FOURTEEN REASONS to be ANTI-TRUMP - Part 2

Having come back around to our present-day dilemma, let us explore the remaining  reasons we should be frightened, scared, concerned and more actively vigilant about our situation following the election of 2016.  It can be summed up in one phrase: we are on the verge of forfeiting our democratic ideals and values. To be clear on what that means, here is the rest of a list of 14 characteristics that describe a fascist regime.  Let me say once again, as I have said in other posts on this Blog:  I am not accusing anyone in the Trump circle, including The Donald himself, of being a Fascist or a Nazi.  I am simply saying that certain characteristics of such a regime are present in the words and certain actions of some members of the Trump campaign, and of appointees to certain posts in his administration.  This list is not original with me. 

Professor Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

5. Rampant Sexism – “The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.” 

Yes, and although a small percentage of women are in Congress, the appointments so far to the Trump cabinet have been exclusively male.  One thing is certain – no woman appointed to his staff will play a central role; she will mainly be involved in communication, education or human services.  OR - sent to the United Nations as ambassador.  What a smart move - Nikki Haley gets an ambassadorship, but to the entity that is held in low esteem by the Right-wing.  Exile, anyone?

 6. Controlled Mass Media – “Sometimes media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.”

Censorship, or the path to it, has been evident all along in the Trump campaign.  The Press are constantly vilified at rallies and in the social media where the Donald practices his tweeting skills.  Make no mistake about it.  Donald Trump as President will continue to eschew press conferences unless he can manipulate them for his own purposes, continue to vilify media representatives, and probably establish some media base under his (or his children’s names) that will serve his anti-media agenda.

 The Huffington Post adds: ‘Trump pledged that, if elected president, he would ‘open up our libel laws so when [newspapers] write purposely negative stories … we can sue them and make lots of money.’ In other words, don’t criticize him. Ever. He also vowed that newspapers will ‘have problems.’ That’s a direct threat to a free press.”  As if to confirm such prognostication, President-elect Trump called in to his Tower certain lead news anchors and media owners to ‘discuss’ his grievances with the press and he plans more such ‘talks’ with the New York Times and others.

At this point, in the interest of some attempt at brevity, the rest of these characteristics stand on their own, with some very brief comments. 

7. Obsession with National Security – “Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.”  Just a few words need be used to define our obsession in modern terms: Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, ‘Weapons of Mass destruction’, ‘Homeland Security,’ ‘Islamic terrorism,’ ‘the Patriot Act;’  Al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS, Iran’s nuclear weapon capability, and Syria. Israel is constantly touted as our closest ally and partner in the Middle East, and the Donald “trumpets” his close relationship with BiBi Netanyahu.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – “Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.”   Evangelical Christianity seems to fit the bill here, and Trump has taken every advantage offered to maintain their support.  He will move toward less separation of church and state.

9. Corporate Power is Protected – “The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.”   Every administration does this to some extent, but Trump will make this his own special venture so that his company can be protected and enriched.  That scenario has already begun even before he is sworn in.  Rumor has it, Trump talked with Argentina’s head of state (during a phone call he was making as President-elect) about speeding up approvals so his company can continue construction of a hotel in that country.  His first budget submission will tell the story as corporate taxes are substantially reduced.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed – “Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.”  Anyone who follows the news even with a modicum of attention, knows that the Labor Movement has taken several malevolent hits from the Right-wing radical faction. Right-to-work laws, strike restrictions, outlawing of collective bargaining, and opposition to higher wages are just a few, but they have helped to devastate union membership.  Trump will continue this destructive trend as he has done with some of his own workers.

  11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – “Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.”

V-P elect, Mike Pence, evidently did enjoy the musical “Hamilton” recently, and even listened to the interesting words directed at him from the actor playing the lead role (albeit from the lobby on his way out).  However, Pence’s boss, D. Trump, couldn’t resist constant jabbing at the cast wanting them to apologize for ‘harassing’ Mike Pence.  Thank you, Mr. Trump for clearly demonstrating your inability to discern free (and even respectful speech) in contrast to harassment.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – “Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.”  The latter is the next step in a long series of Law and Order-type arrangements which include the phony War on Drugs (On Minorities), Stop and Frisk, stopping people (usually male) of color to harass and intimidate; pulling certain people over in their cars and searching under false pretenses, and shooting minority men if they make what police consider ‘wrong moves.”  We are apt to see the National Guard mobilized for duty in various cities.   

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – “Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.”

Would the Trump family in government apply here?  Of course, it would.  Trump has already used the government and the Courts to enhance his status and position and more importantly his pocketbook.  Although this last week he lost several million in settlement with those suing Trump University, his family members receiving secret intelligence information and profiting from it while running the family business will make up for that minor setback.

