorities in this article have been watching too much MSNBC. None of my liberal friends think Trump was or is Putin's puppet, nor do we think Putin is a mastermind, far from it. Just look at the state of the Russian economy. The purpose of these investigations, I hope, is to find out what the Russian did and what their impact was. You can bet that the Russians are analyzing their actions with the intent of having greater impact in the next election. It's safe to say that a happy, united U.S. is that last thing that the Russians want.
3
Putin in Russia is a Russian problem. Putin adventures in Europe and the United States are Europe's and America's problem. The fact the his behavior is so exposed shows he is no Master Strategist.
8
I find it ludicrous the media even allows the Russian's to add to their cyberwar of attempting (and very possibly succeeding) to take over our Democratic Republic. Our liar-in-chief defers to Putin for answers on Russia's killing of our democracy and refuses to sanction Russia and continues to talk to his handler - Putin. It's what Russia wanted for years. Now, they have it.
From Russia's dictator to America's dictator, we won't stop talking about the takeover of the United States at many levels by Russia without a shot being fired. We may not be able to prosecute the Russians but we can prosecute Americans for participating in this obvious coup-like structure.
Give it up, folks, and ignore comments by Russians and focus on what they've done with our regime.
6
If I were more cynical (an inevitable by-product of the current administration), I might suggest this article was planted by those who support the lying, cheating, sociopath-in-chief and his attempt to destroy democracy.
7
Yes, their view is understandable.
They must realize this is just the first step. Unfortunately Russia will be a focus of US wrath after this act of war is generally acknowledged. When that shoe drops Putin will be exposed as being ignorant of cyberwar endgames. We, the US, are not alone in this. The Russian people will suffer for the stupidity of it's leaders. That is the real pity in all this. They deserve better.
3
The base of the Republican Party wants to return to the days when white people controlled the country. Anyone who has visited Russia knows that it is a mostly white society. That’s why there is the current Republican obsession with it.
4
If you just kept quiet, Randy, Democrats would win more elections.
3
In all fairness, it was not all poor, little, Vladimir's fault.
Mr. Trump, Fox News, Not so bright bart news, and Trump's inner circle ruthlessly expounded, amplified, and speed the russian's lies, while obstructing the truth and justice with every hate fiber within their black hearts.
2
I concur with you on American hypocrisy; but please check your premise -- Putin's choice of Trump for a patsy has and will bear out to have been a fiasco for Putin, reflecting poorly on Putin's mastery & skills. Bad.
4
Here it is, folks. The New York Times takes its first tentative steps towards extracting itself from the self created morass known as Trump/ Russia Collusion. The NYT had spent months flooding the front page in an attempt to convince ourselves that we voters were so stupid as to swing an election based on a few thousand bucks worth of Facebook ads and some Macedonian Twitter bots.
Our betters have incessantly focused on handshakes at conventions, a geeky petroleum prof in Russia, and a 20 minute meeting as proof positive that the Trump folks and RUSSIA! had somehow masterminded a massive takeover of our government.
Our betters throw conniption fits if anyone tries to discuss the fact that our voter registration files are so bad that they're a running joke, or brings up the possibility of having honest-to-god voter ID cards.
Please, Times, take a few more steps away from RUSSIA! so we can get busy on fixing our horrific education system here, or something.
42
Got to safeguard our democracy first. That barn fire is ongoing and we're standing in it.
1
I find this article totally unconvincing. Sounds like Putin and his apparatchiks are leaning on Russian journalists to come up with an alternative means of squelching the US investigations into Russian meddling.
And the stakes are high. As it stands, Russia has a Manchurian Candidate in the White House, or at least a useful idiot in Trump, who is easily manipulated by puppet master Putin.
4
To some extent I am sure that Putin and his Kremlin cronies view the Russian Opposition calls for an end to the probe of Russian interference in our election as, to use the term attributed to Lenin, as that of "useful idiots".
6
Yeah Russia is such a weakling it fixed the US presidential election and has a puppet in charge!
"Two louses , both alike in iniquity"--
2
Yes, certainly we understand that independent minded Russians see us the way Andrew Higgins describes. That's too bad but probably unavoidable given that the Cold War (on the domestic front in the US anyway) gave rise to occasional hysteria on the Right. Joseph McCarthy and his followers cast a few leftist Americans in our State Dept. or in the movies as 'fellow travelers' for International Communism.
This time around its not the Right, very much in control of our government, that is complaining about Russian intrigue and espionage. Indeed the Trump administration is quite favorable to Russia. Left to its own devices it would have dismantled sanctions on Russia for, among other initiatives, an invasion of Ukraine and take over of Crimea, by now. Those things are still real and the West is confronting them still. Thanks to our Congress, at least so far, those sanctions are still in place.
The main takeaway from this story is this: Americans who care, and admittedly some care more than others, it is the willingness of Trump and his associates in his election to sell us out, not merely to Russians, but to anyone, anywhere who promise private profit to these elected leaders of our country. (Notice Manafort and Flynn for example. )
So please pass the word in Moscow: it's not Russian state-craft or that of President Putin we are fulminating about so much as the kleptocratic take over of our government by fellow Americans.
5
Why is this news? Putin is a thug schooling a punk Donald Trump. Putin asserts that his machinations only reveal just how broken our system is but robotically omits that none of this would have happened without him. His message, as well as the fascist Don’s, is that obedience is the right of rulers. Nothing Putin can say or do contradicts the historical fact that democracy is the enemy of “his” people, however or wherever their borders are drawn. Should we be dismayed much less surprised by his or RT’s claims, one and the same, of Americans’ hysteria and paranoia? Is it really news that oligarchs anywhere are different?
3
Critics and political opponents of Putin might not care if Trump campaign aides, and even Trump himself conspired to seek, gain, or accept help from Russian government-associated individuals to tamper with or otherwise influence the U.S. presidential election in favor of Trump and against Clinton, but I absolutely want to see anyone who did so punished to the full extent of the law.
2
I couldn’t care less about the opinions of Russian journalists.
But I do care deeply about the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Putin committed an act of war against the U.S. by cyberattack. And it’s likely Trump was complicit in the attack.
And I care deeply that Trump is completely willing to offer Russia a pass on the attack.
6
The hunt for a hidden Russian hand behind President Trump’s election is money laundering through Trump businesses since it is Russians to came to the rescue after Trumps 6th bankruptcy.
4
Exactly
1
If that were true, why would Trump risk running for president and having that come out? And what would make Putin think Trump was even a good gamble?
You have to think this stuff through, people, not just parrot cable infotainment and conspiracy nuts.
Think for yourselves!
2
Small things can have big impacts. If Russian efforts made us just a little more divided, that could have already led to more political violence in America than anything inspired by ISIS.
I notice that fake Russian sites are always just a little more extreme than the real groups they mimic, for example claiming that "Black lives do matter more than Blue", something the real BLM group would never say. Some of this may be to nudge someone further left, but I suspected its main purpose was to be quotable to inflame the right.
But Russian democrats can correctly spin this their way. This is going to become one of the stupidest things Putin has done, with nothing but bad longterm consequence for Russian.
2
Taking candy from a baby does not make one a master strategist.
