The evidence clearly suggests that Russia tried to influence in our election last year, and more broadly, Russia is actively trying to destabilize the U.S. both politically and culturally. Russians are running a 24/7 propaganda operation on D.C. airwaves, for crying out loud. They’re not even being subtle about this.
However, investigating Russia’s influence efforts and responding accordingly has become much more difficult than it needs to be. That’s because it has become a highly charged partisan issue.
Indulge us, if you will, a short trip down memory lane. After Mitt Romney called Russia “America’s number one geopolitical foe in 2012,” you’ll recall Obama’s snarky retort was that “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Savor, for a moment, the New York Times editorial page response that was not only over-the-top but also proven gobsmackingly wrong: “[Romney’s Russia remarks] display either a shocking lack of knowledge about international affairs or just craven politics. Either way, they are reckless and unworthy of a major presidential contender.”
Just four years later, casting about for an excuse for Hillary’s loss, Democrats have done a complete 180 on Russia. But it’s not about acknowledging they were wrong in 2012, so much as using Russia as both an excuse and a weapon for Democrats’s loss in 2016.
Earlier this year, Shattered, a well-sourced book on the Clinton campaign reported that
Ever since, Democrats have clung to the idea that Trump’s election is illegitimate. Even though there’s no evidence vote tallies were tampered with, Democrats widely believe Russia hacked voting machines. It doesn’t help that the media have had a number of Trump-Russia stories blow up in their faces.
Which brings us to another recent and troubling development. A “Committee to Investigate Russia,” has been formed to get to the bottom of Russia’s influence on the 2016 election. Problem is, the organization appears to have come out of Hollywood. Rob “Meathead” Reiner, the man behind Spinal Tap, seems to be a driving force. Morgan Freeman is
doing promotional videos for the organization about how Putin wants revenge for America’s Cold War victory. “Mr. Freeman? Can you take a call? It’s the 1980s. Sounds urgent.”
Now I think it’s true that in a post-Obama era, the idea of celebrity involvement in politics actively repels large numbers of Americans away from causes. A big part of America’s polarization at a time when many are rightly concerned about a reality TV star being president, is that there’s almost no safe refuge from politics. Politics have become entertainment, and entertainers have become political. Maybe if entertainers, politicians, and the commentariat start staying in their lanes a little better, we can carve out a space where Americans can have political debates in the appropriate venues and with an open mind.
But the bigger issue, however, might be that Reiner has been all over Twitter for months promoting conspiratorial nonsense on Russia, even from the likes of the discreditable Louise Mensch, who thinks Bernie Sanders is a Russian “agent of influence” and has been pushing false information supplied to her by a hoaxer. (I regret to say Rob Reiner’s beloved father Carl has also been indulging conspiratorial fantasies about “Hillary rightfully installed as our President.”)
And yet, a number of voices on the right have lent their credibility to this organization, including David Frum, Max Boot, and Charlie Sykes. I applaud the effort to be nonpartisan, but these men are all prominent Trump critics, even though the overwhelming majority of the GOP voted for Trump and still support him.
While Mueller’s investigation is under way, any outside effort to address Russian meddling should avoid partisanship and conspiracies, and the Committee to Investigate Russia seems to have a patina of both these things. If you want Americans to come together and agree on a thorough investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election—and I hope we all do—the formation of the Committee to Investigate Russia may make that goal even more difficult to achieve.
