MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SPECIAL COMMENTARY BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN (JERUSALEM POST)

 Bad news and it’s only getting worse.  4 Dec 2019

Unpopular opinion: I’m one of those people that always thought the “Russia collusion” narrative was massively exaggerated. And I think the “Ukraine interfered in US elections” story is nonsense.

Why?

There was no evidence that Trump directed “collusion,” although there was evidence that Russia had an interest in Trump’s campaign, or any campaign that leads to instability and US isolationism, succeeding (Moscow doesn’t mind Bernie and Tulsi either). That Russia tried to have some fake news pushed doesn’t mean there was collusion or even that the news changed anyone’s votes. Without Russia, Trump would have likely won because of America’s electoral system and Clinton’s failings.

Now the Ukraine nonsense:

 

The pro-Trump camp invented a story about Ukraine involving itself in US elections. The reality is the opposite, it is massively wealthy and powerful America that influences Ukraine and US lobbyists and corrupt folk who went to Ukraine to get deals and even lobby for Moscow that had more impact. But the only thing Ukraine did was hope Clinton would win because she had supported the protests against Moscow in 2014. That’s totally logical and it had zero influence over the US election.

The US is in a bad place these days as people imagine that a powerful democracy with 200 years of elections is suddenly being influenced by much smaller and poorer countries abroad. Sadly many former US officials and even think tanks go to work for foreign interests, usually the Gulf or less likely Ukraine, Russia, Iran and China.

This speaks to a failure of US political elites, that they too often tend to be for sale or influence to the highest bidder rather than things like ideology and values. There is no value in working for monarchies and dictatorships or running off to be on the board of a foreign gas company when daddy is VP.

Unfortunately like in the 1950s there is a lot of paranoia in the US, and people want to believe that “traitors” or the “deep state” are in play, that democracy is “hacked”.

Bad news and it’s only getting worse.

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