Fair and Square<\/p>\n
Ohio Senator Rob Portman appeared on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d this morning. Portman, a \u201cmoderate Republican\u201d has been a disappointment. I don\u2019t expect a \u201cmoderate Republican\u201d to agree with me on many issues. But what I keep waiting for is Portman to act like the decent man he seems to be. Unfortunately, each time Portman has had the chance to show that decency; on the health care vote, on the current tax legislation, and most importantly, on the conduct of the President of the United States; Portman has folded to the pressure of the Trump gang.<\/p>\n
Today was no exception. Portman, in trying to dodge the obvious questions about the Russia Investigation and Trump, said the following: \u201cTrump won the election, fair and square.\u201d He stated this as an accepted fact.<\/p>\n
Clearly the ultimate issue of the Russia Investigation is that exact question: did Trump win the Presidency \u201cfair and square?\u201d The absolute threat that the Mueller and Senate intelligence committee\u2019s investigations represent is to the legitimacy of the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n
In what ways could Trump\u2019s actions have made the election less than \u201cfair and square?\u201d Keeping in mind that the election was not determined by the more than two million more votes that Hillary Clinton earned, but came down to 77,744 Trump votes spread over three states. Wisconsin (22,748) Michigan (10,704) and Pennsylvania (44,292) were narrowly won by Trump, giving him the electoral college margin of victory.<\/p>\n
We know that Russian intelligence was targeting social media in these states. We know that they were using \u201cmicro-targeting\u201d of Facebook, Twitter, and other media sites to zoom in on the marginal areas within those states, targeting that showed they had an intimate knowledge of American politics. Political experts here in the United States are agreed that it is unlikely the Russians were able to produce those results without American advice. If the Trump campaign is linked to that \u201cadvice,\u201d that\u2019s not \u201cfair and square.\u201d<\/p>\n
While state election authorities continue to deny it, there are ongoing questions about the security and validity of the actual voting processes, particularly in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan. \u201cUnhack the Vote,\u201d a private organization investigating the integrity of the electoral process has found evidence which raises questions about whether Russian incursions went beyond \u201ctests\u201d to see if the data could be breeched. This, combined with the across the board discrepancies between exit polling and voting outcomes increases the concern that the vote count itself might be flawed or manipulated. If Russian Intelligence hacked and changed votes, that\u2019s not \u201cfair and square.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are now questions raised regarding Cambridge Analytica, a data company financed and owned by the Mercer Family. The Mercer\u2019s are also the money behind Bretibart, Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn, and ultimately the support of the Trump campaign. Computer code inadvertently posted by a Cambridge employee seems to show a program to hack and manipulate voter registration data. There are also connections between Cambridge and Wikileaks (Cambridge offered to organize the hacked Clinton emails into a searchable database for Wikileaks.) If Cambridge Analytics, representing the Trump campaign, worked with Wikileaks and\/or Russian Intelligence, that\u2019s not \u201cfair and square.\u201d<\/p>\n
We have accepted the phrase: \u201call fair in love and war \u2013 and politics!\u201d We anticipate that there might be \u201cdirty campaigning,\u201d that candidates will exaggerate and even lie about both their opponents and themselves, and that in this new day of technology; every campaign will try to take advantage of the latest advancements.<\/p>\n
What we haven\u2019t, and shouldn\u2019t accept, is that the actual vote counting mechanism might be altered, and that a third party, in this case Russian Intelligence, may play a huge part in the outcome of our elections. And while today this is a Democrat versus Republican issue, Republicans should look a little farther down the road. If Russian Intelligence\u2019s goal is to disrupt the political process, not necessarily support one party or the other, than the 2018 Congressional elections are just at much at risk, and the Republicans have just as much to lose.<\/p>\n
So no, Senator Portman, it\u2019s not an \u201caccepted fact.\u201d Not only is the legitimacy of the current President in question, but also the future of American elections. In fact, as a United States Senator, it is incumbent upon you to assure a thorough investigation so that the American electoral process IS \u201cFair and Square.\u201d<\/p>\n
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