A central truth of our civil society: Russian election interference efforts have nothing on our own partisan rot.
It’s an important point to note as we head into the final months before the election. As far as they believe is possible without attracting major sanctions reprisals, the Russian intelligence services will attack this election to accomplish their critical strategic objective — namely, the undermining of our civil society via the fracturing of the patriotism and partnership, which have long sustained American power. That power, after all, is the foundation of the liberal international order that constrains Putin’s malevolence.
Conservatives and liberals bear equal responsibility. Both sides know that the nation is increasingly divided, but rather than try to find common ground and basic camaraderie, Democratic and Republican leaders seem determined to widen our great national fissures.
Let’s start where the buck stops: President Trump. The president spurted out a particularly partisan tweet on Thursday morning. It came with his ludicrous question, a question only he is seriously asking, as to whether we should “delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Considering that the president has encouraged the nation to get back to work and some measure of normalcy, it’s quite clear that his only motive here is to delay the election until the polls look better for him. All people should be concerned at the ease with which this president frays our very democratic identity to advance his own interests.
Trump’s partisan ranting is far from solitary, however. From the Left, on Thursday, we’ve seen a casual and very thinly veiled glee over the death of black, conservative entrepreneur Herman Cain at the hands of the coronavirus. Sparing no quarter in feeding their addiction to partisanship, some big names from the Left are presenting Cain not as the victim of a virus, but as a body below the altar of a murdering president. His family be damned — all that matters is throwing Cain’s body into the turbine of partisan hate.
There are other examples of this dynamic.
Take Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s reference, for example, to federal law enforcement officers as having “acted as an occupying force” that “brought violence” to Portland. Contemplate these so casually offered words. Not content with opposing Trump’s law enforcement strategy, Brown is casting those who choose to protect and serve not as fellow Americans acting to uphold the law, but as invaders in their own nation. The reference to an “occupying force” is a play to dark histories. It’s part of the same far-left movement, supported by a tragically significant number of Democratic politicians, that sees police officers as “Gestapo” agents. It’s a disgrace.
And, similar to Trump’s election delay silliness, it’s a boon to Putin. Sure, the Russians can send out bots, spread disinformation, and sabotage campaigns. But in the end, Putin’s malevolent efforts toward the United States are just drops in the pool of our own self-inflicted wounds.
