In the threads that have cropped up since the news broke last night about Putin’s interference with our Presidential Election, a lot of people have criticized Obama and others for not releasing this before the election.
This is a waste of time that we cannot afford. Obama, like almost all of us, assumed Clinton could win, and then he could handle this quietly behind the scenes so that Putin could see that 1) we knew and 2) it didn’t work.
But that didn’t happen. We can argue the details for weeks, but that just wastes energy we can not afford to lose.
Where are we now?
This is a direct attack on American democracy by a foreign power, and it is exactly the type of thing that the Founding Fathers feared when they put the Electoral College in place:
“Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils.” (Federalist 68)
The Republicans who were briefed on this, and pressured Obama to keep this information secret, especially Mitch McConnell and James Comey are complicit in Putin’s actions. If Paul Ryan was present, he’s also complicit. They put their party ahead of their country. They have demonstrated that they are not worthy to continue in government service.
Trump himself is now irreparably damaged, even if he is not complicit himself. America’s relations with China, the European Union and NATO allies, Cuba, Israel, the Arab nations and everywhere else in the world will be tainted by this connection as long as Trump holds the office of President.
If Trump is allowed to take office, American will no longer be a superpower - his administration will be seen as a Russian puppet government. There is no SecState, SecDefense or UN Ambassador with enough gravitas to counter this perception.
And it is extremely dangerous for us to be perceived to be so weakened, even though we have more guns and nukes than everyone else. Our allies will begin talking behind our backs, and our enemies will delight in the opportunities this has created.
Where do we go from here?
We have to pursue multiple alternatives, because we don’t know which one will work. Here are ten places where we can apply pressure:
- Obama must release the evidence as quickly as it can be redacted to hide the names of anyone who needs to be protected from disclosure. The American people need to see for themselves why the CIA has drawn the conclusions that it has. Vague statements and innuendo won’t be believed by the moderates, and even direct evidence won’t be believed by the most partisan.
- Obama must suspend intelligence briefings for the incoming Administration until after January 6 to allow time for this to get sorted out before Trump is the official President.
- James Comey must be summarily fired for misconduct, along with the team of New York FBI Agents who were investigating Clinton based on that stupid book. This should have happened weeks ago, but now that this information - and Comey’s role in its suppression - has been released, it may be a lot easier to do.
- Democratic Senators must shut down all Senate business until Mitch McConnell resigns his leadership position, if not his Senate seat, and his wife withdraws her acceptance of her cabinet appointment. Oh, and they must confirm Merrick Garland as part of the deal, if they don’t want the Supreme Court to have the stain of Putin influence on it as well.
- The Senators must lead us out of this. I say this because I think they are the only ones who can — they have the relationships, they have not been quite as affected with poisonous partisanship as the House, and they are all in Washington together so they can meet face-to-face easilty. A bipartisan group of untainted Republicans (such as Lindsey Graham, John McCain) and Democrats (such as Ron Wyden, Harry Reid) must come together to develop a plan for a caretaker President that the Electors can ratify on December 18.
- They must give us an alternative that can heal us. They may propose that Clinton be given this position by virtue of her overwhelming lead in the popular vote, or that some compromise candidate be installed. If it’s a compromise candidate, then the Pres / VP should be split between parties and agree not to run for re-election. Pence is just as tainted - so he is not an acceptable alternative. I think they should give it to Clinton myself but if that’s a bridge too far, the right people are probably not on anyone’s radar screens today - moderate governors with demonstrated ability to work in a bipartisan manner.
- The Clintons must get back into the fray. This election was stolen from Clinton due to collusion between Putin, Trump’s supporters in the FBI. She may not be able to speak openly, but her connections in the Democratic party are long and deep. There is a lot the two of them can do behind the scenes. Publicly, she can throw her support behind a compromise caretaker if that’s what we need to get rid of Trump.
- The media must accept their complicity through false-equivalency, pushing the story of Clinton’s emails while some of this evidence was in plain sight, not holding Trump accountable for failing to release his tax returns, and trading short-term ratings for the long-term health of the country.
- Governors must release their Electors from their obligation to vote for Putin’s Puppet, citing the extraordinary circumstances, and encouraging them to vote for the caretaker President (or Clinton).
- Trump himself must be pressured to resign — and so must Pence. They should both be branded #PutinsPuppet on social media. Trump should be taunted relentlessly for this until he breaks down. In the meantime, the untainted leaders of his party should inform the two of them that they can go easy, or he can go hard, but go he must. This presidency will have no legitimacy, his cabinet appointments won’t be confirmed, he will be impeached on Day One if he fails to resign.
Our Action Plan
What can we do as ordinary citizens to bring this about?
- Now: Make a plan. What are you willing to do? What’s realistic for you to do?
- Now: Add the phone numbers for your Senators’ local offices and the governor’s office to your Favorites list / speed dial. You can find the numbers by Googling them.
- Now: Taunt @RealDonaldTrump relentlessly on Twitter - make sure #PutinsPuppet gets attached to every Tweet that mentions him, and reply to all his Tweets. Let’s send him so many that he can’t block them all, and see just how fragile that ego of his can be.
- This weekend: Submit letters to your local newspapers expressing your dismay over Putin’s involvement, the effect this has on America’s place in the world, and calling for the Senators to take a leadership role in finding a compromise.
- This weekend: Sign an online petition to get Obama to release the evidence. I’m not normally a big fan of these but this one could be different - the response could be overwhelming since the threat to the nation is so clear. Someone needs to start one - if you do, please post the link in the comments.
- On Monday: Call our Senators’ local offices (Democrat or Republican) first thing Monday morning to encourage them to stand up to this grave threat to our nation - and to allow nothing else to proceed until it’s resolved. I’m going to be sure to mention when I do that my father fought for this country and suffered from PTSD for years to keep America free.
- On Monday: Call your governor’s office to release your state’s electors to support someone who can lead us out of this mess. Since it’s best if the election not get thrown to the House, I’d suggest calling both blue and red state governors to support a caretaker president if that option emerges.
- All Next Week: Continue to make calls. It’s three calls - two Senators, one Governor. Shouldn’t take long, and the more you do, the easier they will be.
- After December 18: if Trump hasn’t resigned or been replaced: Continue to call the Senators’ offices as long as they’re open, and then start calling again when they get back. Let’s make it so that they can’t get anything else done until they fix this.
- On January 6: Organize a protest for the date that the Electoral Votes will be counted in Congress - if Trump is the one they proclaim as the winner.
- On January 20/21: Travel to Washington if you can to protest the Inauguration and attend the women’s march the next day. If not, attend local events.
- Sometime in January: Finally, make a plan for yourself if none of this works. What can you do to encourage our elected officials to do the right thing, to resist yourself and to encourage others to resist?
Above all, don’t let up.
This is the fight of our generation, except that we’ll do it with keyboards, cell phones and nonviolent protests instead of guns. Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake.
History has its eyes on us this time.