07-26-2016, 01:07 PM
Deeply disturbing but as yet unconfirmed: That Russian hackers may have broken into Democratic National Committee computers for the express purpose of boosting the campaign of Donald Trump.
![[Image: trumputin26e-1-web.jpg]](http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2725697.1469481000!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/trumputin26e-1-web.jpg)
Known beyond any reasonable doubt: Trump and his team have a perverse admiration for and a series of strange relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and a pro-Russian world-view that runs against the best interests of America in the world.
The WikiLeaks-facilitated breach of the DNC, which produced mountains of embarrassing revelations for the committee — and forced the resignation of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz — looms large as Democrats gather in Philadelphia this week.
The FBI suspects Russian intelligence agencies were behind the mischief. They might have been freelancing; they might have been doing the Russian strongman’s bidding to help elect Trump.
The prospect of a foreign power with interests often diametrically opposed to ours meddling in an American presidential election in this manner should make voters shudder.
But hack or no hack, Trump’s romantic view of Putin, a man who wants nothing more than to expand his sphere of influence and see U.S. power wane, is well-established . Trump, who has a fetish for strongmen of all stripes, has repeatedly heaped praise on the repressive, anti-democratic, expansionist Putin — a friend to regimes in Iran and Syria — calling him a man “highly respected within his own country and beyond.”
When challenged on the fact that Putin “kills journalists, political opponents, and invades countries,” Trump replied, “At least he’s a leader.”
Last September, when Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly asked Trump about Putin’s military adventure in Syria — involvement advertised as anti-ISIS that was in fact intended to kill rebels challenging Russian client Bashar Assad — Trump said of Putin, who had praised him, “In terms of leadership, he’s getting an A.”
Based on this mutual admiration society, it should come as no surprise that Trump has expressed willingness to leave NATO allies twisting in the wind. As NATO is the single greatest check on Russian aggression, that is a gift to Putin.
Or that Trumpistas nixed a Republican platform amendment set to include strong support for sending American weapons to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. Top Trump adviser Paul Manafort — who for the better part of a decade worked as a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin stooge — saw to it.
There are far too many dots connecting Trump and Russia to avoid stepping back and seeing the whole scary picture.
Is it a coincidence that Russian state-controlled media are cheering on Trump at every turn?
Is it a coincidence that top Trump foreign policy adviser Michael Flynn, a former general vetted for a spot on his ticket, sat near Putin at a celebration for the Russian propaganda outlet RT?
Is it a coincidence that Trump’s business has increasingly relied on loans from Russian sources, and, in 2008, Donald Trump Jr. told a real estate conference that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets”?
Putin’s long game is to weaken Europe and dominate the region. That’s why he has supported — and loaned money to — right-wing populists around Europe: Marine Le Pen in France, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, and anti-EU parties in Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria. Russian propaganda organs celebrated Britain’s exit from the EU.
Trump also praised Brexit — and this weekend ignorantly insulted the European Union, whose precursor was born in 1952 to ensure a war-torn continent could live in peace, by saying it was founded “to beat the U.S. at making money.”
In short: Vladimir Putin’s interests just happen to be Donald Trump’s. Stop and let that sink in.
Known beyond any reasonable doubt: Trump and his team have a perverse admiration for and a series of strange relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and a pro-Russian world-view that runs against the best interests of America in the world.
The WikiLeaks-facilitated breach of the DNC, which produced mountains of embarrassing revelations for the committee — and forced the resignation of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz — looms large as Democrats gather in Philadelphia this week.
The FBI suspects Russian intelligence agencies were behind the mischief. They might have been freelancing; they might have been doing the Russian strongman’s bidding to help elect Trump.
The prospect of a foreign power with interests often diametrically opposed to ours meddling in an American presidential election in this manner should make voters shudder.
But hack or no hack, Trump’s romantic view of Putin, a man who wants nothing more than to expand his sphere of influence and see U.S. power wane, is well-established . Trump, who has a fetish for strongmen of all stripes, has repeatedly heaped praise on the repressive, anti-democratic, expansionist Putin — a friend to regimes in Iran and Syria — calling him a man “highly respected within his own country and beyond.”
When challenged on the fact that Putin “kills journalists, political opponents, and invades countries,” Trump replied, “At least he’s a leader.”
Last September, when Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly asked Trump about Putin’s military adventure in Syria — involvement advertised as anti-ISIS that was in fact intended to kill rebels challenging Russian client Bashar Assad — Trump said of Putin, who had praised him, “In terms of leadership, he’s getting an A.”
Based on this mutual admiration society, it should come as no surprise that Trump has expressed willingness to leave NATO allies twisting in the wind. As NATO is the single greatest check on Russian aggression, that is a gift to Putin.
Or that Trumpistas nixed a Republican platform amendment set to include strong support for sending American weapons to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. Top Trump adviser Paul Manafort — who for the better part of a decade worked as a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin stooge — saw to it.
There are far too many dots connecting Trump and Russia to avoid stepping back and seeing the whole scary picture.
Is it a coincidence that Russian state-controlled media are cheering on Trump at every turn?
Is it a coincidence that top Trump foreign policy adviser Michael Flynn, a former general vetted for a spot on his ticket, sat near Putin at a celebration for the Russian propaganda outlet RT?
Is it a coincidence that Trump’s business has increasingly relied on loans from Russian sources, and, in 2008, Donald Trump Jr. told a real estate conference that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets”?
Putin’s long game is to weaken Europe and dominate the region. That’s why he has supported — and loaned money to — right-wing populists around Europe: Marine Le Pen in France, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, and anti-EU parties in Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria. Russian propaganda organs celebrated Britain’s exit from the EU.
Trump also praised Brexit — and this weekend ignorantly insulted the European Union, whose precursor was born in 1952 to ensure a war-torn continent could live in peace, by saying it was founded “to beat the U.S. at making money.”
In short: Vladimir Putin’s interests just happen to be Donald Trump’s. Stop and let that sink in.
