The Forgotten Turd In The Punchbowl Of Russiagate

Those on the left who got Russiagate right—and there was a decent amount, despite the fact that you never saw them on mainstream media—are indulging in a well-earned moment of celebration. As the Mueller Probe has revealed zero indictments for collusion, those who knew how nonsensical the accusation was are taking a victory lap. It feels good. It feels good to finally say “We told you so” and point with authority to how bad the reporting and how unhinged the cult of collusion was. So many people claimed with such conviction that Mueller was going to take down President Trump and restore balance to the force. A childish fantasy for those who could not accept the situation as it was.

So to those who endured the slings and errors of a propaganda campaign of epic proportions, I say enjoy your moment, but do not think it is over. Yes, we have won a great victory, but we must be cautious of an even greater defeat.

Russiagate was constructed of not one but two wild and unsupported assertions. The notion that Donald Trump and people in his campaign somehow worked with elements of the Russian government in order to get him elected was merely ancillary to the first assertion, that Russia “hacked” our election. While Robert Mueller has now fished the lesser turd out of the punchbowl, he, the mainstream media, and Democrats, are hoping you don’t notice the larger one is still sitting at the bottom.

The assertion that Russia conducted a widespread campaign to destroy our democracy—as absurd as it is unsubstantiated—has always been the more dangerous of the Russiagate lies. It was only for this reason that the second was even necessary. When Hillary Clinton unexpectedly lost an election to the most repugnant candidate in U.S. history, those in charge of ensuring the smooth continuance of the status quo needed to make sure Trump would toe the line. Having said he wanted good relations with Russia and being a loose cannon, they couldn’t take chances on having a global agenda being subverted by an elected official. Thus was born the assertion that Russia had “hacked” the 2016 election (“hacked” being a catch-all and evolving term) and the insinuations that Trump was actively involved.

President Trump has proven himself, after two years, to be compliant in matters related to Russia. In fact, nobody other than a totally deranged person (which is probably 25% of Democrats and 100% of mainstream media) could view his actions as being anything but hostile to Russia, even quite dangerously so. Therefore, the narrative that Trump colluded with Russia is no longer needed, and so the Mueller probe has come to an end. But don’t drink the punch just yet. The Russia hacking turd is still there, it’s just not floating at the top where you can’t ignore it. It’s sunk to the bottom, beyond awareness and yet as foul as ever.

With the removal of the collusion narrative, the idea of the Russian “hacking” (now evolved to mean anything from Facebook ads to Pokémon Go aps), will no longer have automatic pushback from Trump supporters. The next time this lie flares up again, the next time it is convenient to create excuses for hostile actions toward Russia, rightwing media will likely be on board as well.

Which is why it’s important that we loudly celebrate the defeat of the collusion delusion and call out those in the media who have blindly preached it. We must call them what they are, propagandists, opportunists, and liars. We must remind everybody who argued this so certainly just how wrong they were. But more than that, we must use it as a weapon to push back against the lie that there was a Russian attack upon the core values of our nation. We must remind everyone that those who were wrong about the one were also wrong on the other. Because it is equally absurd that Russia ran any large-scale propaganda or any other sort of campaign to get Trump elected.

We have no evidence that Russia was trying to buy the whore house that is our government. There is no evidence that they were anything other than another John looking for action at the biggest house of ill-repute in town, and a small spender at that. A March 23 article in the Bismark Tribune points out that a Canadian pipeline company spent $11 million on lobbying in one year in Minnesota alone. This dwarfs anything Russia has been accused of, and it is an undisputed fact, unlike the rather bizarre notion that the Russian government was involved with the $46,000 of laughable Facebook ads. And this is just one example of one Canadian company lobbying in one state in one year. This is nothing compared to the Israeli lobby, the Saudi influence, and every other nation on the planet. The U.S. is a pay to play nation, and everybody wants to be on the good side of the most powerful nation on the planet.

It is not Russia’s fault that we do not engage in diplomacy. It is only natural that they would hope to curry favor with the United States government, and this is the way business is done in a corrupt government such as our own. It is their one hope of preventing further military buildup on their border and more nations joining a military alliance created to oppose Soviet/Russian strength. What other channel do we leave open for them to improve relations?

So raise your voice in celebration of the fallen narrative, but raise it too in the authority it gives you as one who spoke the truth while others spoke what they were told to. Speak so that when the Russian interference lie is once again resurrected we can remind others that it is being told by- the same people who had the collusion narrative wrong. Speak that we might use our moral authority to reform a government so corrupt it cannot peacefully coexist with other nations. Speak up, and for God’s sake, don’t drink the punch.