Undue Influence - Foreign and Domestic - the 2016 Presidential Elections
Undue Influence - Foreign and Domestic – the 2016 Presidential Elections: Observations regarding CNN report, “10 most damning findings from report on Russian election interference”
While the Intelligence Community report indicated strong evidence supporting Russian efforts to influence the 2016 Presidential election, there is no reporting stating the Russians did the voting, or manipulated poll numbers. Americans voted and chose who they perceived was their best option for the country; the Russians did not. The highly-publicized arguments inferring the 2016 elections were determined by a foreign power are therefore baseless. This is reinforced by the fact the Republican party won over both houses of United States Congress. Nothing was mentioned in the intelligence reporting about that win.
However, the argument of influence and interference remain important. Evidence of this is the alleged surprising election win of Trump over Hillary. It should have not been a surprise, but it was. Professional analysts, commentators and media and so-called experts missed the truth. Either experts and supporters conducted poor research, or the experts/supporters were out of touch with the people and/or were trying to influence the elections toward a particular party. This observation too is amplified by the fact the Republican party had sweeping wins over both houses of United States Congress.
Ironically, there appeared to be much undue influence and voter manipulation by Americans against Americans. The real culprits were Hollywood personalities, racists, lobbyists,media networks and even educational institutions. Numbers of people in all these communities were ostracized, ridiculed and debased for their freedom of expression and choice for a candidate. Anti-Hillary supporters were forced underground. It was the underground that spoke this election. Again, this is amplified by the fact the Republican party had sweeping wins over both houses of United States Congress.
By blaming Russia for the election loss, Americans are back to ignoring the American voters who elected someone other than Clinton.
CNN identified 10 points from the intelligence report. CNN reported Russia’s goal was to “undermine US faith in democratic process”. I counter that it did not take Russia to do this. Americans lack faith in the democratic process because of political donations, slanted media reporting, bias in educational institutions, Hollywood influence, etc. Another point made referred to the use of “social media trolls” and “media involvement”. There are plenty of trolls and questionable media practices in the US already doing the same things being accused of the Russians; some in a more discreet manner.
Sources:
Bezmenov, Y. (1984). Full text of "Bezmenov: LOVE LETTER TO AMERICA". Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/BezmenovLoveLetterToAmerica/YuriBezmenov-LoveLetterToAmerica_djvu.txt
Scott, E. (7Jan17) 10 most damning findings from report on Russian election interference - CNNPolitics.com. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/07/politics/intelligence-report-russian-interference/
Posted: 161953RJan17