14. Fraudulent Elections – “Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.”  Enough said.  2016 Election audit, anyone? (about which see: https://www.change.org/p/demand-an-audit-of-the-2016-presidential-election)

It is a disturbing thought that the very events and activities that are taking place in this country are reminiscent of the takeover of the German nation in the early 1930s.  One of the most prevalent reasons for the relative ease of that takeover was a blindness of much of the electorate to the implications of the ideology and philosophy that was eventually forced upon the people. There was some resistance, but the general population acquiesced in the loss of rights, property and fundamental values that had previously sustained them. 

We are at a similar point in our own evolution; our history.  There are pockets of resistance to Trump and his cronies among the mostly younger population, but not enough support or attention from the bulk of the adult population.  For instance, the outrageous rhetoric and anti-democratic ideals heard from the mouth of Trump or his surrogates has never been unequivocally condemned by leaders in his own Party.  In fact, leaders who refused to support him are now meeting with him and are even considering joining his administration!  Standing on principle, instead of acquiescing to further one’s own position, seems to be playing out negatively before our very eyes. 

So, here’s the point:   Our wounded democracy cannot survive this onslaught of fascist-like intrusion and power-grab.  WE MUST ACT in concert with others to learn the facts, apply strong rebuttal and protests, and act to curb the destruction that is occurring already, and that will reach its inevitable conclusion once all the pieces of this potentially-fascist regime are in place.  What can you do?
 

• Use social media to protest
  
• Sign petitions that are circulating online (go to Change.org), including: electoral college delegates changing their votes to Hillary when they gather in mid-December to vote; one urging Congress to approve Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court before January 21; another advocating the abolishment of the Electoral College; plus one calling for an audit of the 2016 Election.
  
• Boycott businesses and enterprises that support Trump or fascist ideas
• Demonstrate in the streets
  
• Join organizations that are taking a stand against TRUMP
  
• Write letters to Congress and demand they stand against tyranny and bigotry
  
• Write or message TRUMP himself to oppose his ideas

The point is – ignorance or non-involvement does not excuse a citizen from his or her constitutional duty and responsibility to be the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Democrats who did not vote for Hillary (see  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/22-counties-that-help-tell-the-story-of-how-hillary-clinton-lost/ar-AAkzxXq?li=BBnb7Kz) must share blame for all the fascist-like misery that is coming upon us.

 It is a fatal flaw to believe that politicians are the government or that our participation is optional.  We are the government and politicians (and their governmental appointees) represent us with our consent.  We must not let that power and responsibility be appropriated by forces that want to destroy our fundamental democratic principles. 

 

 

FOURTEEN REASONS to be ANTI-TRUMP - Part 1

Many people say they are afraid. They are fearful because of the words and events that are playing out in this era of “Trump.” They have every right -- and plenty of reasons --to be apprehensive and downright scared. We are -- as a country, as a People, as a Democracy – standing on a precipice of history, brought here by the flaws we have created, the detrimental myths many have believed, destructive tendencies that have been embraced and the bad choices too many have made because of an ignorance we have ignored.

Notice, if you care to, the confluence of those last two words: ignorance and ignore. They are built upon the same Latin root: ignorare – having no knowledge. That root, and those words, point to a responsibility we have as citizens: to be aware of what is happening, to gain knowledge through education and research and to apply that knowledge to every realm of life, including the societal imperative of a participatory democracy that seeks the well-being of all its citizens and inhabitants. We have failed to provide a thorough knowledge of ‘civics’ – of what it means to be a citizen - and to instruct students on why government exists and exactly how it operates, with special attention to the part that citizens must play to preserve our form of government.

Who would have thought, for instance, that the Electoral College, intended to balance the importance of small and large states, (and to protect against mob rule), would turn out to be a mechanism for over-turning the will of the people, since five times in our history the presidential election has been won by someone who did not win the popular vote. Or, how about the rights of the Senate minority being protected by a filibuster rule – a check instituted in the Senate to curb a dictatorial majority. By manipulation, the cloture vote for a filibuster has turned into a mechanism for blocking a simple majority from passing meaningful legislation or approving presidential appointments.

We got here because we have too often allowed stereotyping and scapegoating, biases and prejudices regarding people, races and religions to rule our deliberations and our actions. We got here because we accepted the myth that success is equated unequivocally with the acquisition of things - like possessions, property and money - and that such success grants special conditions, privileges and status that others do not (and in some cases, are not allowed to) possess. We got here because the rule of an elite faction has always been a potential threat to our democracy. We got here because we have allowed our government to become so intertwined with capitalism it has become the handmaiden of corporate interests.

