Slo-Mo Terrorism

The Mueller report has sparked much debate about whether the President has colluded or conspired and/or obstructed justice, and whether he’s a candidate for impeachment. But there is virtually no debate about the report’s finding that the Russians have been attacking us. And we are also repeatedly told that the American electorate doesn’t care, that we are all too busy with our persistent kitchen-table issues.

On 9/11, planes were flown into buildings. Thousands died. Manhattan’s skyline changed dramatically, and so, apparently, did our attitudes about certain foreigners. On Easter Sunday this year, a coordinated attack in Sri Lanka killed more than 300. We can broaden the definition of terrorism to include the shooting incidents in New Zealand, Parkland, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas -- the list goes on. All these things shock us into attention.

But what about the Russian interference in our elections, the spread of fake news and the attempt to foment discord among us? It’s reported that trolls have even tried to spark debate about vaccinations. In these cases, there is no attempt to shock, just the opposite, it’s all designed to be under the radar. The goal is the same, to bleep with our system and make us doubt ourselves. And the Russians are probably not the only actors on this stage. But isn’t this terrorism too? Just slower? Isn’t the damage even more widespread?

The President may blame previous administrations for failing to deal with it. Actually, he may be partly right about us being late to get on to what was happening. But now it’s his problem. Whether he colluded or conspired, we can have a discussion about,  but there is little doubt that he has done virtually nothing about it, in fact, welcomed whatever could be done to help get him elected. Isn’t our President, by sworn oath, supposed to be defending us against this stuff?

We may get angry with the Russians and want to respond in kind. We have to be careful about that, because we don’t know exactly what will happen if they start pushing the buttons they likely have already set up. In the words of Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, this will be a war without blood, but it could still be a devastating one if it escalates. The strategy must be defense, and we need leadership going forward that makes it a priority to face up to what many in the intelligence biz are calling our greatest modern threat.