Question for fellow Americans getting worked-up about this:
Considering that we A) have meddled in elections throughout the world--especially in the middle east and latin america--for the enitre post-war period, B) have done it using substantially more resources, and C) have militarily "intervened" in countries that posed no real threat to us--resulting in substantial losses of innocent life and property, how do you manage to still feel indignation instead of some mixture of guilt and karma?
This is not a rhetorical question. I am actually curious about the thought process here.
Being an American doesn't mean one agrees with everything the United States has ever done. The US Gov't has absolutely done mean and nasty things around the world that has caused suffering for millions of people.
Still doesn't mean Americans should be happy with one our biggest adversaries subverting our government. Even with all of America's sins, things certainly would be worse if Putin were free to damage and pervert our democracy to suit his whims.
Russia is not a particularly wealthy country. If they can pervert our democracy with a few million dollars, we have much bigger problems that need to be dealt with structurally and defensively rather than piecemeal and after-the-fact.
It's like we shoot ourselves in the foot with citizens united, but instead of tending the wound, we blame Russia for startling us.
edit: and in response to JumpCrisscross, "pervert our democracy" is not my thesis. It was a conditional in response to parent comment.
My only point on this line is that it is kind of fucked up that money has as much power in the process as it does.
> Russia is not a particularly wealthy country. If they can pervert our democracy with a few million dollars, we have much bigger problems...
That is the essence of asymmetrical warfare. The 9/11 hijackers didn't even spend a million dollars in their plan to crash planes into buildings, yet they killed thousands, destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars of property, and provoked billions of dollars of spending by the United States.
Cyber warfare is an emerging battlefield where someone can cause enormous damage with a very modest investment. I do think it requires some changes to our democracy to protect against it in the future, but in the mean time we absolutely should push back, hard against Russia's efforts.
Citizens United certainly created more opportunity for foreign actors to influence our political system, that much is certain. Doesn't mean we should allow Putin to use Russia intelligence services against our political system.
> if they can pervert our democracy with a few million dollars
They didn't "pervert our democracy." They illegally interfered with it, stealing Americans' identities and fraudulently opening bank and PayPal and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the process. Law enforcement is enforcing the law against willful lawbreakers. This isn't that complicated.
I feel no sense of guilt or karma because I was not individually responsible for those actions nor would I have supported them. We have a representative government and don't have direct control over what happens all the time. I wouldn't wish this on any other country. Two wrongs don't make a right.
Considering that we A) have meddled in elections throughout the world--especially in the middle east and latin america--for the enitre post-war period, B) have done it using substantially more resources, and C) have militarily "intervened" in countries that posed no real threat to us--resulting in substantial losses of innocent life and property, how do you manage to still feel indignation instead of some mixture of guilt and karma?
This is not a rhetorical question. I am actually curious about the thought process here.