At the opposite end of this spectrum are those who want to be in an elite group but have no material success on which that can be built. Thus, they substitute other criteria to enhance their status and denigrate that of others – race, religion, ethnicity or any other false determinant of superiority or inferiority – and exclude everyone else from their circle. Too often, they use some form of propaganda and physical force to achieve their goal -- the domination or extermination of the unacceptable creatures outside their circle. Ultra-Right-wing groups, white nationalists, and various hate groups, such as the KKK, have existed to some extent throughout our history as a nation, and are now represented, and given a voice, within the inner circle of the presumptive 45th President’s emerging administration.

Having come back around to our present-day dilemma, let us explore the reasons we should be frightened, scared, concerned and more actively vigilant about our situation following the election of 2016. It can be summed up in one phrase: we are on the verge of forfeiting our democratic ideals and values. To be clear on what that means, here is a list of 14 characteristics that describe a fascist regime. Let me say once again, as I have said in other posts on this Blog: I am not accusing anyone in the Trump circle, including The Donald himself, of being a Fascist or a Nazi. I am simply saying that certain characteristics of such a regime are present in the words and certain actions of some members of the Trump campaign, and of appointees to certain posts in his administration. This list is not original with me.

Professor Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – “Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia” (like hats and T-shirts?). “Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.”

Most disturbing about the Trump campaign has been its constant drumbeat about making America first, and “making America Great Again!” Sometimes openly and sometimes covertly this slogan includes some very unsettling items: One example is “Law & Order” particularly targeted toward urban areas often home to minorities and people who live in poverty. It has also been too much associated with a white nationalism and a white-supremacist view of other races, religions, ethnicities and/or cultures.

We have already seen a disturbing tendency to appoint such men (and so far, that gender is predominant). The key policy and political adviser is none other than an avowed extreme nationalist and supremacist whose record of hate has been well-documented in the formal media and in social media. Steve Bannon is someone whose total orientation is toward the promotion of the white, Evangelical Protestant tenets; heterosexual, English-speaking, ultra-conservative politics that will now be centered in the White House in his role as Special Advisor to the President on matters of Policy. If Right-winger, Glenn Beck of Fox News can characterize Bannon as: “Quite Possibly The Most Dangerous Guy In All Of American Politics” there is every reason to sit-up and take notice.

President-elect Trump has also named retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. Flynn, a Fox News favorite, with conflicts of interest in representing both Russia and Turkey as a lobbyist, frequently appears on Fox News to push his anti-Islam views, has lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has made repeated appearances on Russian state television, one in news footage at a dinner where he sat next to Putin. (mediamatters.org).

To add to the divisive and destructive tendencies of these key players, we now have confirmation that The Donald will appoint Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama as the Attorney General in his administration. Huffington Post comments: “The man who President-elect Donald Trump will nominate as the 84th attorney general of the United States was once rejected as a federal judge over allegations he called a black attorney “boy,” suggested a white lawyer working for black clients was a race traitor, joked that the only issue he had with the Ku Klux Klan was their drug use, and referred to civil rights groups as “un-American” organizations trying to ‘force civil rights down the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them’.”

If these appointments are followed by some of those already rumored as being considered, be forewarned that this number one characteristic of fascist regimes will be well on its way to fulfillment.

2) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – “Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.”

You have been witness to the following and you will be witnessing much more that falls under this category.

Ignore the rights of citizens and circumscribe the most basic democratic fundamental: the right to vote. We have seen over the last few years of Republican conservative right-wing state governors and legislatures, the most vicious attacks upon the right to vote, including ID requirements, gerrymandering, changing locations of polls at last minute, purging electoral registers of names, closing of election board offices, inconvenient hours and locations for early voting, closing of public bathrooms within polling places, long lines caused by various restrictions and closing of polls before everyone has a chance to vote. On top of that, we now know of certain irregularities in the voting machines and software, plus hacking from outside sources into voter rolls.

Harassment and discrimination toward citizens in a racial minority has been front and center for some time now, and it has gotten worse. Raw racism is on full display, with even young children coming on board with increased taunting, denigration, harassment and bullying of their classmates of different racial and ethnic and religious backgrounds (as reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center).

Such a result must be expected after the carefully publicized and coordinated effort to denigrate and destroy everything that our first Black President has attempted for the betterment of our country. It should be expected after the constant news stories of police violence toward people of color in urban areas and in smaller cities and towns. The unjustified killing of black men by rogue police officers has not gone unnoticed by children, or by adults. Nor has the over-charging and lengthy incarceration of minority persons found guilty of a crime. The “War on Drugs” from another era of right-wing ideology has led to a return of Jim Crow attitudes and laws, as one author put it.

But racism is not the only characteristic we have to fear. The abrogation of international treaty obligations and alliances being advocated; the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ (waterboarding for one) for prisoners of war, against international standards, are now being touted as ‘necessary’ to re-institute because of the ‘danger’ to this country from radical Islamic terrorists.

The use of nuclear weapons against terrorists (and countries) is promoted, as is the building of a wall to prevent illegal border crossings, and the need to register all immigrants from certain Islamic countries so they can be tracked while in this country. Each of these is indicative of using ‘necessity’ as our motivation for over-turning Arms Agreements and abandoning the acceptance of the tired, the poor and the politically threatened of other countries.

Mention must also be made of a Supreme Court that will once again possess an Ultra-Right-wing majority. Such a Court will carefully rule to find ‘necessity’ to defend and protect more important than the freedoms and rights of citizens. Already the Court has acted to approve of raids and incursions into private homes and personal business of ‘suspects’ based on an informant’s word, not a judge’s warrant. Such incursions upon our fundamental rights will be glaringly obvious when the Trump administration and the SCOTUS are able to reverse Roe v. Wade, and then declare all doctors and women involved in illegal abortions as criminals who must be punished.

3) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause. “The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.”

The scapegoats and enemies are all around us: Islamic terrorists, Syrian refugees, demonstrators, Mexican criminals and rapists, all undocumented aliens who must be deported; Black Lives Matter adherents (all people of color), non-Christians, Jews, and recently the cast of a certain musical on Broadway! The list is ever-expanded by any group that can be identified as a threat. Under an Attorney General Sessions, I’m sure we will not lack for new categories of ‘threat.’

We must vigorously oppose any lists of immigrants that can be used to harass, deport, or subject immigrants (or citizens) to internment. The shame of Japanese internment in WWII must never be repeated, or even allowed up for consideration.

4) Supremacy of the Military – “Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.”

Yes, our country must honor its veterans, and support a well-trained and equipped defense force capability, but the glorification of war is the problem here. The rhetoric so far from Trump and his followers has been that our numbers of troops are down, that weapon systems are not adequate to prevail in war, and that we must modernize all our equipment to be prepared to meet the challenges we face. Translation: we will spend many more tax dollars on weapons and equipment and training so we can win any war.

Republicans are famous for spending more on military budgets than is even requested by the Pentagon. All their rhetoric is to hide the fact that modern warfare does not require what we had in WWII, even in Korea and Viet Nam. What all this is about is money for private contractors. When we have War, we promote prosperity for a few large corporations (and some smaller ones with good connections) and their CEOs and Directors who are the potential backers of ultra-conservative views of government and of profit-making. In fact, let it be said here and now that the source of some closet-fascists is the corporate world of elite businessmen who have never agreed with a democratic ideal of equal opportunity, equal rights, and certainly not the ideal of equal privileges. The private military contractors will get behind the Trump administration and approve whatever happens to increase their profits. And Trump, for his part, will point to his ability to keep such manufacturers in this country and thus to ‘create jobs.’

War is the ultimate weapon of the “strongman image.” Look at Putin – he didn’t invade the Ukraine to defend his country or to quash a rebel state, or to resolve an international issue. He invaded Ukraine to enhance his power, his image, his position. He went to war to show that he is in charge in his region and that no one better mess with Putin. He went to war for revenge against a former member of the USSR for becoming too cozy with NATO and America.

The glamorization of War in America is about to be a main theme. It should be expected that the U.S. will be involved in a military strike against ISIS in Syria (or perhaps the assistance of (Putin and) Assad against his own rebels under the guise of destroying ISIS). And, a combined U.S.-Israeli military strike at Iran is not out of the question, in my opinion.

It is a disturbing thought that the very events and activities that are taking place in this country are reminiscent of the takeover of the German nation in the early 1930s. One of the most prevalent reasons for the relative ease of that takeover was a blindness of much of the electorate to the implications of the ideology and philosophy that was eventually forced upon the people. There was some resistance, but the general population acquiesced in the loss of rights, property and fundamental values that had previously sustained them.

We are at a similar point in our own evolution as a nation. Go on to Part 2 if you want to read more.

 

 

RIGGED: the SUSPICIOUS SURPRISE!

This election of Donald Trump is not only a huge nightmarish surprise; it is a suspicious surprise!  Before I tell you why, allow me to put forth a thought that bears on my suspicions.