3
Sorry Russia, Putin's your problem, and Trump's apparent collaboration with Russian spies to destabilize American democracy is ours. Kushner complained Natalia let him down, and I smelled a rat the first time Trump encouraged Russia to break into Clinton's office soon after Kushner's meeting. We're learning Trump knew the Russian gig well, and Trump's team may well be a nest of rats who'd sell out America for their power. Lose lips that sink ships, and Trump is our problem, Putin is yours.
3
“They try to portray him as something created by Russia."
No, the Russian liberals are missing the point. We know that Trump represents the ugly seamy underside of American life, and we also know that Russia promoted and colluded with Trump to help bring this ugliness to the White House and ruin America's international standing.
7
Who laughed at that the idea Russia was our enemy? Obama and the MSM. Brilliant.
4
Right. Obama placed sanctions on Russia three times. I don't think he acted strongly enough but he wasn't laughing and joking about Russia.
3
So Volkov wants us to stop asking if the former KGB agents who comprise much of the Russian administration actively interfered, using coveryt means, in our election, and the one in Britain, and the one in France, and in Ukraine... I say too bad, pal. Those are questions that need to be asked and the answers need to be aired in the public. It is not our job to intervene on his behalf in Russian state affairs. Why that would be almost Putinesque!
4
Incredible photograph.
We are protecting American interests, not Russian interests.
3
The Putin critics in Russia are living in the midst of Putin's incompetence, the instability, poverty and thuggery! We here in the US aren't seeing through that lens although we know it exists. Rather, we are seeing him as either a puppeteer controlling a deeply compromised President and a section of our "news" media, or as a scapegoat for paranoid American liberals trying to make sense of the loss of the Presidency to Trump.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!" -Joseph Heller
1
This was a welcome article, and not because I support Mr. Trump or believe that Russian meddling is "fake news" (I don't, and it's not). But "meddling" is really the perfect word to describe what was, in effect, an Internet trolling campaign. Did Russian trolls manage to sway the minds of some clueless voters who couldn't be bothered to leave their own echo chambers? Probably. Have our own politicians been doing the exact same thing for years? Definitely. Is Mr. Putin an evil super-genius who won the election for Mr. Trump? Not a chance.
3
I find Putin’s performance running Trump totally awesome, on a purely professional spy basis.
Putin IS a master strategist. Trump is way out of his league. And it would be laughable if it wasn't so sad that Trump is the one that said Putin played Obama. Trump is master at nothing except conning the sheep that support his vitriolic rhetoric.
1
Anxious to deny Putin any success, his opponents in Russia are so desperate that they are willing to overlook what has been acknowledge by all US Intel agencies and the governments of France and Germany: Putin authorized active measures to destabilize the democratic institutions in the West, viz. statements by Merkel and Macron. Should Americans complain, too, that by criticizing the US free press efforts to uncover the truth about Russian meddling, the Russian opposition are playing into Trump’s hand. Higgins should have asked specific question. Do they not believe that the operation to hack DNC/Podesta emails was not authorized at the highest level? Is the SPB Troll Factory a myth? Did Trump not fire Comey to suppress an investigation?
1
These stories just point out om weaknesses of American democracy that is easily manipulated by truth (DNC emails) and by provocative slogans (trolls). Russian liberals lament that the American investigation in the Russian meddling demonstrates how weak democracy really is and how easy it could be used by other countries
Democracy is s form of government that depends on public trust as much as capitalism depends on good credit. Burglarizing mailboxes of institutions and it’s leaders and then weaponizing the content is meant to undermine public trust and can make a difference in a close contest like the 2016 elections. Trump won by some 80000 votes, a tiny margin for the Electoral College, while list the popular vote by 3 million. You, Yulia, sound very much like Putin. He, too, said that it’s not important how the emails had been procured but that what mattered was the “truth.” Democracy takes such burglaries seriously and has a right and an obligation to defend itself from foreigners bent on undermining public trust. Only in a country like Russia, gripped by state-generated paranoia, what is, in fact, Putin’s foreign-policy fiasco can make him look big.
3
You , Gregory sounds as a liar-in- chief, pretend that the route of truth is much more important than truth itself. I didn't see much outrage from anybody about Panama papers or from leaks about Trump interview. You are just hypocritical as crooked politicians who love the damaging leaks about opponents, but my God, how outrageous they are when there is the leak about them. You are right trust is important for democracy, but your hypocrisy is killing the trust and therefore, damages the democracy.
I have gone from optimism, to caution, to now, outrage distain and resentment of Putin and his gang of thugs, who hide behind a vail of legitimacy to plunder Russia’s wealth for themselves.
Putin uses massive and very sophisticated propaganda, manipulation, and lies to control the Russian people, and has now turned those tactics on the entire free world. He manipulates the basic principles of democracy, like free speech, to undermine and delegitimise the very institutions that defend democracy and freedom.
The truly freighting thing is that Putin has found allies inside of America to help him bring America down. Starting with Trump, who has undoubtedly laundered fortunes for Putin and his oligarchs. Trump but specifically Bannon have in turn created a base of supporters consisting of racists, nationalists/fascists, Nazis, and evangelical religious extremists. These enemies of the Constitution use an all too willing Fox News propaganda machine to target the poorly educated and easily fearful Republican base, who have been manipulated for decades to enrich the powerful and uber-wealth.
Putin his traitorous allies and enablers in America are NOT America’s or any other Democracy’s friend. They are in fact now our sworn enemies, and needs to be recognized and called that.
We are all under attack behind the scenes right now as you read this. Putin might as well be shooting bullets.
The time to stand and get involved is now, or in the near future it may be too late.
192
Massive propaganda? Seems like Russians are more tough than Americans. With Americans Putin just needed a couple provocative posts on FB and files of DNC, and op-la-la, the American voters voted as he wanted.
2
Putin's allies in the US are those peddling the Russia-Trump collusion narrative --the media, Democrats and anti-Trump Republican losers like Bill Kristol, Bob Corker, et al.
2
Where's the evidence? Oh yeah Donna Brazile wrote that Hillary rigged the Democratic nomination and Liz Warren agreed. I have not seen any evidence the Russian government did anything. They say some groups that some connection to the Government put some fake stories on Facebook - omg. How come we accept the 3 Intel agencies, that also gave us guarantees that Saddam had nukes, have this right without any direct proof. Proof? like Phone transcripts or email or anything. I haven't seen any evidence but we do know we bombed Iraq into the Stone Age over phony US WMD lies.
1
I run a small business and market my products online via social media. On the night of the election I posted one anti-Trump meme on Tumblr. I was immediately harassed by Russian accounts, not just on Tumblr, but also on Instagram and my business Facebook page, my personal Facebook page, and the Facebook page of a band I was playing in. I was hit with a wave of new followers with their entire feeds made up of disgusting alt-right and racist memes, even a few accounts with Russian military pictures on Instagram.
At the time, I didn't know there was a Russian "troll army," and the few people I told didn't believe me or didn't know what to make of it. The harassment lasted for months on Instagram in particular, even though I reported account after account.
At the time Tumblr was my largest following, but I'm pretty far from internet famous, so I was surprised they even noticed me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who experienced something like this. I wanted to post this because I believe the fact that they even had time for small fish like me shows that something big was going down.
I disagree with the article and agree with the comments that the suggestion that we should ignore Putin's attack seems like more Russian disinformation.
15
It is severely misinformed to believe that America's response to Putin's hack of the US political process has somehow been overblown. If anything it's been lackluster considering the implications.
"Mr. Volkov and others say they have no doubt that Russia did interfere, at least on the margins, in last year’s presidential election campaign."
