Dangerous Liaisons

Not since George W. Bush famously "looked the man in the eye" have we heard a major U.S. Presidential candidate speak so highly of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. 

Trump has tried to downplay their "bromance,” but, like a young, naive lover, he seems to have difficulty explaining their mutual admiration:

David Sanger of the New York Times: "...You've been very complimentary of Putin himself."

Trump: "No! No, I haven't"

Sanger: "You said you respected his strength."

Trump: "He's been complimentary of me. I think Putin and I will get along very well."

Sanger: "So I was just in..."

Trump: "But he's been complimentary of me."

Trump's relationship with Putin has sparked much speculation. "There's something strange and disturbing going on here...," Nobel laureate Paul Krugman recently suggested. Jeffrey Goldberg writing in The Atlantic was more direct:  "Trump has chosen this week to unmask himself as a de facto agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin...."

I feel the Trump-Putin bromance went too far after we learned that Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and targeted Trump's file. Most dismissed the hack as a predictable Russian spying activity, that Russia was motivated to learn more about a lesser known candidate for the U.S. Presidency. But sometimes the more plausible answer is in fact the correct answer. More likely, the hackers served those who would see Trump become President. The hackers got embarrassing internal emails and that which they knew only resided on DNC servers: the Democratic strategy against Trump. 

The DNC hack is our modern day Watergate, but instead of bumbling American burglars working on behalf of an overeager Richard Nixon, sophisticated Russian hackers stole the Democratic Party playbook on behalf of their overeager Republican partner, Donald Trump.

This turn of events is particularly scary. After all, Nixon was a crook, but he was our crook. Watergate threatened our democracy. The DNC hack threatens both our democracy and sovereignty.