Obviously the story of the cooperation between Trump campaign and Putin’s Russia is massive and still breaking, but there is still a lot of stuff that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I was wondering if the good folks on Daily Kos could help explain this convoluted story to me.
- First and most importantly what is the deal with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin? Is Trump a Russian agent? Is Russia bribing and/or blackmailing members of the White House in order to get them to support Putin's agenda? Or does Putin not actually control Trump and the only reason he helped install him as President of the United States was because Putin thought that Trump was such a buffoon that he would help destroy this country?
- Why would Putin choose Trump of all people? Was it because Putin thought that Trump could be easily turned into an asset through blackmail and/or bribing? Or did Putin just think that Trump was an idiot who would destroy this country on his own volition?
- When did the Russians first capture Trump and when did they start devising this plan to put him into the White House? Was this scheme in the works for decades? Did the Russians start thinking it up in the last decade around the time of the Georgian (2008) and Ukrainian (2014) wars? Or did Putin see that Trump had a chance of winning in 2016 and on a lark he planned this whole thing out in less than a year? This question is especially interesting because Trump originally tried for the Presidency in 2012 against Obama as a Birther, but Putin seemed to show very little interest in helping him back then.
- How does Russia control Trump now? Bribery? Blackmail? Threats? Flattery? Something else? Some combination of the above?
- Also why did Trump openly call for Putin to hack Hillary Clinton? Was Trump bluffing, fronting, entertaining his audience, sincerely calling on Putin to hack his opponent, or was he just being an idiot? Some combination of the above?
- What is the deal with all the Trump officials compromised by the Russians (Manafort, Flynn, etc.)? Does Putin send his agents to scour the streets of Washington DC, offering fat bribes to anyone who will betray their country? Also why would Putin insist that individuals with such blatant Russian connections play such important roles in the Trump administration? If they were smart they would have used less well known but just as loyal Russian agents.
- What is the deal with the rest of the Republican Party? Most of them hated the Soviet Union. Now they seem to be either ignoring or outright defending Russian attacks on the United States. Aside from a couple Cold Warriors and Neocons the vast majority of Republicans (Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, etc.) seem intent to silence all investigations into this topic. Are they ignorant of the facts? Are they willfully blind? Do they not care? Have they done a 180 and now sincerely admire Russia? Have they been compromised like Trump? Or do they not really care after Russian interference as long as it helped them pass their agenda (low taxes, deregulation, etc.)?
- Building off of the previous question why have all these far right parties in Europe embraced Russia in recent years? Many of these organizations such as the French National Front existed long before Putin became President of Russia. As a matter of fact for much of the Cold War the European far right despised the USSR as a godless communist country run by Jewish Bolsheviks. Now the National Front, Jobbik, AFD, Golden Dawn, etc. are falling over each other in order to be the first to kiss Putin’s feet. What gives?
- I came across article on Newsweek today which claimed that Russia had been hacking Obama since 2008: www.newsweek.com/… I found this claim odd because during the 2008 presidential election Obama was far less anti-Russian than either George W. Bush or John McCain. In the aftermath of the August invasion of Georgia Bush and McCain railed against Russian expansionism. Obama, on the other hand, was seen as the antiwar candidate and downplayed the issue. Furthermore, in 2012 Obama accidently told then President Medvedev on a hot mike that he could be more flexible towards Russia after the November 2012 presidential election: www.reuters.com/… The right went absolutely ballistic: www.weeklystandard.com/… Obama only started to turn against Russia in 2014 with their support for Assad and invasion of Ukraine. President Obama then helped push through a series of sanctions in order to prevent further Russian aggression. From that point on relations between Putin and Obama quickly deteriorated. They reached their nadir when Russian hackers attacked the DNC? Why did he not come forward with this information sooner? Was he too overconfident that Hillary Clinton would win the election? Did Obama not want to appear a Chicken Little or be accused of using the office of the Presidency to openly support one candidate in a Presidential election? Please note I think that Obama was a very good President and I am not trying to knock him. I was just a little confused by his actions on this matter and I desired a clarification.
- Finally, how did the Russians tilt the election in Trump’s favor? Did they hack Democratic accounts in order to obtain private information? Did they spread tons of fake news stories? Did they bribe individuals with large sums of cash? Did they electronically remove eligible voters from lists of registered voters? Did they hack electronic voting machines? Did they stuff ballot boxes? Something else? All of the above?
Thanks for any information you can provide in response these important questions.