When I was a child, several times each school year an alarm sounded and I crawled under a desk; and later, as a teen, I stood in a hallway in front of a wall of lockers. I was practicing for the drop of The Bomb. In high school, as I stared facing the gray metal lockers, I thought they looked like tailor-made coffins and I should just step in. No wonder I am very bothered by former FBI Director James Comey’s June testimony that Donald Trump never expressed concern about the impact of Russia’s interference on our democracy – it was the Soviets who were going to drop The Bomb, the Soviets who made me consider my mortality.
The Soviets. The people who divided and walled Berlin, who banged shoes on UN desks, who brought about the Cuban Missile Crisis, who invaded Afghanistan and sent tanks to the streets of their satellite countries – Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia – countries whose only provocation was yearning for freedom.
A good part of my life coincided with the Cold War, and I grew into adulthood constantly hearing and worrying about nuclear proliferation. Despite some later warming of relations when the Soviet Union dissolved and curbs were installed on the nuclear arms race, I remained wary of the major Soviet remnant, Russia. Putin’s ascension to power and recent global conduct revived my concerns.
When I heard that Russians interfered with our Presidential elections, I was angry, upset, and alarmed. No one, especially the Russians, should interfere with our democracy. Later, news emerged that not only had the Russians interfered, they had done so intending to make Donald Trump President.
I did not vote for Mr. Trump. Yet I believe my outrage at Russia’s conduct would exist regardless of the election outcome. After all, the Russians have never had America’s best interests at heart, even during the warmest points of the Cold War thaw.
I can almost understand President Trump having a moment of anger or disbelief upon hearing the Russians helped him – most people want to think they won a race fairly. But Mr. Trump didn’t win just any race, he won the Presidency. While Russian interference certainly personally impacted him, this interference is devastating the public’s confidence in our democratic system. A President who wants to serve and protect America, should also want to investigate foreign corruption of our elections.
Instead, right from the start President Trump has ignored and belittled and tried to divert and hamper any investigation. He prefers to focus on alleged stateside voting irregularities, which have been proven to be quite rare. Does this mystifying conduct result from a narcissistic belief he was able to win on his own? Is there in fact something to hide? Recent revelations that his son Donald, Jr., and top advisor and son-and-law Jared, both met with numerous Russians with the understanding that those Russians had government ties and damaging information about his opponent, Hillary Clinton, make the collusion allegations far more concrete. President Trump’s decision to gloss over his family’s actions by dictating an inaccurate public explanation for this meeting now makes him complicit in their ill-intentioned gathering. Evidently Robert Mueller believes there is something to pursue via a grand jury investigation.
As the evidence continues to erupt in a cascading stream, the conduct of President Trump, his top lieutenants, and his family is becoming harder to turn into alternative facts. Many weeks ago, I concluded that Trump knew Jared had done something with the Russians, something perhaps very stupid, and Michael Flynn also knew – that was why President Trump was willing to hold on to Flynn despite his lying and why he wanted Comey to back-off. I wasn’t too far off – it was his son who had done something both intentional and stupid. Yet I believe insufficient evidence has emerged to conclude Trump himself was involved with the Russians during the campaign (unless you want to include his public request for the Russians to “find” Hillary’s emails).
Knowing Russia is working hard to undermine our democratic systems is frightening. So, President Trump, why aren’t you protecting our country by demanding to know the facts? A true American leader would want to know, would need to know, what the Russian’s did, to prevent it from happening again. Ultimately, I have a simple request: Don’t protect me from Mexican immigrants and Syrian refugees – protect me from the country that made me and millions of children hide under our desks.
Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion 