David Corn: "This is far bigger than a bribe, a break-in, or a blow job."

[kpete]

Donald Trump Is Getting Away With the Biggest Scandal in American History
Witch hunt.
DAVID CORNJUN. 5, 2018 6:00 AM

“At the heart of the Russia scandal is the most fundamental issue for a democracy: the sanctity of elections.”

.........................

In this ongoing fight, it is Trump and his bumper stickers versus a media presenting a wide variety of disparate disclosures that come and go quickly in a hyperchaotic information ecosystem, often absent full context. No wonder then that a recent poll found that 59 percent of Americans said Mueller has uncovered no crimes. In fact, he has secured 17 criminal indictments and obtained five guilty pleas. Accurate news reporting alone does not always carry the day.

The Russia scandal is the most important scandal in the history of the United States. President Andrew Johnson was impeached (but not convicted) because he violated an act of Congress to remove a secretary of war. In the Teapot Dome scandal, the secretary of the interior in Warren Harding’s administration leased federal lands at low rates to private oil companies, presumably in return for bribes. In Watergate, a president and his aides engaged in political skulduggery against political foes. President Bill Clinton lied about a sexual affair he had with a subordinate in the White House. All these scandals raised serious questions about integrity in government. But at the heart of the Russia scandal is the most fundamental issue for a democracy: the sanctity of elections.

An overseas enemy struck at the core of the republic—and it succeeded. Trump and his minions helped and encouraged this attack by engaging in secret contacts with Moscow and publicly insisting no such assault was happening. This is far bigger than a bribe, a break-in, or a blow job. And, worse, the United States remains vulnerable to such a strike.

Yet the full impact of this scandal does not resonate in the daily coverage and discourse. In many ways, the media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation. And many Americans, thanks to Trump and his allies, view it as a charade. All this shows how easy it is for disinformation and demagoguery to distort reality. That is a tragedy for the United States. For Trump—and Putin—that is victory.



the rest:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/trump-russia-scandal-media/

[gopiscrap]

1. No kidding

[olegramps]

24. Republicans are the greatest threat to nation, not the Russians, Chinese, or whoever.

The Republicans are following the fascist playbook line for line. The epilog for this fiasco will be "While Americans
Slept, Their Freedoms Were Stolen Without a Shot. This generation's heritage that they will leave to their kids is that they sold them out to the plutocrats.

The future can be summed up in one statistic: during the height of the Industrial Revolution General Motors was the largest employer. The average pay was $30.00 per hour in todays dollars and workers had health care and a pension. The largest employer today is Walmart. The average pay is whopping $8.00 bucks an hour. Good luck kids. Much of today's economy is riding on the wealth accumulation of the workers of post war period that spanned about forty years and that is rapidly coming to a close.

[gopiscrap]

25. exactly

[PJMcK]

2. K&R

It's an excellent epiphany about the entirety of Trump's and Russia's corruption of our electoral system.

I highly recommend reading Mr. Corn's well-reasoned article.

Thanks for posting the link, kpete!

[C_U_L8R]

3. Can we say Treason yet?

[triron]

22. This is the phrase dems need to shout from the rooftops. Yet they call it

'meddling'!

[renate]

27. Exactly. "Meddling" sounds like a nosy neighbor

It was and is treason to interfere with the democratic process in the United States of America. It’s quite simple.

[gopiscrap]

26. treason! Treason!! TREASON!!!!

[calimary]

34. Sure seems like that's what it is.

[dalton99a]

4. A must read.

[Stuart G]

5. k and r...nt

[smirkymonkey]

6. K&R

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. RepubliCon Congress complicit in coverup for doing nothing. McCONnell is complicit from the start.nt

[BigmanPigman]

23. Mueller had better nail him, Ryan and Nunes too!

[ffr]

8. $60 Million investigation by Newt & the republicans about a BJ

For all the good that the Clinton-Gore administration were doing for the country and all Americans alike, I would have given him a BJ if republicans had asked.

