When Putin comes to shove
Well, that settles slightest.) In Hamburg on Friday, President Trump made show of pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to account for Russia’s role in the hacking, mucking and meddling that infested the 2016 U.S. presidential election — then caved without resistance.
By the account of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Putin responded with his same old saw that Russia had nothing to do with it — contrary to the firm findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
By account of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Trump swallowed the story whole — at best (back to Tillerson’s account) agreeing to disagree.
Not to warn Putin of consequences. Not to demand a halt to the cyber warfare, its reality confirmed beyond doubt. Not to, heaven forbid, suggest sanctions could be in store.
With the world’s eyes on Hamburg, Trump blithely brushed off catastrophic foreign interference in our democratic elections, even while making ostentatious show of toughening his stance.
Capping months of dissembling and denials — he claimed just on Thursday that while likely Russian, the campaign hacking could still prove to be others’ handiwork — Trump as much as invites it then. (Not in the further Russian wreaking of havoc on U.S. politics, with 2018 congressional races looming.
The message delivered by Tillerson and Lavrov differs only in volume from Trump’s call during the election to plunder Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Trump is now President, the office he took an oath to faithfully execute on behalf of the American people. The pugilist who “punches back 10 times harder” when feeling personally attacked, in the words of the First Lady’s spokesperson last week, can’t muster half a fist to defend his nation from hostile incursion.
Speaking for a nation left voiceless on the world stage, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared Trump’s collapse “a grave dereliction of duty.”
Like nothing had ever happened, as if free and fair elections in the United States did not hang in the balance, as if a special prosecutor and congressional committees were not investigating evidence of collusion between campaign and regime, Trump and Putin proceeded to plan a beautiful future together. They started with an agreement for a ceasefire in the southwest of Syria and then discussed, oh, the irony, possibilities for collaboration on cybersecurity.
Move on, they say. There’s so much to do, they say. On the contrary: There’s nothing to talk about, except the elephant in the room.