Have you noticed that the Donald has a habit (an established pattern) of projecting his own short-comings onto the candidate he happens to be running against?  Almost from the beginning of his Campaign against Hillary, he has labeled her a crook, supposedly because

--of the “scrubbing” of personal emails by her team after she received a government subpoena

-- she solicited money from foreign governments for the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State, possibly putting foreign entities in a favorable position

--a bevy of charges of (supposed) criminal activity, ranging from Ben Ghazi to lying or giving false information to the FBI

What I think the Donald was saying is: “look at Hillary – she’s worse than I am; she’s worse than anybody, so I must be OK!” What he was doing is taking his own past full of criminal behavior and criminal charges and projecting it upon Hillary.  A list of some of the charges against him would have to include:

a.       Ties to the Mafia/Cosa Nostra/the Mob, and to some Russian mobsters as well

b.       Sexual harassment and assault upon women

c.       Racial discrimination against African-American renters

d.       Use of undocumented aliens in his workforce

e.       Trump University fraud – charges & trial pending

f.        Trump Foundation questionable practices

g.       Owning Beauty Pageants that led to harassment of contestants

h.       Non-payment of money owed to workers, developers, lawyers, and others

i.         Use of the courts to sue and intimidate others 

The Donald doesn’t mince words: he’s called Hillary Clinton the 'worst Secretary of State' ever (and Barack Obama our worst President) – reckless and of poor judgment; divisive and someone who has done nothing in 30 years to help the middle or working class.  He has said that the Ben Ghazi deaths are her fault.  He says her other failures include a mess in Syria, a horrendous Agreement with Iran, and the growth of ISIS which he said she created! 

What Donald doesn’t tell us is that he hasn’t had a lot of success overseas himself.  His meeting with the Mexican President produced a denunciation of Trump for even considering the notion that Mexico would pay for an American wall built in opposition to Mexican immigrants.  At meetings with the Prime Minister of England and Mayor of London, Trump couldn’t avoid controversy and negative results because of his big, undiplomatic mouth.

Trump has belittled, smeared and excoriated every candidate he has come up against, including all the Republicans who vied for the GOP nomination.  Every time he levels a charge, one only needs to know that he has projected his own short-comings onto his opponents.  Why? Either he rids himself of feelings of inferiority because he can pretend that “they are worse than he is.”   Or, he is projecting upon others what he so despises in himself – perhaps what others have thrown at him.  Enough said at this point (but if you want to read a lot more about his worst charges and epithets against all manner of people and organizations, check out:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html?_r=0 )

 In the last weeks of the presidential campaign, when Clinton had taken a more prominent lead, Trump basically accused her of somehow “rigging” the election, although he made it quite general in terms of “the system is rigged” or “they are rigging the election.”  Looking back at my point that Trump has a pattern of projecting his own failings and flaws onto others, I wonder if this “rigging” charge is a clue to something he was projecting onto Hillary to protect himself; to divert attention from the real scheme being hatched?  This leads me to the main concern of this posting:

Did the Donald know something about his own campaign that he immediately projected onto the establishment, represented in his mind by Hillary Clinton?  Was the election rigged, not by Clinton, but by the Trump Team in concert with the Russians?  To me, it has looked very suspicious from the moment that the momentum on election night began to shift in Trump’s favor.  The more I have thought about it, the more suspicious I am that foul play has occurred here, but very few  watchdogs seem to be questioning the circumstances. 

We have somewhat ignored, or underestimated, the incidents of Cyber hacking that took place leading up to Election Day.  Were those incidents completely separate incidents, or were they related to the election in a way that we have not investigated (according to CNN, there is an FBI investigation underway)?  I admit I do not know the answer, but I suspect they did not stand alone, but were “dry runs” “rehearsals” or tests for what was (and may still be) to come. 

So, let’s review a few of those circumstances as possible clues to what may have happened on election night.

a)       Back in August, it was reported by NBC NEWS that U.S. Intelligence officials had determined that “hackers based in Russia were behind two attempts to breach state voter registration databases, fueling concerns the Russian government might be trying to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.”  Although the intelligence agencies did not reveal the names of the states, “officials” told NBC that the theft of data included 200,000 voter records in Illinois, and a separate use of malicious software in Arizona, but the latter attempt to breach that state’s online voter registration database was unsuccessful. 

Nonetheless, local Boards of Elections and state election officials across the country were notified to secure their voter systems.  However, NBC reported that “voting systems have not been considered “critical infrastructure” by the Department of Homeland Security, “so they are not subject to federal government protections.” 

NBC NEWS concluded: “Independent assessments have found that many state and local voting systems are extremely vulnerable to hacking.”

b)      Before the latter two incidents occurred, U.S. intelligence officials reported that Russian intelligence agencies were behind hacks into the Democratic National Committee records and those of related organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as well as the campaign records of Hillary Clinton made public on WikiLeaks.  Some emails belonging to Clinton Campaign Director, John Podesta, were harsh and embarrassing, while some of those attributed to DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, were devastating to her chairmanship since there were revelations of the supposedly neutral DNC backing Hillary and denouncing any similar backing of Bernie Sanders’ campaign. 

c)       Unfortunately, Russia’s involvement in our electoral process seems to go much beyond what we have already heard.  Although the Russian government denies any state involvement in hacking or trying to undermine the US voting process, per CNN, “hacking groups linked with different wings of the Russian intelligence services – code-named ‘Cozy Bear’ and ‘Fancy Bear’ – were detected inside a Democratic Party server earlier this year, according to CrowdStrike, the US internet security firm hired to investigate the DNC theft of thousands of emails.”