In this case, we have an entire political party so desperate to cling to power they were willing to conspire with a hostile foreign power, when it was fully disclosed that Russia's aim was to hurt America. You cannot be more of a traitor to America than to knowingly jump on that bandwagon.

Let the trials begin.

[BadgerMom]

9. K and R

[uponit7771]

10. "media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump,..."

"... media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation..."

[llmart]

15. That's the line that stood out for me also.

It's an accurate reflection of our media and the disinterest of the general public in caring enough to see how dangerous this all is.

[bdamomma]

11. K&R

gave a donation to Mother Jones too.

[ginnyinWI]

12. Russia is stealing our votes.

Russia is hacking our elections.

Repeat, repeat, repeat!!

[lunatica]

13. My stomach has that sinking feeling of fear

because this is true and wherever it leads our country it will not be a good place for us.

We had such promise, such great potential but we would have to raise our standards and care for more than just us. We would have to care about the planet more than about personal gain at the expense of it. So far we’re failing badly.

We’re proving we aren’t very good at this.

[empedocles]

14. Putin has already won so much

[NewJeffCT]

19. I know - just the fact that he helped get Trump to the nomination

was a big win for Putin, but Trump is destroying almost everything that has been good about America

[Hekate]

16. KnR for the First Amendment

[Initech]

17. And the sanity of this country!

Trump and Russia have caused this country to lose its' god damned collective mind! We need to get things back on track!

[NBachers]

18. But weren't they just . . . meddling, like a nosy or mischievous neighbor?

[renate]

28. Lol! I just said the same thing--sorry!

Even the word “meddling” sounds fussy and trivial, regardless of its meaning. It’s a terrible word and I hate that it’s used more than “interfering” or “skewing”... or “stealing.”

[Mr. Ected]

20. Our media is complicit in the handover of our country to the billionaires and oligarchs

It's a worldwide trend and our people are being duped. They'll never know, though. The same propagandists that spun this yarn will ultimately blame the liberals for the demise of democracy around the world, and the brainwashed masses will nod their heads in agreement.

How easily they are willing to give away our freedom.

[calimary]

35. ... but her emails...

[Hortensis]

21. "the most fundamental issue for a democracy: the sanctity of elections."

Yes!!!!!!!

[Gothmog]

29. This is far more serious than watergate or the clinton matter

[4dog]

30. Republicans are active in stealing elections

with or without foreign help. Voter suppression (remember the pioneering work of Jeb Bush), gerrymandering, Republican Secretaries of State covering up misfeasance, Republican-owned voting machine companies, voter ID, &c. So in addition to preventing foreign involvement, we need to work on undemocratic processes in domestic voting.

We used to have useful discussions here on specifics.

Google 'vote integrity' and I get a Heritage Foundation site listing half-truths about liberals and why voter suppression is needed.

https://www.verifiedvoting.org/ is still functioning.

Out of date but useful: http://www.thelandesreport.com/votingsecurity.htm

And votescam.org, which listed several useful sites related to black box voting and election fraud, disappeared, last archived April 12.

Related: https://www.electiondefense.org/

[wiggs]

31. Doing it in plain sight, in the open. Because they have a plan to get away with it. nt

[Blue_Tires]

32. Corn and MJ are about to get smeared to hell by Greenwald and the Intercept...

Hope they're ready...

[Nitram]

33. One word. Duh!

False equivalency has been fighting the truth for too long. Trump will replace Benedict Arnold in the dictionary as a synonym for the ultimate traitor to his country.

[Cha]

36. FO those Fraud fans who

say ".. the Russian Investigation is a distraction.. "..

They don't know what they're talking about.

Yet the full impact of this scandal does not resonate in the daily coverage and discourse. In many ways, the media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation. And many Americans, thanks to Trump and his allies, view it as a charade. All this shows how easy it is for disinformation and demagoguery to distort reality. That is a tragedy for the United States. For Trump—and Putin—that is victory.

Bob Mueller & David Corn