The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!

By William L. Garvin

To make sense out of the current progressive political panic and media feeding frenzy surrounding Russia, it is necessary to employ selective political amnesia.  You must forget the cold war leftist shibboleth of “Better Red than Dead!”  You must forget détente, glasnost and perestroika.  You must forget the slobbering love affair the left had for Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev.  Forget sycophantic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her plastic “Reset Button.”  Forget presidential candidate Romney identifying Russia as our number one geopolitical foe and presidential reelection candidate Obama mocking him by saying “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”  Forget President Obama leaning forward in a conspiratorial whisper to his Russian counterpart and promising that this was his last election and after that he would have more “flexibility.”

Forget that the Clinton State Department and the Obama presidency allowed twenty percent of the U.S. uranium production to be sold to the Russians.  Forget the New York Times reporting that “...while the State Department was involved in securing a uranium mining deal with Russia, investors in the company involved in the deal, Uranium One, gave millions to the Clinton Foundation” and “…shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock."  No “play for pay” here, folks, just move along!  Forget the hideous corruption within the Democrat National Committee and the partisan collusion with major cable networks that was revealed by WikiLeaks.  Just keep moving!  If you manage that significant memory loss (or equivalent prefrontal lobotomy!) then you can begin to understand the Nixonian media obsession of “what did the President know and when did he know it?”  This is the media, sometimes and more accurately known as the “opposition party,” emerging from its eight-year hibernation along with the Russian bear!  Such a coincidence!!!

For eight long years, the MSM has been in their “hear no evil, see no evil, print/broadcast no evil” mode in regards to the Obama presidency, scandals, and Russia.  Now they have reverted to their “hear no positive, see no positive, print/broadcast no positive” mode in regards to the Trump presidency.  This is typical of their approach to any “other than Democrat” political figure.  Their antipathy to real scandals during the Obama years and proclivity to invent scandals in the first month of the Trump administration has become a travesty to the profession of journalism.  Their “snowflake” response to criticism and challenge to their self-declared elitism is at best an overly defensive reaction to having been so wrong on so many levels on so many things for so many years!  To give them credit, at least they are fighting back, albeit on a dirty tricks level, rather than cowering in a safe space, cuddling puppies, putting on safety pins, and screaming their primal hearts out!

There are many other questions about their hypocrisy that remain.  When President Clinton (Bill) decried illegal aliens, why weren’t they outraged?  When senators Schumer, Clinton (Hillary), and Obama complained about illegal aliens and voted for a wall, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama bragged about his number of deportations, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama identified seven countries that were hotbeds of terrorism, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When President Carter rounded up and deported Iranians, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama sent millions and billions of dollars to Iran, the number one state sponsor of terrorism, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama cozied up to Castro and his Communist regime with its continual practice of human rights abuses, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama ended the “wet foot/dry foot” policy for Cubans, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?”  Oh, you didn’t know that?  That just proves the point.

 For your edification, here’s the text of the Obama DHS policy statement: “Today, the United States is taking important steps forward to normalize relations with Cuba and to bring greater consistency to our immigration policy. The Department of Homeland Security is ending the so-called "wet-foot/dry foot" policy, which was put in place more than twenty years ago and was designed for a different era. Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities. By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea.”

If you noticed the political relevance of Cuban refugees being generally conservative in the swing state of Florida, are you just cynical?  Nope!  If you noticed that Lois Lerner and the IRS specifically targeted Tea Party and conservative groups, are you just cynical?  Nope!  If you believed “there’s not a smidgeon of corruption,” think intelligence leaks are harmless, and the MSM doesn’t have a progressive agenda, you’re in progressive political denial!  Unfortunately, ongoing political amnesia leaves too many people brain dead and in large cities, zombies still vote!