It has been said that Satan's greatest trick was to convince the world that he did not exist. In so many ways that is a true statement. It is also how the Russians conquered the United States without anyone noticing. They simply got us to believe that there was nothing to see and that they were not doing anything to interfere in our elections. All they needed to pull this off was the perfect, unsuspecting mole. In 2015, one walked right onto the American political scene. His name is Donald J. Trump. Let me explain.
From the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Americans of all political stripes kept a close watch on what the Soviets were up to. Sure, there was room for some cooperation such as space endeavors and trade programs. We were even able to ally with Josef Stalin against a greater evil in Adolf Hitler. Yet, once Hitler was gone, our attention turned back to the Soviets and containment became the official policy of the United States for both Democrats and Republicans. The Cold War raged from the late '40s to the late '80s with a period of detente in the '70s. But even then, America kept a watchful eye on the USSR. President Ronald Reagan once referred to the USSR as the 'Evil Empire' in a candid moment caught on mic.
Then something strange happened in 1991. The Soviet Union collapsed and was replaced by the Russian Federation, a sort of con-federal association of independent nation-states. Our opponent for more than 75 years just magically vanished on a chilly December day in 1991. Or did it? Sure, Russia experimented with democracy and elected Boris Yeltsin president of the new federation. America celebrated and forged new ties with the emerging democracy in Russia. A new day of freedom had come and a new world order was upon us. Things looked good for a little while in the nascent Russian democracy but by the end of the 20th Century, Russia's historic thirst for an authoritarian strongman began to take hold once again. Former KGB officer Vladimir Vladimirovich (son of Vladimir) Putin was 'elected' as president in 2000 and 2004. In 2008, he became Prime Minister under President Medvedev for one term. In 2012, he was elected president again and re-elected in 2018 with 76% of the vote. Few people in the western world consider Russia a democracy any longer due to the jailing/assassination of political opponents, suppression of the press, and the lack of free/fair elections.
President George W. Bush famously said he could see into the soul of Vladimir Putin and pronounced him a good man that he could work with. That was the beginning of Putin's greatest trick. You see, Putin is through and through an authoritarian who cares about nothing and nobody other than the security of his country and its power on the world stage. He wants to rebuild Soviet-era power in world affairs but has to do it with nobody noticing. That means getting Americans to look the other way. When Donald Trump strolled to the edge of the golden escalator in 2015, Putin knew his opportunity had arrived. The play was simple and it was something he had been trained for in an earlier era. All he needed to do was divide Americans against themselves while making it look like he had nothing to do with it. The old Bolsheviks knew that they could never hope to defeat the United States in a Cold War or a hot war. They had to find a way to let us destroy ourselves from within. Donald J. Trump would be the perfect patsy.
As the evidence mounted that Russia was up to something in the 2016 elections, Trump dismissed the idea of Russian meddling as nonsense. He even invited Russian agents to dig up dirt on his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and release it to the world. They were happy to comply. Members of Trump's inner circle made contact with Russian agents without disclosing them. The intelligence community repeatedly warned that Russia was meddling and the president dismissed those warnings because he knew Putin. Russian meddling was just another hoax, probably sponsored by the Democrats. Only it wasn't. Even the Republican Senate investigation concluded that Russia had seriously meddled in the election and was meddling again in 2020. Why help Trump win? Because he'd be easier to dupe since he casually dismissed factual evidence in favor of his personal beliefs. When it was reported that Russia was putting bounties on the heads of American soldiers in Afghanistan, Trump dismissed it. When reports surfaced that Russians were trying to help Trump in 2020, he laughed and welcomed them. When rumors surfaced that China was trying to help Joe Biden, he demanded an investigation.
So here we are in late November of 2020. The election is over and Trump lost (but still claims he won), 72 million Americans voted for Trump and believe Joe Biden is an evil pedophile (or his son is) without a single shred of evidence apart from a laptop no one has seen except Rudy Giuliani, who claims there is a 50-50 chance it came from a Russian agent. As a result, Americans are more divided than ever. Both sides see the other as enemies of the state, clamor for their opponents to be locked up, and demonize many media outlets. Donald Trump claims the election was marked by widespread fraud but has presented NO proof. His supporters believe him and tweet/retweet whatever baseless claims he makes. American institutions of democracy have been delegitimized. The peaceful transfer of power has been hindered at every turn. There are protests in the streets that sometimes turn to violence when the two sides clash. Russian propaganda has succeeded beyond the Bolsheviks' wildest dreams...America has been rendered impotent on the world stage.
For four long years, Donald Trump has treated allegations of Russian meddling as a joke. Vladimir Putin has laughed all the way to the bank. If Vladimir Putin really exists, that is. Never, ever take your eyes off the bear, if there is a bear.