It is precisely at the margins that the 2016 presidential election was decided. The "winner take all" nature of our electoral college process means that even a marginal interference, in the otherwise close swing state vote results, will have outsized results in a presidential election. This is what allowed Trump to prevail while losing the popular vote by the greatest margin in history.
Trump is in the White House today by winning by razor-thin margins in three pivotal swing states:
Michigan, with 16 electoral votes - 10,704
Pennsylvania, with 20 electoral votes - 46,767
Wisconsin with, 10 electoral votes - 22,177
But for 79,646 votes in those three states, Hillary Clinton would be in the White House, not Donald Trump.
8
Deplorable. The US is hopelessly mired in a plethora of distractions from the really critical issues of the day. The press wallows in this labyrinth of accusations 'they said, she said, he said,' while the global crises cry out for action.
4
More will be revealed as those indicted head to court to defend themselves. Following the money is still the best way of getting at the facts of the matter. Fake news (disinformation) on FB/Twitter paid for by rubles was Russian meddling. The US will survive all of this.
I am fully cognizant that Trump and his “base” is an American problem of American making. That has nothing to do with the degree that members of this administration, including the president, are beholden to various Russian and other foreign influence. It also has nothing to do with whether or not Russian meddling was able to influence enough votes in a handful of states to swing the election.
4
With all due respect I believe that these folks have it backwards. Far from holding up Putin as the master of the universe, many in the US see him as the receiver of unintended consequences since his attempt to meddle in the election has created a situation that even his user friendly Pal cannot remove current sanctions against Russia and has put a greater chill on economic or diplomatic cooperation with the US. Even if Putin's efforts to swing the election had no or little effect- a dubious conclusion given the facts- the evidence that the Russians mounted such a concerted effort is troubling . A bank robber is still charged with a crime even if they don't get any money.
When the Russians claimed shortly before our election that their cyber ability to counter the US gave them the kind of parity they achieved when they developed the nuclear bomb we have to respond. It is unfortunate if Putin's escapades somehow increases his domestic prestige but I believe that the US consensus that he is a not totally reformed Cold Warrior whose policies go counter to both the long term interest of both the American and Russian people is the more relevant one now.
4
Agreed -- but we are still waiting for Trump to implement those sanctions, and there is as yet no sign whatsoever that he intends to. So that's something Putin definitely has gained, not to mention any number of other pro-Kremlin positions this Oval Office has adopted, in direct contravention of explicit, obvious American interests.
Sanctions are implemented through federal Departments. Trump doesn't have much control over there implementation.
Perhaps Russia should wake up and realize what Putin did, and what he hoped to achieve, will mar their government and society for years. While a short-term win now, it will be an albatross around Russia’s neck.
The bigger question remains for the US: when, finally, will the truth be told? God knows the GOP will do everything in their power to gloss over it in hopes of staying in power.
God help the USA.
1
"....This was largely because of the writings and influential public lectures of George Kennan, an American explorer who returned from Siberia in the 1880s with horrific stories, mostly true, of Russian despotism."
Kennan was not an explorer of 19th century. He was a diplomat who did write and lecture about Soviet Union. He died in 2005.
1
Miki, George Kennan. the 20th century diplomat and author of the "containment" doctrine, had a father, also named George Kennan, who was the 19th century explorer referred to in the quote.
1
To paraphrase another person - the suggestion that we should ignore Putin's attack seems like more Russian disinformation. Our intelligence organizations have concluded that Russia meddled in our election. That another country meddled in our election is HUGE- it doesn't matter which country it was.
If anything, our country needs to put more emphasis on figuring out exactly what happened. We don’t know enough about how actual voting may have been compromised. Also, why didn't Facebook know who was buying ads (apparently some were purchased with rubles) & the content of the ads? Why did the CIA, FBI, and NSA know NOTHING about Russia's involvement in American social media until after? The FBI also seems to have bungled informing the DNC of evidence that they were hacked-apparently a low-level FBI staff member informed a low-level Clinton campaign staffer of the evidence. That should have been done at the very top levels. There's also evidence that some in the FBI favored Trump over Clinton -- at least in the FBI's NY office, where Giuliani is said to have influence. I know Robert Mueller has his hands full, it would be extremely valuable to the country if someone were to investigate the security agencies in terms of favoring one candidate over another and ways to insure our 2018, 2020, etc. elections aren't impacted by foreign governments. Remember - any Russian who was connected to the dossier in any way seems to have “died.” We can’t take chances with this country.
1
I think seeing things through their own Putin prism is to be expected.
But, I don't think they have the correct interpretation of what's happened and happening in USA.
2
We'll address our problems and concerns and the Russian opposition can address its own problems and concerns.
Our concerns come first, ironically enough.
2
It is unfortunate that the focus on Putin in the elections plays into Putin's hands back home but that is how it is.
As much as democratic values are undermined in Russia they are undermined in the USA.
The fact that Putin was successful bodes ill for all democratic countries. We have to be honest and acknowledge that we were duped. It would be an oversight on our part to consider him toothless. The sooner the Mueller investigation is complete and Trump is called to the mat than the foes of Putin in Russia will have a strong friend again. As is, we were caught with our pants down and there is no point in whitewashing it.
The strength of democracies are borne out by honesty and transparency. There will never be another way for democracy to work. It is the strength and Achilles heel of a democracy.
1
Look, from the time of McCarthy, the U.S. has often seen the Kremlin as ten feet tall. We were fortunate to get the exaggerated "Team B" analysis of of a superior Soviet military just at the time Reagan's humanity and his sound political instincts led him to join Gorbachev in unwinding the Cold War.
Today, however, we need to take of ourselves, not behave with imperial munificence to please Russian critics of Putin, who has acted recklessly toward the United Statws.
It is essential that the various investigations demonstrate without a shadow of a doubt the facts of Russian interference to a public, confused by Trump's repeated assertions that Russian interference is the invention of Democrats and out of control intel agencies. Why? So we can armor ourselves against further interference in our elections. If not, Putin will continue to manipulate our President, who does think the Kremlin is ten feet tall.
Pleasing these Russian critics of Putin would be what Yogi Berra called "the wrong mistake". For the long haul, we need a Kennan, or a group of Kennans ro accurately describe the challenge and the way to peacefully contain it.
1
I suppose this is one case where I'd agree with the statement 'America First'. I'm sorry that this pro-Western group feels like Americans are mucking up their plans to keep a view of a weakened Putin, but something is rotten and we plan to find out what that is.
Our intelligence agencies all agree that Putin ordered the hacking of emails which were given to Assange. And we need to know if the person in the most powerful position in the world was involved in that.
The story isn't over. Perhaps hold judgment of how the US has handled this, including media, when Mueller lays it all out on the table.
2
I just want this never to happen again. If it means expelling every Russian diplomat and withdrawing all our foreign service from Russia so be it. We can work around Russia.
2
You will also need to ban social media, introduce censorship, and to cancel electoral college.
1
Our Russian counterparts seem inured to living in a kleptocracy where the rule of law is superseded by brutal, amoral force. A democracy, even our imperfect one, depends upon the rule of law applied equally and without prejudice when clear evidence of election sabotage and collusion by Americans are present. Special Counsel Mueller's investigation is targeting Americans (not Putin) who broke the law. If Mueller discovers that President Trump and his family built their "wealth" by laundering Russian mafia and oligarch cash (with Putin's knowledge) and that the President has been compromised by Putin and then willfully colluded to sow chaos in our election, that is a service to our democracy.