CNN again: “allegations have surfaced of Russian hackers attempting to access US voter records, to sabotage the physical ballot, and of unleashing its troll army – internet bloggers paid by the Kremlin – to spread false information online – in support of Donald Trump.”

The question remains:  just how deep does this Russian intervention and penetration go?  Allow me to present some findings from an article titled “RUSSIAN ‘DUKES’ OF HACKERS POUNCE ON TRUMP WIN” from securitynewspaper.com.

“Less than six hours after Donald Trump became the presumptive president-elect of the United States, a Russian hacker gang perhaps best known for breaking into computer networks at the Democratic National Committee, launched a volley of targeted phishing campaigns against American political think-tanks and non-government organizations (NGOs).  That’s according to a new report from Washington, DC-based cyber incident response firm Volexity.”  That firm has been closely monitoring the activities of a well-established Russian malware development gang known variously as Cozy Bear, APT29, and The Dukes.

Volexity CEO Steven Adair said The Dukes have launched “at least five sorties of email-based malware phishing attacks since Trump’s acceptance speech, and that the malware campaigns are on-going.  The last attack claimed to be a link to a PDF download on ‘Why American Elections are Flawed’.”

Adair also said that the “more typical attacks from The Dukes come in the form of slightly less targeted email blasts that include booby-trapped Microsoft Office documents…that hackers can use to automatically download and run malicious code on a Windows system, that then provides a powerful foothold for the attacker.”

NOW, let us briefly add to this preliminary groundwork, another set of happenings that may bear on this case:

• Trump’s admiration and praise of Putin; Putin’s praise and support for Trump for President of the US.  In addition, the tightly controlled-by-government Russian media have made it quite clear that Russia supports the candidacy of Donald Trump.
• A broader story has also been put forward by some media of Trump’s relationship (and that of others on his team) to Russia and their leadership.  There is also a rumor of Trump’s probable obligation to high-level donors from Russia’s millionaire class, from whom he has allegedly borrowed or received money.  Just what might be requested of him from such lenders?
• And lest we forget, Donald Trump did call upon Vladimir Putin and his army of hackers (after the DNC incident) to aid in finding the missing 30,000 personal emails from Clinton’s private server!
• Polls from 15 polling organizations/individual pollsters at the 270towin.com website indicated a consensus on Nov. 8th that the night would belong to Hillary Clinton by a small but fairly comfortable margin.  Only Nate Silver’s polling (FiveThirtyEight) gave as much as a 30% chance of winning to Trump.
• Then on Oct. 24^th came a letter from the FBI Director, James Comey, to the committee heads and Party Leaders in the Senate, explaining the find of more Clinton personal emails on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop.  This probably set off a trend toward Trump among undecided voters that was not seen in the polls.  Another letter from Comey on Sunday Oct. 30^th said there was nothing new in the emails and that the FBI’s stance of “no charges” taken in July would stand.  But the damage was done by the first letter, and the Trump camp jumped all over it.
• Now recall the extraordinary Trump visits at the end of the campaign to the states that were traditionally Democrat blue, like Michigan and Wisconsin.  Did the polls suggest that Clinton’s lead was vulnerable enough in those states to warrant these visits, or was there some other reason, like providing a cover for hacking into the vote count on Tuesday night making a Trump comeback and lead look like a trend rather than a hack?  Although Clinton was still seemingly leading in each state, perhaps Trump camp data showed what Silver was seeing: that there were far “more undecided and third party voters than in recent past elections: About 12 percent of the electorate wasn’t committed to either Trump or Clinton in final national polls, as compared with just 3 percent in 2012."
• On Election night, a surge in Trump fortunes in certain traditionally blue states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin) threatened to change those Democratic states to Republican states (blue to red).  The lead seemed to shift back & forth between the candidates as the votes came in from different areas of each state
• Indeed, late-deciding voters broke toward Trump, according to exit polls of most swing states. Or at least, that was the case in states where Trump outperformed his polls, such as in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
• Throw in New Hampshire (where the Democratic candidate for the Senate was leading the incumbent Republican) and the last-minute change in the lead in states like Georgia, Florida and North Carolina in the evening hours, and you begin to wonder what was really happening? 
• Were those earlier hacks into voter records in Illinois and Arizona dry runs to help develop their voter record-hacking capabilities?  Were hacks against the DNC and DCCC part of a broader plan, and maybe a dry run of a modified and improved cyber-attack software?  Were they rehearsals for the big event of hacking into the actual presidential vote?  Why haven’t more media outlets researched this possibility?   Probably because it is very difficult to obtain information on such activity.

