It seems to me that Trump’s love of Russian is not about policy, but about a shared racist, patriarchal, world view. That, and his financial dependency on the Russian mob. I think that those things, along with Russian meddling in the election, are enough to explain Trump’s actions, without need to invoke the ‘pee tapes’.
What to do about Russian meddling? I agree with Seth Ackerman that rather than freaking out about “treason,” we should be looking at “practical steps to deal with the problem” which few people are doing… I suppose some think yelling “treason” enough will win Republicans over to impeaching Trump, but it seems hard to tell if that would work or just backfire? Personally, I would really like to see the US switch to paper ballots.
As far as the well documented history of the US interfering in foreign elections is concerned, I think Nathan Robinson is right that “Trump exceptionalism will kill every one of your brain cells.” And commentators should retain some perspective, but those on the left should equally be wary of descending into the kind of “whataboutery” that liberals so often use to undermine those issues the left holds dear.
UPDATES:
- NPR considers whether “this administration has been much tougher on Russia than any in the post-Cold War era”?