1
Putin & his police state minions were able to successfully infiltrate American social media, and to steal a march on our own US IC & LE, who are surely no slouches when it comes to defending our institutions. It should therefore come as no surprise at all that Putin's operatives are much more thoroughly embedded in all sorts of "opposition" circles within Russia itself & even in key places in former Soviet bloc states. That is why extra vigilance is now in order, having seen how much damage they can do. The attack on US elections (as well as political processes in other countries) reveals how obsessively the Kremlin continues to pursue Cold War agendas, instead of, for example, working on improving living conditions, health or education. Sinister objectives are much more appealing to KGB/FSB types than the normal business civilized states pursue. Sadly, many, many Russians cling to nationalist supremacist brainwashing even when they hold passports from other states, or work -- presumably -- to end Putin's dictatorship. They have internalized the poison that "Russophobia is the only force holding Russia back from 'reclaiming' its rightful place as Best Society of All Time." This is objectively False! But a lifetime of brainwashing perfected by evil scientists (almost to an art form) is very difficult to break out of. Therefore, we must maintain a posture that keeps Russian Xenophobia from ever threatening us again. These bad moves of theirs must be punished, so they learn.
What about all the time Trump and the right wing media spent praising Putin as a near ideal leader? Do you think that helped his domestic foes?
No one knows the impact of Russian meddling on the outcome of the election. What we do know is that they put a huge effort into influencing the outcome and that members of Trump's team were working with them. The US cannot sit by and let a foreign government interfere with our democracy. Certainly doing nothing in order to help or hurt Putin's political standing at home is nonsense.
2
The proposition we Americans should care one iota what Russians think about our election tampering investigations.
America didn't make up the master strategist/opportunist narrative for Putin. You Russians enabled it, fueled it and perpetuate it.
When these Putin opponents take care of their own house we American's can stand down. Until then your country and it's PUTIN leadership is and will be viewed as the international paraih it is.
Putin is not getting bigger, better, smarter.
It only appears that way because Trump is so inept.
Russia- you want more facts. Wait til Mueller's investigation puts the puzzle together for you. You will get indisputable/irrefutable facts.
The American media has been exposing the extent of the Russian interference. If Putin was so cagey why is he getting caught red-handed?
The World Anti-Doping Agency linked Putin to involvement in the Russian Olympic Doping Scandal- Putin denies it.
The C.I.A , F.B.I., and N.S.A have linked Russia to Election Interference- Putin denies it.
You're not a mastermind if you keep getting exposed.
You're not the smartest man if you keep getting exposed.
Russia's fake news is propping up Putin. Don't blame the mainstream American media. The mainstream American media is saving us from becoming Russia.
These Russians may be "pro-Western", but apparently they've lived too long under a system where election outcomes are preordained, or unimportant. Putin is running Russia, whether he's its president, prime minister or just a guy hanging around the Kremlin. And when he runs, he ALWAYS wins.
If the collective desire of Americans - reflected in our free press, and thank God for it - to get to the heart of Russian meddling in our electoral process ruffles their feathers, too bad.
We, the people, are outraged at Russian attempts to influence our election via social media and outright hacking attempts on our voting systems! We want to know the truth of what they did, how they did it and if anyone associated with the Trump campaign was involved. That's a really big deal.
We also want to know - MUST know - if Trump has financial conflicts of interest with Russia that impact our foreign policy. That's an equally big deal.
So sorry, "pro-Western" Russians, we'll continue to make a big deal of this. Putin is a dictator who kills journalists that get too close to the truth. The reason we're making a big deal of all this is because we don't want the U.S. to end up like Russia.
1
Yes, PLEASE, let's drop this metaphor (straight from the Russian state media) to the dustbin once and for all.
Here is a better one: Putin is a spoiled child who turned over the USA's board game called "Democracy" when he didn't get all the toys. Clever? Hardly. Until their ilk start acting like grown-ups, let's keep him and his country in the timeout corner called Sanctions and be watchful he doesn't try to lash out again.
1
The complaints about Russia allegedly interfering in the US elections are a joke. The US has interfered in the elections of many countries, including Chile and Italy. Recently Obama interfered in the British brexit election. To the extent that Russia may have interfered in the election, it was counterbalanced by the completely biased actions of the left-wing media.
Democrats can't accept responsibility for what they do so, so they always need a scapegoat.
JD
4
Prominent Kremlin critics Volkov and Kurilla "worry that American intelligence agencies have made it too easy for the Kremlin to deny its interference in the American elections — and, at the same time, also take credit for it — by keeping concrete evidence secret, which has only allowed sometimes wild conspiracy theories to take flight."
I do understand why Americans want to withold "concrete evidence" as it could reveal their sources of intelligence. Most in the West don't see Putin as a "genius" and a "mastermind" behind disrupting the democratic process in the world's most power nation. That the Kremlin seeks to portray him as such, and if Russians want to see him as one, is regrettable. Let Putin bask in glory as long as he can. Russians can look at Simbabwe and learn how quickly and unexpectedly Robert Mugabe fell from grace.
7
"Quickly"?.. Mugabe was the leader of Zimbabwe for 37 years! I don't want that for my country.
SABOTAGE is the accurate word.
Yes, I am shouting this word because most elected Democrats are
not. The media is not. This is bizarre.
The Russian attack was not merely "meddling".
223
Thanks! It's like the media referring to lies as untruths until something happened to finally call it like it is - incessant lying = coverup. It's not "meddling" it's a crime punishable by prison time and perhaps more. That isn't meddling.
1
Give me the name of any voter who changed their vote due to Russian whatever. Why didn’t we hear about this when it was happening if it changed voters minds?. Without a name this is Alice in Wonderland. The response will probably be that you don’t need to prove anyone changed their vote.
4
Spying is a crime. However, no one gets strongly upset with foreign spying because it is an accepted part of the landscape. In the same way, interference by foreign countries may be criminal, but it is to be expected and has be done by the US on many occasions. If people look closely at the Clinton foundation, they will undoubtedly find many crimes, but no one is looking. Also, Clinton's transfer of emails to her private server was a crime, 18 USC 793 (f) makes it a crime to grossly negligently transfer classified material absent actual intent.
Yes, it was merely meddling, and meddling of the nature that has gone on a long time, including by the US.
JD
2
Accepting responsibility for one’s own actions is one sure and hopeful sign of maturity. America is still young comparatively speaking and obviously still has a lot of growing up to do. Projecting to the world that of the perpetual victim does not lend itself to the superpower myth we worked to hard to cultivate.
6
Not sure what the point is, but isn't Trump's whole shtick about portraying the US as victim? Isn't that what "make America great again" is all about? And we were victimized by all those bad trade and climate agreements.
Tough. It is our job to protect our election process not Russian elections.
139
Putin IS very good at accomplishing his goals with limited resources. That isn't how he should be assessed. The focus should be on what he is and wishes to accomplish:
autocratic control of his own country, check;
enrichment of himself and his friends by stealing from his own country, check;
replacement of whatever economy Russia once had with a plutocracy focused primarily on continual enrichment of that class at the expense of development of a healthy broad-base economy (check), which could be driven by encouraging small business and entrepreneurship and fair distribution of wealth, (nope);
suppression of dissent in all forms – from girl musical groups to mainstream media to political opponents – often brutally or deadly, check;
establishment of a worldview that accepts and even supports brutal dictators, as in Syria, for Russian "strategic" gain, check;
and finally, extensive and continual attempts to buy, blackmail, or coerce influence over American and European politicians and people by payoffs and purveying propaganda, lies, and false identities.