One question must be asked:  was it even possible for the Russians to have hacked into polling machines on or before Election night to change the momentum of the election in Rust Belt states so that Trump could count on winning the magic number of 270 electoral college votes?  Could a chip with a certain software have been inserted into unwatched machines locally?  Again, let’s take a closer look:

TIME magazine: “In August, the FBI’s Cyber Division issued a “flash” alert to election officials warning that states must take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems.  As to probability: “It’s a threat we take very, very seriously,” Tom Hicks, a Commissioner at the EAC told TIME.  “But,” he added, ”from a cyber perspective, this election may actually be less vulnerable to cyber mischief than the elections in 2008 and 2012.”  That rather optimistic viewpoint was then challenged by the next expert cited:

“The real problem, said Lawrence Norden, the deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice Democracy Program, lies with the nearly 40 million Americans who won’t be voting on paper, again based on 2012 figures.  Those voters will instead be saddled with electronic voting machines, many of which are more than a decade old, lack basic cybersecurity protections, and utilize software no more sophisticated than a stripped-down, Bush-era laptop.  In 42 states, electronic voting machines are more than a decade old, according to Norden’s research.”

N.Y. TIMES:  On Nov. 3^rd published an article on “Five Hacks To Worry About on Election Day." The good news is that it is not something that you can easily do from Russia… But the bad news is that it really is possible to do locally." For our purposes, two methods stand out:

Manipulating the count reported to news organizations (A significant risk, but detectable)

“Consider this possibility: It is Tuesday evening, and the networks and other news organizations are clamoring for “unofficial” results so they can call the races in swing states. The precincts report returns to regional centers, and that data flows to The Associated Press, the clearinghouse for unverified returns. If hackers could flip such “data in motion,” they could alter the first call, even if it is an unofficial one.

“Sound far-fetched? It happened recently in Ukraine, in an attack organized by Russia, experts believe. As Ben Buchanan and Michael Sulmeyer note in a Harvard Cyber Security Project report, investigations revealed that “offenders were trying by means of previously installed software to fake election results.” The effort was discovered 40 minutes before the results were scheduled for announcement.

Tinkering with voting machines (Unlikely, but possible)

At every opportunity, federal and state officials have reminded everyone that voting differs from state to state, or even county to county. That makes it hard to hack.  “The voting machines themselves are offline, and we think the system is so diversified it is secure,” said Suzanne E. Spaulding, the under- secretary of Homeland Security who oversees cybersecurity efforts.

Outside election experts fear, however, that this nothing-to-see-here confidence fails to consider known vulnerabilities. “While most voting machines are not connected to the internet while voting is underway, they are often connected before Election Day, to update their ballots and software.

Some machines, like the DS200, an optical scanning model used in many districts, comes with an optional wireless ability. The good news: They can report results automatically. The bad news: Any wireless connection is a vulnerability.”

There are other worries. Six states (Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina) do not have paper backups to create an audit trail if the electronic ballots are questioned. Pennsylvania, a swing state, has paper backups in only some communities.

TheFederalist.com reminds us of something that has occurred before: complaints of current software on the voting machines changing votes. In early voting this year in Texas, for example, “Voters, after selecting an “all-Republican ticket,” reviewed their ballot when they finished only to find that their presidential selection was not Republican at all, but instead Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.”  Similar complaints had also been reported in Nevada and North Carolina.  Apparently, the software company responsible for the Texas incidents, known as ES&S, is “a rapidly growing software programing company based in Omaha, Nebraska, with voting machines in 90 percent of the states. They have counted roughly 50 percent of the votes cast in the major elections within the last 10 years.  This is also not the first time that an ES&S system malfunction was reported to have switched votes, with complaints in the 2008, 2010, and 2012 elections. This software has been in use for several previous elections, and still reports errors in its reliability.”  Of course, 10-year-old voting machines are not helpful for the efficient operation of software, either.

FOX NEWS:  "If you replace the computer program in a voting machine, then it will add up the votes in a different way," said Princeton University Professor Andrew Appel.  Appel, who is the Eugene Higgins professor of computer science, focuses on computer security and voting systems -- and says he needs just "seven minutes alone" with a voting machine to tamper with it. "[Replacing the program] could shift votes around from one candidate to another, before the polls close ... There is the potential for fraud in touch-screen voting machines that are still used in six to ten states," he said. 

“Appel in 2008 first conducted a demonstration on how to hack a touch-screen voting machine, as part of a lawsuit against New Jersey officials. His test… recently has gained renewed attention in the wake of the hacks of Democratic National Committee emails, and the suspected hacking of state election systems in Arizona and Illinois this summer.

