Plenty of shame to go around

Seventeen intelligence agencies say that Russia, by the direct instructions of Vladimir Putin, have committed cyber espionage against the United States, including server intrusion and hacked emails. They also say Russia has used various forms of disinformation (propaganda), including fake news, tweets and social media posts.

Propaganda, by its very definition, is meant to dissuade, change, and/or brainwash to an extent, people’s thinking to believe the perpetrator’s intended understanding and message, no matter how false and dangerous.

The actual hacking of the voting machines is in no way necessary if you have already persuaded those voting for your intended point of view.　 Just listen to our president-elect claim he won by a landslide. No, he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes. That is not a mandate, not an overwhelming decree for him.

Even after his security briefings, Trump initially refused to acknowledge even the possibility of any wrongdoing by Russia and Putin. The blind is leading the blind.

Russia and Putin have used and abused the trust of the American people against them. He has turned a relatively gullible populace into no questioning followers.

These gullible citizens include the media and our elected officials. They no longer question actions and statements that would require such inquiry from those whose job it is to question.

Shame on all of us.　

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Plenty of shame to go around."