In short, Russian critics of Putin and apparently of American alarm at Russian meddling (corruption) should focus on the main point: that they ARE being controlled by a skilled corrupt leader. If American alarm somehow shows Putin in a favorable light for some of the people, then perhaps those people need to be better educated or informed by Putin's opposition. How else do Russians expect to change their leadership?
61
On the other hand, if the American Democracy is so easy derailed by few posts on FB, shouldn't America better educate their population rather than put blame on the outside force? It is difficult for Russian liberals to get a traction with the Russian public when their championed system (Democracy) is so weak even in its developed form and could be easily manipulated. Russians see establishing the Western-type of democracy as a chance for outside powers to influence Russian domestic policies in favor of foreign governments, as it was done in 90s (as many Russians believe). In this case the flaws of Putin is beyond the point of discussion, because the proposed alternative is worse and doesn't serve of interests of the Russian public at all.
Before someone else beats me to it, I should point out that many of the criticisms of Putin listed above can and are leveled at people in the US and the government at times. The point is that recognition that powerful corrupt forces are skilled at getting their way should not be viewed as some sort of praise or seen as a positive accomplishment of these forces. It is simply a clear-eyed assessment of what is taking place and by whom so that opposition forces have a clear target.
Many of the comments from some of the leading Putin critics in Russia strike me as denial – not facing reality. I saw Putin as a dark dangerous threat 20 years ago – he made my skin crawl back then because I saw what he could become. Any leader who has taken control of the media and kills opponents while enriching friends has enormous power. The fact that he isn't micromanaging the entire country skillfully only shows how difficult that would be anyway and Putin's main interests. Wake up.
yulia: If you think that the alternative of a democracy is worse than autocratic or dictatorial rule, then you and I see things quite differently. However, I entirely agree with your point that portions of the American electorate need to be better educated and informed. Having said that, a majority of Americans are decently educated and informed and, in fact, voted for Hillary Clinton – Trump only won through only tens of thousands more votes in certain key counties in key states so that he won those electoral votes. It is possible to critique the Russian opposition (which is at a severe disadvantage relative to American opposition specifically because we don't live under autocratic rule or suppression) while also criticizing certain elements of the American political system –both can have flaws, but one is democratic and therefore more responsive to the people.
1
Meanwhile, the lack of evidence destroys trust in our major media outlets. If Putin told Russian spies to hack DNC's computers, don't you think they would have left a footprint steering investigators away from Russia?
First, all 17 IC agencies concluded Russian meddling, then it was widdled down to an "assessment compiled by hand-picked agents comprising three agencies".
It makes the USA look ignorant and Russia looks like geniuses. If you look closer at the Facebook evidence, it was a joke. Twitter and Google also meddled in our election, but Americans ignore it.
The whole thing is hilarious because ALL our media is propaganda in the USA and Russia. The free press in the USA is a joke since it doesn't consist of truth-seeking any longer. If the press served the will of the people, an idiot the magnitude of Trump would have never made it to the White House, nor would he have been competing against Hillary Clinton.
Haven't we shown without a doubt that the US media helped elevate Clinton's primary bout over Sanders? Didn't our own Democratic Party work against Sanders and took advantage of a media blackout of the Sanders Revolution?
It's all propaganda. The reason we are pointing the finger at Russia is we got caught. It must be their fault...
55
Your post is filled with misdirection and partial facts and mirrors the same nonsense Trump uses to discredit the media.
Yes there are many existing circumstances and mistakes by America that contributed to Trump's rise, but make no mistake Putin played a big part in enabling Right Wing extremists, like Bannon, to get a foothold on power in the US. These are the same extremists that hide behind free speech, but will be the first to take it away given a remote chance.
In terms of evidence, rest assured Mr Mueller will provide that. To not see that or recognise it is a misdirection and naive.
4
Yes, let’s counter the Russian interference, and also, crucially--- our domestic election interference, which is sneaky and hypocritical and hardly discussed in the media.
Just who has our interests at heart? Not the Russians, but surely not either US party, who are both tethered to the economic elite corporate megadonors to run for office. Who will they listen to? Not We the People.
Our own domestic manipulation of politics by big money influence, legalized by our supreme court, is more pernicious and insidious than any foreign govt. It nullifies the whole purpose of voting---that citizens influence lawmaking for our benefit.
The Gop voter suppression and gerrymandering directly contradicts all our democratic ideals, worse than foreign interference, and is hardly discussed on the media.
Even liberals in the main media avoid discussing the cause/effect of how big money poisons our whole democratic process. They never explain the contrast of how other democracies elect leaders without turning elections over to the 1 percent elites. To publicize this might threaten the powers that be.
2
The "liberals in the main media" aren't allowed to discuss how undemocratic we've become. Some of those "liberals" landed on RT and have been told to register as foreign agents for speaking the truth about our Oligarchy controlled country.
Wait until the ISP monopolies control the internet...which is exactly what existing media companies want. The IC and ISPs will eliminate truth-seeking and investigative journalism. Propaganda will rule.
1
Let's all trust the Russians, 'cause, you know, they're really nice, and only have the best intentions, and are all pro-Western democracy-seeking liberals anyhow. And besides, Putin -- the KGB colonel who took over and has controlled Russia with an iron fist since the USSR collapsed -- isn't that bright.
Right.
24
Vladimir Putin was a card carrying member of the KGB. His role in the former East Germany was to understand and manipulate public opinion. Even if he isn't the smartest guy in the room, he has had over 30 years' experience in this specific area.
Putin didn't create Donald Trump, but when he recognized an existing propaganda system in the US, increasingly depended on by half the country's voters, he saw an opportunity and he took it.
Putin's initial efforts in the US which started years earlier, were informed by his earlier work in countries from East Germany to the Ukraine. The initial goal was to support the existing system's objective to increase the split in the country into red and blue, using classic Russian disinformation techniques to increase revenue for angry, frightened consumers from the right (and left).
Later Putin redirected the effort to help advance the prospects of the current occupant of the White House. It is unlikely he colluded directly with Trump whose narcissism would make acknowledging Russian support too dangerous, but his efforts absolutely influenced the campaign.
36
Wrong on the matter of close coordination & collusion with Trump: everything Putin has done, going back as far as accepting Berezovsky's offer to assume to Premiership, has involved accepting high-stakes gambles. Every detail coming out of the Kremlin is a relentless reiteration of Putin's profound antipathy for everything American. Consequently, having a Manchurian Candidate who would be rotten, pathetic, weak, obsequious & easily dominated would be precisely what Putin had dreamt of, even in his callow youth. It would completely take the cake. The deal was sealed at the Miss Universe pageant in 2013 (and no, Putin did not have to be in the same room with Trump, and recorded signing or voicing something for that to be demonstrable; couriers would work just fine). That's simple deduction and it aligns with the facts already out in the public domain. The next 2 years would have been spent recruiting & deploying resources, developing viable scenarios (with multiple flow charts) & softening up the key people in the RNC/media, without whom nothing would have advanced.
