Intent is Worse
Collusion Collides with Reality
Mike Johnson took money from Russian oligarchs to get elected, and not just any oligarchs, but the owner of the Tula Ammunition plant. Russian arms manufacturers. Now, he may or may not have returned the money, and it may or may not have influenced his thinking, but I don’t think that any of America’s interests coincide with those of Russian arms dealers. Whether he returned the money or not is moot. What matters is that the owner of a Russian munition factory thought that Mike Johnson was the man for the job.
The same is true for the neo-Nazis and the KKK. Republicans try to distance themselves from those groups, but have been using dog whistles to attract them since the 1980 Reagan Campaign. Distancing is not rejecting. The problem isn’t whether or not Republicans are neo-nazis or not; the problem is that the neo-Nazis think that Republicans are on their side.
The same is true for Trump. Some readers don’t seem to understand that whether or not Trump himself colluded with Russia or not doesn’t really matter. His staff did, and Russia certainly acted in ways that were suspiciously supportive of Trump, and Russia has no interests which coincide with American interests. The minimum set of facts is that Russia wanted Trump to win, which means Trump is willing to put Russian interests ahead of, or on par with, American interests. Of course, all evidence points to Trump actively colluding with Russia, but proving that in court is not the same as whether it happened or not. Whether or not Trump colluded is a not moot point outside of court — the fact is that Russia thinks Trump is on their side.
What it boils down to is “which side does Russia support?” And that is the side we don’t want to be on.
The way the bribery and corruption works in Western democracies is convoluted, only one step removed from outright bribery.
- Lobbyists tell politicians what their clients want to hear.
- Politicians decide which lobbyists to listen to.
- The clients send money to those that listen.
Lobbyist: “The NRA is really opposed to bill #673.”
Politician: “I am really opposed to bill #673.”
NRA: “Here’s $20,000.”
See, not bribery. Not collusion. Just oligarchs supporting their interests.
Lobbyist: “Russian oligarchs are really opposed to Ukraine aid.”
Mike Johnson: “I am really opposed to Ukraine aid.”
Russian oligarchs: “Here’s $35,000.”
Hillary Clinton knows who and what Russia and Putin are, much better than Joe Biden does, and would have been a disaster for Putin’s invasion plans. With Hillary Clinton, Ukraine would have been armed to the teeth before 2022, and sanctions would have bitten deep to the bone, not these denture-nibbling gummy-soft nibbles that Biden has produced. Two years into the full scale invasion and we’re finally seeing the level of sanctions we should have seen in 2014.
In the immortal words of Yevgeny Prigozhin, in reference to Russian election interference in the United States, “We interfered, we are interfering, and we will interfere.”
The bottom line is that Russia is supporting one party overwhelmingly in American politics right now. Whether that party is acting in Russian interests because they are corrupted and actively colluding with Russia, or because their own moral compass tells them to put Russian interests ahead of America’s doesn’t really matter. Whether Trump himself colluded with Russia doesn’t really matter outside of court; his campaign staff did, his executive staff did, his friends and businesses all have links to Russia. In the end what matters is that Russia thought it would be a good idea to get him elected.
Whichever side Russia is supporting is the side that we don’t want to be on.