i anticipate that the fact of a political candidate in the United States accepting money from a hostile foreign power will soon be normalized. Yes, i can see it happening: Normalization of corruption at a whole new level.
Look at CNN’s reaction to John Lewis saying that he does not regard Trump as legit. CNN is playing up the outrage directed at John Lewis. They are playing up the outrage directed at the democrats who are boycotting the inauguration.
It is an accepted fact that Russia/Putin interfered with our election, and that Trump won the electoral college by a razor thin margin. No one is in any position to say that Russian interference had “no effect” on the election. You can analyze, speculate, and game theory the vote from now until doomsday, and no one can assert with rational certainty that there was no Putin effect. So there is a cloud of doubt hanging around Trump, and it cannot be rationally dispelled. There it is. You may rationally disagree with John Lewis, but his opinion is founded on known facts, it is equally rational, and possibly better founded.
If the Russian goal was to cast doubt on our process, i must admit they have had a successful operation. But the media, and the republican establishment, seems to want us to pretend otherwise. I suppose they believe the appropriate thing to do is to live in a state of denial. Denial will make it worse. It is the first step to normalization of the aberrant.
Please consider Citizen’s United. There has always been a legitimate fear of dark money from foreign powers and persons being funneled to candidates who would service, say, Sheldon Adelson’s Macau Casino interests above any domestic interests. Or some Chinese oligarch’s free trade interests. As far as i know, this threat has been completely ignored legislatively, and seldom talked about in mainstream media. Sheldon Adelson’s rights, and the free speech rights of his money, are paramount, don’t you know? You Dirty Hippies just don’t get it!
Check out TPP. Under TPP, foreign corporations can sue the US Govt for “damages” stemming from legislation that inhibits these foreign corporations from making their anticipated profits. They will have their own courts! Nice for them, nice for any foreign oligarchs.
If we found out that Putin financed Trump (yes, the FBI was investigating this with FISA warrants!) there will be shock, outrage, and then an attempt at normalization. Only Trump would have the brazenness, the brass balls, to attempt to normalize this bribery, and he will try it when and if necessary. I can easily see a route to normalization shaping up now: Does not Putin’s money have free speech rights? $=speech according to the ideologues on our Supreme Court. Don’t you Dirty Hippies get it? Shouldn’t we have good relations with Russia? What’s the problem? Putin is okay!
How many Trumpistas/republicans/alt-rights will buy this line of reasoning? More than you anticipate, especially if there is something in it for them. Have you ever talked to these people? i do, more frequently than i would like. They live in another reality, peeps.
There is a malignant cancer on this system, my fellow Dirty Hippies, and it is coming from Citizen’s United, elements of Free Trade, and a supine media. It is coming from the veneration of money above all else. Denial is not helping. This is a turning point. Or is this a turning point? Which way are we going here?
Feel free to call me a fool in the comments. Right now, I would prefer to be a fearful fool rather than an accurate prognosticator.