2
In this room, he is without question the smartest guy and he doesn't even have to try that hard...
3
But Putin *is* a (currently) victorious master strategist who has succeeded beyond his wildest expectations at manipulating an important election in the US as well as a referendum in the UK crucial to its future. Denial of facts-- even of our own (hopefully, temporary) defeat-- is counterproductive.
Our task is to, first, recognize that we've been bested; second, take steps to nullify and reverse the effects of his meddling, and; third, take whatever steps necessary to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Robert Mueller's currently working on the second of these tasks, and it's in everyone's best interests (besides Trump's, Putin's and their allies') for him not to release evidence of the conspiracy until he has all his ducks in a row. Those eager to see the proof will just have to wait.
And, no, not frenemies. Just enemies.
119
Putin's success is only due the valuable natural resources Russia is in possession of such as natural gas, which Europe desperately needs and became addicted to, that and the Russian consumer market which the Europeans also became addicted to. Bait and switch. Putin used this "free trade" capitalistic model to bait the Euros in the early 2000's then sprung the trap some years later, guaranteeing the Europeans cooperation relating to foreign affairs and actions.
1
I doubt that it was Putin's master strategy to get caught and have to stand by fuming while his American minions get hauled before Mueller.
It's a major misreading of the geopolitics to claim that we've been "bested" by Putin. That's like claiming an engine has been "bested" by someone pouring sugar in the gas tank. Sabotaging a complex system can be pretty simple. But monkey-wrenching the 2016 has turned out to be a disaster for everyone. Turns out a criminal president is just a bad idea all around.
"And it helps Russian propaganda because the Kremlin can say it is all just a conspiracy against Russia" If that statement is true, then Putin and his strategy had nothing to do with it. If that statement is not true and if Putin really did use strategy to interfere, then we need to keep digging.
"It hurts us a lot that no evidence has been released. "
When we find enough evidence to be sure we know what happened or not, it will get released.
We already know that Russians used social media aggressively to increase divisiveness. Muller and his team are investigating to see if any American political actors helped them interfere with the election, and if in doing it, they committed a crime or not.
19
The author writes “Both Mr. Volkov and Mr. Kurilla worry that American intelligence agencies have made it too easy for the Kremlin to deny its interference in the American elections — and, at the same time, also take credit for it — by keeping concrete evidence secret, which has only allowed sometimes wild conspiracy theories to take flight.”
While I agree that Putin is a fascist is all but name, the author’s complaint about keeping “evidence secret” shows that he doesn’t understand what it means to live in a democracy with constitutional assurances of due process and the rule of law.
31
Perhaps the American fixation on Russian interference, under Putin's control, in the 2016 American election(s) is 'overblown' as many in Russia have noted. Even after examples like Bush v. Gore in the 2000 election, the American electoral system was still considered a model of true democracy. Bot now the sides are unbalanced. We now see a very sly, smart, strategist, the 21st Century Tsar in Russia, aka Vlad Putin. And, opposing him as the Defender of Democracy in the so-called Free World, we have Donald J. Trump. Despite his claim to having a great mind and a high I.Q. (whatever that means) Trump has already proven himself to be one of the most ignorant, least intelligent, most naive person to ever hold the office of POTUS. Trump will do Putin's bidding, just as he will do Xi's bidding. Yes, American media should continue exposing Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Trump will not make America great again. Unless you consider that becoming a satellite state subservient to Russian/Chinese hegemony is making America Great. Trump rejected any chance of creating an international coalition against the Russia-China hegemony when he flatly rejected Trade Treaties with Asian countries and now is even talking about rejecting NAFTA we will soon be alone in stormy seas caused by global warming when Trump is finally removed from office, either by Congress or the American electorate. So Sad!
12
Can't both be true ? Russia"s ramshackle disorganized efforts to disrupt America's political process hit a mother lode of people willing to believe propaganda promoted through social media. Picked up by commenters who pounced on the disruption , xenophobic , untrue and fascist thoughts promoted.
9
I'd be more inclined to listen to these "Russian liberals" if they were more effective in opposing Putin.
13
The 'effective' opponents of Putin are all in jail or died a mysterious death.
Why isn’t Putan defined by his failures? Olympic scandals and a failed economy are just a couple examples of his bad leadership. This is the fault of the media who defines Putan’s Orwellian, KBG, thug autocracy as a success when the things that really count, like running a country, are failure.
7
What do you mean by 'failing economy'? The Russian economy is doing better than it was doing BEFORE Putin came to power, despite the sanctions and low oil prices. The stability of Russian economy is one of the factors of Putin's popularity.
2
This should be a lesson for the Times for it has embarked on a crusade which in the end reinforces Putin as this very smart text argues. Also the Times is tempted to treat allegations as fact. More journalistic ethics and smarter thinking please.
There is no super Putin and many domestic reasons that explain Clinton's defeat. Intervention in Afghanistan led to a stalemate and a stronger Taliban, in Iraq to a stronger Iran and more terrorism. Now Putin-bashing and inflating his real power is all to his benefit. In advertising there is no bad publicity. This is as true for Trump as for Putin.
18
The crusade is to protect our election process from outside interference.
15
No, Putin did not determine the outcome (Facebook accounts were less than 0;1% of all accounts) but purging voter lists of African American voters played a much bigger part. Also the US meddles far more in foreign elections than autocratic Russia (81 times v. 36 in a serious study see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_electoral_intervention#cite_note-L....
While the US focuses on Russia, China zooms past to become number one (with its ally Russia spurned by the US). Clearly a case of the US shooting itself in the foot.
1
in order to protect, the USA should address division of the American society. Brining up another issue that divides society (Russian meddling) will not heal this rift.
3
I entirely subscribe to the complaint of the Russian adversaries of V.V. Putin. The US, and the elite of its liberal press corps, are spending precious time and resources on something that is, sorry to say, quite trivial.
Did Russians act to try and influence the last Presidential elections? Extremely likely. Did "the" Russians, as in that subset that is controlled by the State? Who knows? In view of the revelations that the NSA has a whole toolkit that allows it to interfere in other countries' elections, it doesn't really matter, does it? Unless you want to have a pot-and-kettle shouting match. Anyway, if meddling happened, to what extent did it influence the results? After all, the fact we're frothing at the mouth at the antics of Donald the Magnificent and not basking in the benign glory of Saint Hillary is due to YOUR system in which the Electoral College overrode the outcome of the popular vote.
Besides the issue Putin's opponents are raising, there is also an internal American one that is falling by the wayside. The excessive attention paid to the alleged Russian interference not only obfuscates the election's outcome in terms of votes won, it still creates a narrative the Democrats hide behind. With the 2018 mid-terms and the 2020 Presidentials coming up, they (and the American people?) would be better served the formulation of a coherent strategy to bring reason back to governance plus a crop of credible candidates with a fighting chance of turning the tables.
15
Saying criminals and traitors are incompetent and not omnipotent - that didn't work very well with the rise of Hitler. The vestigial left and remnants of the "Russian Spring" are clinging to the hope that normalacy can somehow overwhelm Trump and Putin's Kleptocratic ambitions without directly pushing back on them. That's naive, stupid and arrogant, just as mistaking their criminal ambitions for ideological aspirations would be stupid and ignorant of the observable facts.
