Kurt Eichenwald, a senior editor at Newsweek, writes here about what is known about relationships between Trump and Putin/Russian intelligence services. The central question is who is hacking the emails of the Democratic party and why. Eichenwald has learned that Russian agencies hacked into the State Department server, raising the likelihood that Hillary Clinton’s emails were more secure on her private server than on the State Department’s. Two other interesting observations, among many: Trump was briefed on Russian hacking yet continued to deny it in debates, saying even his 10-year-old son could have hacked into the DNC; also, Russians briefly stopped the hacking after Trump attacked the Gold Star family, as they thought he might be forced to step down.
Whenever anyone brings up the Trump-Putin bromance, a reader is sure to respond that this is Red Scare talk, that it would be refreshing to have a president who gets along with Putin, that we must be careful not to ignite a new cold war. Eichenwald is sure to get thousands of angry tweets from Trump supporters, and he is sure to get thousands of anti-Semitic tweets, as he has in the past, even though he is not Jewish.
If Trump has backdoor dealings with Russia or any other foreign power, the public is entitled to know about it. To my knowledge, no previous presidential election was shadowed by the possibility that a foreign nation was hacking emails of one political party and interfering with the election process. We have a right to know.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Condor’s key members were the governments in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. The United States government provided technical support and supplied military aid to the participants until at least 1978…” Operation Condor
Mr. Eichenwald’s is somewhat selective in his recollection. The U.S. has had a hand in quite a few “To my knowledge, … interfering with the election process. We have a right to know…”
You may claim to have “the right to know” but that does not necessarily mean that those involved WANT you to know.
Four, count em, four more days (hopefully that’s all) of presidential politicking posts. I don’t think I’ve seen such paranoid fear mongering by either side of the duopoly since 2008 when the Rethugs opined that if elected the “Muslim dark-skinned fellow” was going to turn Amurika into a sharia law caliphate executing all of us (white folk that is) after putting us into those FEMA camps.
Agree. Hard to distinguish factual information from disinformation in the current environment. There are so many conflicting geopolitical agendas. Not to mention that there seem to be warring factions in our own intelligence agencies who are working at cross-purposes.
AND Trump will not make known his tax returns which MIGHT give so much insight into his business dealings,nefarious or otherwise..
It strains credulity for people to believe that he knows how to give us financial security. He lost so much money he did not have to pay federal income tax for something like 18 YEARS. INCREDIBLE!!!
That’s probably why he refuses to release his taxes. People would be able to connect the dots.
Whether Russian intelligence or its proxies have done the hacking they’ve been accused of has yet to be conclusively proven, but the chutzpah of the US to feign and promote outrage at foreign interference in the domenstic politics of another nation is just beyond the beyonds, and disingenuousness on a cosmic scale.
Oh, but I forgot, we’re always Exceptional, aren’t we?
It is wrong when we do it to another nation; it is wrong when another nation does it to us. Are we supposed to ignore the very real possibility that Russia has been trying to interfere with our political process? It is hard enough to sort out what is factual or relevant to voting decisions without outside “help.” Are we supposed to grin and bear it because our government has been naughty, too? As far as I can remember,”She did it to me first (or too)!” never carried much weight with my mother.
Constant repetition of an allegation – and in this case, a grossly self-serving one – does not a fact make. The Clinton campaign has used the charge of Russina state interference to distract people from the embarrassment caused by the revelations which showed that the Democratic National Committee was/is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clinton, Inc, and that its huge apparatus was used to undermine democracy.
I guess we always need to have an external enemy, in order to misdirect the public from the malefactors of wealth who are stealing the country out from under us.
Some of those malefactors have orange, Cheetos-colored hair, and appeal to hate and fear. Others make bogus claims about “fighting for women and children,” while using their purported “merit” to further entrench the wealth and power of those who already have unimaginable amounts of both. That they are not evil cartoon characters, a la Donnie, does make their lies and self-serving mis-directions the truth.
Vote for Clinton on the 8th, fight and challenge her on the 9th, because, while she may not be the Worst News, she nevertheless is very, very Bad News.
Whoa! Nice feint, Michael. From the morality of government interference with free elections to the nefariousness of the “Clinton DNC. I don’t find the allegations of Russian manipulations an annoying rumor, especially when foreign intelligence agencies appear to be involved in this conclusion as well. I know, I know, they are working for Clinton, too. As to the emails,… certainly embarrassing and apparently not actionable depending on which faction of the FBI wins and what the Justice Department has to say. Unfortunately, politics can get ugly, which is why I used to be one of those teachers who just closed their door to the world and taught. Now I am of a similar mind to you although not quite so anti-Hillary. We have to hold her feet to the fire after the election. We have to work in our own communities to make sure we are building a more equitable society from the ground up. The Republicans have been at it for several decades, and their efforts have paid off for them in the recent past. It is time for a readjustment. Eisenhower would not recognize today’s Republicans. Heck, I even wonder if he could relate to the neoliberal agenda of the Democrats! We are losing a sense of community in this rabid rush for individual rights as opposed to a healthy respect for the common good.
Red-baiting is soooooooooooooooo twentieth century.