While Appel notes there has been no documented case of a voting machine being hacked in the manner that he did, he warns it could happen simply by replacing the machine's computer chip -- which costs about $4 -- with one that is pre-programmed to change the votes. "I figured out how to make a slightly different computer program that just before the close of the polls shifts some votes around from one candidate to another, and I wrote that computer program onto a memory chip ... and now to hack the voting machine, you have to get seven minutes alone with it with a screwdriver."

Appel's video shows that while voters cast ballots for the candidate of their choice, the machine allotted different results when the votes were counted. John Brzozowski, the deputy superintendent of elections in Hudson County, N.J., insists that in real-life, such chip-switching cannot really be done.  The good news is that it is not something that you can easily do from Russia," Appel said. "But the bad news is that it really is possible to do locally."

So, just what might we have learned from this foray into cyber attacks on our political system?  I’ll suggest a few items, briefly:

ü  there has been, and continues to be, an on-going campaign of cyber activity, called ‘hacking’ involving groups connected with the Russian government, since July for sure, (reported by more than one source as being years in the making).

ü  state voting records had already been hacked in Illinois in July; DNC records and member emails at the DNC, the DCCC, and the Clinton Campaign in August which prompted a response from our intelligence community

ü  DNC and DCCC records and emails have been hacked by one of the Russian operative groups known as The DUKES, who are also responsible for hacking of records and emails of other government and non-government organizations; along with the possibility of altering or destroying individual political Blogs if they so choose. 

ü  The Russian hackers were back intervening in our post-election process by hacking into the records and contents of prominent Think-tanks and NGOs just six hours after Trump’s acceptance speech; a remarkable show of on-going interest in another country’s election. 

ü  Changing votes on a voting machine is not all that difficult, as demonstrated by faulty software in old machines, and by newly-created software able to be installed in a voting machine in about seven minutes.

Russian interference in our election process is not just a fling at changing votes to favor Donald Trump, because there is one egotistic, self-aggrandizing world leader who may outshine Trump as a narcissist, and that is Vladimir Putin.  As one article on NDTV put it: “Russian Hacking (is) A Question of Revenge and Respect.”  One must understand this whole attempt at interference and disruption of our most cherished democratic process in the context of Putin’s response to years of “what he sees as U.S. efforts to weaken and embarrass him on the world stage and with his own people.  Moscow appears to be looking to demonstrate its importance as a dominant regional player and world leader… Russia also seeks to counter U.S. leadership and influence in the international system.”

According to one senior U.S. intelligence officer, “Russia is using the same playbook it has used in Europe to try to destabilize public trust in government, weaken support for the NATO military alliance and sway voters to candidates more amenable to Putin’s views and goals.”

 It is therefore important to realize that this Blog post is not simply to blame Russian hacking for the election of our own narcissistic President.  More importantly, it is meant to be a call for greater diligence on the part of our intelligence community, heightened awareness from our voting public, and deeper investigation by our media and our government into the cyber warfare that is now making lasting and destructive inroads into our democratic processes.

 Living with this unfortunate, nightmarish electoral result is shocking enough, but living with the consequences of a Trump presidency, a Republican Congress and an ultra-right Supreme Court, acting together to produce a potential police-state ruled by oligarchs and hate groups, is more than anyone with progressive values can tolerate.

Let the protests and counter-measures accelerate because fair debate and compromise have been eliminated by this flawed electoral process! 

UPDATE: 12/13/2016 --NBC NEWS: 
"The CIA has concluded that Russia mounted a covert intelligence operation to influence the U.S. election in an effort to help Donald Trump win, a congressional official knowledgeable on the matter told NBC News.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper briefed senators on the latest intelligence in a closed-door meeting last week, and he described the latest findings on the intentions of the Russian government with regard to the hacks and other interference in the U.S. presidential election, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence.

A Washington Post report published online Friday night first described how the intelligence community has reached a "consensus" that Russia intervened in the presidential election to help Trump win — not just try to sow chaos and undermine the electoral process. The New York Times confirmed the story, as has NBC News.
Related: U.S. Intel Agencies Preparing Dossier to Prove Russian Hacks

Trump not only said he didn't believe the intelligence community's assessment — he suggested that the CIA was not to be believed in general, issuing a statement Friday night noting that "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction."
Related: U.S. Publicly Blames Russia for Hacking

Several intelligence officials told NBC News they were deeply disturbed by that statement. There is no historical precedent for a president-elect publicly maligning the intelligence agencies he is about to lead. One big question now is how Trump's pick as CIA director, Mike Pompeo, will bridge the acrimonious gap between his boss and the agency he leads.

President Barack Obama...has ordered that a dossier be assembled on the evidence about the Russian covert operation. A senior Obama administration official told NBC News that portions of that will be made public before January 20th.
Related: Hackers Target Election Systems in 20 States