2
I would would say the Russians completely fail to understand the nature of American democracy if they are “exasperated” by our concern about foreign meddling in our elections. There is no more fundamental pillar of our constitution than our voting process. Yes, our foolish politicians have weekend the process via endless gerrymandering but that does not negate the dangers of outside manipulation. If the Russians only “nibbled around the edges” then great - we are now forewarned and can fortify against further attacks. It matters not what Russia thinks - it only matters what we do.
141
I personally do not care what the Russians think of us, our press, and how we view Putin. All I care about is finding out what happened in the last election. I know we have our problems, and that Clinton was vulnerable candidate, but there was something else going on and Americans need to know what happened. If Trump is innocent, we need to know that, If not, then he needs to be held accountable. We are supposed to be a nation of laws. We can not look like a bunch of easygoing fools.
1
Yes, any Russian influence/collusion must be counteracted. But the real 'collusion' harming us all is between our politicians and the corporate and billionaire megadonors to our elections. This dominates lawmaking on taxes, regulations, jobs, health care, etc in the donors' favor, and directly affects all our lives.
Our own domestic megadonors are doing worse to us than any foreign influence. Al Gore told CNN "Our democracy has been hacked by big money long before Putin hacked our democracy.”
This domestic political collusion is legalized and normalized by our own highest court that absurdly equated donations by the super rich with 1st amend free speech, even though they nullify any input by the citizen majority on politics. Polls on issues prove this.
Obviously the Gop uses voter suppression and voter manipulation by false campaign ads, that 'contradicts a fundamental pillar of our constitution' and voting process.
All this is hardly discussed by our 1st amendment -- protected media. Of course they profit hugely from the campaign ads that need billionaire check writing. Not much of a model for other countries.
2
We need more of this nuanced reporting. But what worries me most is not Russia's meddling (they've been slinging away for years, seeing what sticks) and as this article makes clear, they're more inept than we give them credit for.
What worries me is our unwillingness to combat it -- no one is effectively holding Facebook, et.al. accountable for their indifference -- and even more than that, our so-called president's eagerness to cooperate with an enemy who actively seeks to do us harm. The sheer magnitude of disregard for the actual best interests of the U.S. (or the assessments of our own intelligence agencies) is unprecedented.
The spectacle of our cherished institutions being destroyed from within is what's frightening. With the avalanche of bad news we are subjected to daily, I don't think any of us have fully wrapped our heads around it. There's just too much. I believe that fear and confusion drives much of the focus on Russian election meddling. It may be easier to digest -- but we need MORE measured reporting. Effective mobilization, leadership, and activism depend on it.
18
I agree with Mr. Randall that the US needs to get to the bottom of this matter, lest we leave exposed our electoral system, of which we have been justly proud, to future interference from outside (and even inside) malevolent forces. However, what really strikes me about this article is how much more deeply these Russian commentators know us than we know them. The notion of Russia as a well-oiled state machine with Putin at its head comes right out of spy novels and the movies, not from informed sources. We are consumers of media, not information, and like Little Red Hen, buffeted by every whiff of hysteria that our screens, large and small, emit. Thanks for a thoughtful breath of fresh air.
4
Do you mean Chicken Little? The Little Red Hen asks for help in making bread. No one is willing to help. but everyone wants to eat the bread.
2
The time is long overdue for Libertarian ideas to get greater attention and consideration in US.
So, Instead of wasting huge sums of money all over the world on military bases and other shenanigans in other countries politics, US should cut taxes, reduce military and CIA budgets, and focus on how to resurrect middle class and/or at least lift the 2/3 of its population out of poverty inside US own borders.
2
Russian foreign policy is chaotic and opportunistic, and recent years have shown Putin is not a great strategist by any measure. It helps that Russians stress this from their own vantage point, and it would indeed be befitting US officials not to fawn over a hobbled cleptocracy whose economy is but two-thirds the size of Italy's. But Russia's hybrid warfare against neighbours and beyond cannot go unchecked, so I'd advise the US to continue to get to the bottom of this. Confronting Russia with its irresponsible behaviour, and raising the costs higher still, may make it reconsider its actions.
13
Quite honestly, I agree with Vladimir – though not for the same reasons that Mr. Higgins suggests.
I absolutely love the way that Mr. Volokov said it, but I don't quite understand why he then says that it is "very bad" for Russia. Americans ARE describing Russia as "an almighty force from a James Bond saga," But, somehow, the American SORE LOSERS are still spending money on it; still taking it seriously.
They have, so far, stopped (just) short of telling our children to "duck and cover" under their desks at school . . .
The fact of the matter is actually short and sweet: "Hillary Clinton LOST, and she lost fair-and-square." The election outcome is not the consequence of crime, or even "meddling." The election outcome is exactly as the majority of the States intended it to be. Period.
6
Keep your head buried deep in the sand, Mr. Robinson. Is the sand really in Russia? Your comment sounds like one.
The Con Don "won" through a hostile financial takeover of OUR United States of America government. Period.
5
@MikeRobinson . . . I disagree with your conclusion that Ms. Clinton lost fair and square and that's the end of the story. There are many factors at play in the election result that drove people to vote the way they did and, certainly, one of those factors has to do with Russian actions. The three swing states where Mr. Trump won by less than 100,000 votes (in total), and where he received all 46 Electoral Collage votes, gave him the Electoral College victory. The issue is not persuading 63 million people to vote for him across America, or 6.29 million in those three states, because there is always be a sizeable number who vote Republican regardless of the candidate. The issue is actually persuading a handful of swing voters in swing states to vote for him when they might not otherwise do so. This is not a high bar to meet. With targeted and accurate appeals though Facebook, Twitter, etc. preying on existing economic and social fears, it is not s stretch to conclude Russian interference is possible nor that it affected the outcome.
5
When Americans see evidence of the Russian leadership jailing and killing their political opponents and journalists, it makes it hard to adjust their views of what Russia did during the 2016 election. Anyone who still uses heavy handed Soviet era tactics against his own people would have no compunction whatever in spying on Americans and meddling in their elections. The truth will come out some day, but the partial picture painted by our American media has credibility because of the brutality of the Putin regime.
7
It is one of the great tragedies of history that our government and the Russian government have been at odds for centuries. The great irony here is that we have a large poulation of Russian heritage folks that have integrated quite well into our country for well over a century and a half at least. I grew up in the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania in the thirties and forties along with quite a few first and second generation folks who came from the Soviet Union. The babushka was a very common headdress on the women in our town especially on Sunday at the local Russian Orthodox Church. These were very hardy folks with great big hearts and surely very similar to most of their compatriots back in the Soviet Union. What a terrible thing it would be for us to ever need to be at war with the Russian people.
With global warming a reality and no end in sight at the moment, Russia will be the biggest winner in acquiring legally enormous energy and other riches in the Arctic region. A prominent role in the world is their destiny and we need to face this. Is it not strange that we use them to transport our astronauts to and from the international space station yet sanction them at the same time for acting in their self interest. Did we really think that Russia would allow their Naval base in the Crimea to be compromised by a Ukraine leaning to be a member of NATO? Would we allow Cuba to compromise our base at Guantanamo?
6
Perhaps the fervor from Democrats would be less if Republicans could be counted on to fully investigate Russia's involvement and do the right thing. Instead, there appears to be nothing this administration can do that would cause our Republican house and senate to admonish Trump. It also appears Trump's base has pretty well embraced Putin anyway because, you know, he's is not all "politically correct." Whatever makes liberals angry is just fine with Trump's base, nevermind the survival of our democracy for their own children and grandchildren.
