Why should this "Committee" even bother to "investigate," since they clearly have answered the question to their satisfaction. "We are at war!" Morgan Freeman proclaims. And CIR founder, Rob Reiner: we will endeavor to "understand the gravity of Russia's invasion of our democracy." "Invasion"? "Our democracy"? Shouldn't these tacit assumptions be subjected to critical analysis? Apparently Rob Reiner and the CIR do not think so.
"Verdict first, trial later, said the Red Queen."
There are numerous informed experts on Russia -- former diplomats (e.g., Jack Matlock), scholars (e.g. Stephen F. Cohen), historians (e.g. John Mearsheimer), journalists (e.g. Robert Parry) among them, all loyal American patriots -- who have strikingly contrary opinions about Russia and the current conflict. If the CIS agrees to examine these opinions respectfully and objectively, then I will take their pronouncements more seriously.
Likewise the commercial news media. Unfortunately, these moderates (aka "Russian dupes") are totally absent from the mainstream media. If they are allowed on panels with "the usual suspects," and treated with respect and not as targets; if, that is to say, they are allowed to complete their sentences, and even string a few sentences together uninterrupted, then I might begin to pay more attention to the MSM.
I find little reason to expect such responsible behavior on the part of the Committee to Investigate Russia, or the mainstream commercial media.
Some of the pro Trump ads on Facebook were paid for in rubles. Doesn't that prove that the Russians were involved?
Pause for a moment and take a critical look at this charge. The Russians allegedly mounted a covert campaign to influence the election by purchasing pro-Trump ads on Facebook, some of which were paid for in rubles . "Covert"? "Rubles"?
Say what you will about the Russians. But surely we can agree that they are not stupid. If they truly wanted to keep the source of these ads secret, would they pay for them in rubles? However, if someone wanted to steer suspicion toward the Russians, then they would connive to pay for those ads in rubles. In short, this has all the earmarks of a "false flag" operation. And the Russophobes have fallen for it totally. For example in an MSNBC interview on September 25, Hillary Clinton cited those Rubles as "evidence" of Russian "interference." It is a charge heard repeatedly in the MSM, in the apparently successful belief that the public will not see the absurdity of it.
And now, the media is obsessed with Russian infiltration of "social media" -- Twitter, Facebook, etc. The Russian investment in this mischief has been estimated at $100,000, elsewhere at $250,000. These princely sums, we are told, may have significantly affected the election. Oh, really? That "investment" of $250,000 amounts to .0005 percent of the five billion cost of the election.
Just what is this "Russian threat?"
There are several alleged "threats." Among them:
1. Russia aims to undermine our "leadership of the free world," and in particular, the NATO alliance. Well, what should we expect? We have expanded a military alliance (NATO), in violation of an agreement with Gorbachev not to do so, in exchange with Russia allowing the reunification of Germany as a NATO member. Do we now expect Russia not to respond to NATO troops along its western border by not attempting to weaken that alliance? As for our "leadership of the free world," our buffoonish President has done far more to undermine that leadership than Putin could have imagined that Russia could accomplish.
2. Russia resists the American "global hegemony" proclaimed by the neo-cons. When we believed that "the international communist conspiracy" intended to establish a "global hegemony," the West responded vigorously with NATO and with expanding military budgets. When our neo-cons openly advocate American global "hegemomy," and when our Congress and our media boldly announce American "exceptionalism" to international norms and to the United Nations Charter in particular, why should we be surprised if the Russian resist?
3. Russia aspires ("threatens"?) to become a strong, prosperous, and independent nation among the "community of nations. Of course it does! What nation does not? What nation does not have a "right" to such aspirations. Apparently Russia is succeeding in this aim, despite American sanctions (as I elaborate below).
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