On Friday the 13th of July, 2018, the American people learned that the government can prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Russian government hacked into the DNC and used that information to subvert an American election in order to elect the man who now occupies the Oval Office. That represents an attack American democracy, American self-government, and American national sovereignty. There is no graver concern for a citizen of this country intent on preserving any of those things. This is no less than whether our government of the people, by the people, and for the people will perish from the earth, just becoming a willing adjunct of a foreign power.
As of this moment, there are grounds for our congress considering declarations of (cyber) war on Russia.
As of this moment, there are grounds for invoking Article V of NATO for an attack on a member nation. Although it is certainly up to the British to invoke Article 5 on their own behalf, we should certainly be willing to bring under that umbrella the separate, recent assault of British citizens by Russian chemical agents. Apparently, there’s also evidence of Russian interference turning up in the Brexit issue, so that may even give separate grounds for Britain to complain.
Throw into that Russia’s recent willingness to expand and ignore international boundaries, and you get a very alarming pattern that indicates an impending crisis for The West—and it isn’t the scary immigrants from Mexico or Syria threatening to undermine Western culture.
And it is Trump, who invited the Russian attacks during the campaign, who is doing nothing about that crisis. Indeed, he is exacerbating it to such an extent that the evidence suggests he’s either a witting or unwitting a Russian asset. He is the one the Russians helped elect, after all.
Luckily, Declarations of (Cyber)War are in the hands of Congress. They should be considering war resolutions on the floor of the House. The Democrats should be crying for blood here. They are the victims here and have every right to complain—and should, LOUDLY and REPEATEDLY for, like, ever. We, as citizens, should be demanding no less from all our representatives in this sort of situation. This is an All Hands On Deck moment here, for all of us.
If Donald Trump can’t or won’t prosecute that war or vetoes such a resolution, he should be impeached for it. The situation at-hand requires no less if we are to respond as we should to this new threat.
The President of the United States should be rallying the Western Alliance against an aggressive, expansionist Russia and demanding the Russians extradite all indicted citizens. Instead, he is playing footsie with Putin in Helsinki.
The 2018 campaign just became about which candidate will do more to address the Russian threat to this country and the West, as well as the congress acting as a check on Trump. We need a congress that will act to preserve The West as we know it, regardless of the man occupying the White House.
But the urgency of this should not wait until November—indeed, perhaps cannot. I know everyone is tired of calling congress, but I urge everyone to push this issue to the top of your congress-call rotation.