Disinformation

You read it here first ... The Democratic party has colluded with the Russians to undermine the political process in the United States and at the same time, erode trust in government and our electoral process.

What? Wait! The Democrats?? For the past five months we've been told that Donald Trump and his minions have "colluded with the Russians" and that's the reason Hillary Clinton lost the election. The bright lights in the Democratic party and their trained hamsters in the media keep hammering this meme until it has become accepted wisdom. So, how can I make the assertion in the first paragraph.

Since the 1960s, the Russians have conducted what many call a "disinformation campaign" focused on Western institutions. Wikipedia explains:

Historically the word "disinformation" has been reserved for a body of false information propagated at the state and state secret services level but in recent times it has a looser meaning in English relating to propaganda, fake news or a body of lies by any organisation and possibly any individual.

Based on clear and compelling historical evidence, Russian attempts to interfere in our institutions, including elections, is nothing new. In fact, it's absolutely predictable. What is new is the unhinged meme, developed with absolutely no evidence to support it, that Donald Trump and his campaign worked with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton.

A Trump campaign operative works with the Russians 10 years ago—it's collusion!! A appointee meets with a Russian representative to prepare for the transition of power in the U.S, it's collusion!! A supporter of Trump does business in Russia—it's collusion!! What is is ... is nuts.

But not for the Dems and not for their trained hamsters in the media. Although there is no evidence of any crime, the Dems take their nutty (but effective) meme and advance it every day. Andrew McCarthy writes:

“We know [former FBI] Director Comey was leading an investigation in [sic] whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, a serious offense.” So inveighed Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D. N.Y.), according to a report by PJ Media’s Bridget Johnson. Senator Schumer added, “If there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is now.”

No, it’s not ...

You don’t need a prosecutor unless you first have a crime.

If the point of the exercise is to explore threats posed by Russia, that’s not a job for a prosecutor; it is a job for the president, the intelligence agencies, and Congress. We have prosecutors to prosecute crime; absent crime, there is no place for them. And special prosecutors only come into the picture when the suspects are people (generally, executive branch officials) as to whom the Justice Department has a conflict of interest. But those suspects must be suspects in a crime – not just in some untoward or sleazy form of behavior.

So what is the crime? What is the federal criminal offense that could be proved in a court of law under governing law and evidentiary rules?

“Collusion” – the word so tirelessly invoked – is not a crime. It is used pejoratively, but it is just a word to describe concerted activity. Concerted activity can be (and usually is) completely legal. Lots of unsavory activity in which people jointly participate is legal, even if we frown on it. In order to be illegal, concerted activity must rise to the level of conspiracy.

A conspiracy is an agreement to commit a crime. Not to do something indecorous or slimey; it must be something that is actually against the law, something that violates a penal statute. In the crim-law biz, the crime that conspirators agree to try to accomplish is known as “the object of the conspiracy.” If the object is not against the law, there is no conspiracy – no matter how much “collusion” there is.

So, in the ballyhooed “Russia investigation,” what is the object of the purported conspiracy? Notice that although Senator Schumer casually asserts that “a serious offense” has been committed, he does not tell us what that offense is.

That’s because there isn’t one.

But let's return to the first paragraph of this post. By wailing about "collusion" and suggesting the high crimes have been committed, the Democrats have been truly successful in eroding support for Trump and stopping his agenda from being instituted. I'm sure they celebrate their success in private, laughing (as Obamacare consultant Jonathan Gruber once did) that the public is "stupid" enough to believe their lies. That's politics.

But there has been collateral damage. By pushing this unhinged meme, the Dems have also succeeded in eroding trust in government and creating mistrust of those who have been elected to serve. The Dems are happy about that, thinking that when they are re-elected they will ride in on their white hourse and save the day.

It doesn't work like that. Once trust is gone, once cynicism becomes ingrained, once the media can no longer be counted on the winnow out political nonsense, the country is in trouble.

The Dems and their media hamsters are doing the Russians' job for them—doubling down on the idea that disinformation is a worthwhile strategy as long as it serves their needs. Whether they realize it or not, the Dems are colluding with the Russians, and the Russian are laughing are their naive stupidity.