42
This is just as much about how easily duped the US population and media are really, not about Putin's acumen. I fear of you stop reminding the country their vigilance will be even further diminished. One thing Putin does know is how good people are easily made to feel guilty. This is likely why this current push is on.
4
I am awful sorry if our search for the truth is proving an inconvenience to some faction of Russians maneuvering for advantage in their byzantine kleptocracy, but our Democracy is on the line. Truth is often, as one noble politician once pointed out, inconvenient.
25
While I feel for Russian anti-authoritarian elements in a scary environment, I don't see that anything is to be gained by Russians or Americans by pretending that Putin is not a thug both domestically and internationally. We don't want Putin messing with our institutions and the alleged needs of Russian liberals should not significantly influence our reactions when it happens.
4
There is nothing really that screams''master strategist'' when you deploy thousands to spew propaganda and misinformation online and elsewhere .
It says a whole lot more about the gullible and partisan voters in the U.S. that gobbled up ( obligatory Thanksgiving reference ) each and every morsel of fake misdirection.
We have the disastrous results to show for it.
11
To see and to use the opportunity to manipulate the opinion of American public to Russian advances would be the great strategy.
Sure, but with as many Chinese living in Siberia as Russian, just how crafty is it to turn the entire West against Russia? His strategies will only blow up in his face.
How can we "American liberals" help how Russian state-owned media portray this whole story?
Far from seeing Putin as a master strategist or three-dimensional chess master, the fact that they apparently were using seedy lawyers and British entertainment promoters to arrange these meetings with the Trump campaign says to me Putin just got lucky!
As to the slow trickle of evidence, sorry, that's just the way things work in this land of due process.
6
I don't really care what Putin's foes in Russia think. Americans need to know what went down with our election.
120
Yours is the most succinct articulation of the American Left version of MAGA.
The US standoff against the Soviets used to be about the future of humankind: Democracy versus Communist Dictatorship. The Soviet Union fell apart, but the foes of Democracy today worldwide can point to Donald Trump as proof for the failure of "democracy" and hypocrisy of American moralizing. Russia today illustrates the vision of unrestrained capitalism (a very much Republican vision). The ideological battle lines are between Democracy and Authoritarian Rule of the Oligarchs. Those Putin's foes you don't care about are front-line soldiers in this world battle.
The article is spot on. Russians were meddling around the edges. Fox News, Hate Radio, gerrymandering, and most importantly the ignorant, uneducated electorate incapable of critical thinking are by the more important pitfalls of the American Democracy.
5
I find this article to be very unpersuasive in its suggestion that Americans' concerns about Russian meddling in the last election are an exercise in paranoia, when in fact there appears to be extensive and growing evidence both from our intelligence communities and other sources that there was a highly-organized Russian campaign to interfere in the election.
Nor are our concerns as citizens a blanket judgment on the scale and scope of Putin's power within Russia. Within their own country, Russians are far better positioned than we are to judge the strength, reach and stability of Putin's grasp on the reins of power. That is not the focus of Americans' concerns, but rather Putin's deliberate efforts to exploit the divisions in our own country to further undermine our democracy.
247
I see the American preoccupation with the Russian meddling as a paranoia that streams from distrust of American public to American Democracy, because it shows that the American Democracy is so weak, that relatively few opinions on the social media totally brings the democracy down, and therefore, Democratic principles as freedom of speech are incompatible with American Democracy.
3
Part of your comment that "within their own country, Russians are far better positioned . . . to judge . . . Putin's grasp on the reins of power" isn't true. Ordinary Russians only have access to what Putin's government wants them to believe. The Russian narrative is highly controlled by their media. Any dissent that gains traction in Russia, ends with the dissenter being maligned, jailed, injured, or murdered. I can see the same thing beginning in the U.S.A. under Trump.
5
Did you read the article? It is about Putin's image as having an effective foreign policy.
As for that "extensive and growing evidence" of "a highly-organized Russian campaign": I am afraid you are reading too much conspiracy theories. I consider it quite unlikely that Putin wants to be bothered about spending 100,000 dollars on a Facebook campaign.
Putin is just another Koch brothers boy - a member of the International Mafia Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/Radical religions Good Old Boys' Cabal who control the "markets" and are trying to take over the world with hostile financial takeovers of governments.
His "foes" can complain all they want. They are probably part of or operatives of the Cabal.
Average/poor people around the world. and all forms of democratic governance, are what is in danger. WE THE PEOPLE around the world who do not want our lives destroyed by the financial elite power struggle are the only ones who will/can stop it. NOW is the time. Continue to shout out loudly about Russian interference in OUR 2016 presidential election and the other crimes being committed around the world to try to make it a king/peon world - just like the "good old boys days" of the 5th/15th centuries.
WE THE PEOPLE will not help add a chapter of HIStory of death and destruction. Not now. Not ever again.
4
So Putin's Russian opponents supposedly want America to quiet down? They want us to become propagandists promoting the lie that Putin isn't as nefarious and effective a foe as our intelligence agencies believe he is? Or is this ploy simply another Kremlin disinformation campaign? ("Help us Good Russians against those Bad Russians.") It flunks the smell test.
As for our intelligence and investigative agencies having a "fixation" on Putin's sabotage of electoral processes here and elsewhere, I fervently hope they do.
143
Whatever narrative Russian liberals would like to project, though, it is a matter of great importance politically and legally in the US the extent to which Trump or his campaign solicited or were offered material assistance from Russia's government. It's also separately important the extent to which Russia contributes support for political causes in the West more generally, not only in the case of the US but also of Brexit. I agree that sometimes US commentators are hysterical about things--and make Putin sound smarter than he actually is--but the US does have an interest in countering Russia's government's ambitions to manipulate future US elections.
306
"Whatever narrative Russian liberals would like to project, though, it is a matter of great importance politically and legally in the US the extent to which Trump or his campaign solicited or were offered material assistance from Russia's government."
While this is clearly true, the media focus on Facebook troll accounts and similar things is clearly exactly what Russian anti-Putin intellectuals are saying here- effort to deflect the blame for Trump onto Russia. If American society and the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign are such that (legal) Facebook troll accounts and the like caused Trump to be elected, the problem is in America, not Russia. I tried to make this point and had my comment deleted, but will try to make it again.
I challenge the New York Times to allow me to say this civil, reasonable, widely recognized thing without deleting my comment - a major factor in the disastrous election of Trump was an ineffective opposition campaign by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. When you stagger along a narrow tightrope you can blame your fall on any breeze that blows your way. Much effort has been made to blame external factors for internal and avoidable mistakes, and exaggeration of Russian influence has been at the core of that.
New York Times editors, if you printed this article, you may as well allow comments that point out the obvious.
That is not to say that outright illegal activity, such as actively aiding a US political campaign, should be ignored.
8
No, our American commentators are not "hysterical" enough.
They almost uniformly call plain sabotage "meddling".
This inexplicably bland language has got to stop.
Why this normalization?
The election was as illegitimate as it could get. He did not win
fair and square.
2
if American elections are prone to be so easily manipulated by few opinions posted in social media, the problem is not Russians, but problem is American politicians and American voters who rather believe to anonymous opinions than to tailored messages of the American politicians. Distrust of American public to American official news and American political system are the issues.
5