From US President Barack Obama’s perspective, it’s all Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fault and, in response, he’s lashing out, warning of retaliation at a time of his own choosing. Not only do Putin and WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange deny Russian involvement, neither the White House nor the intelligence community has come up with any incontestable proof.
The irony is that the CIA is not only known to meddle with the elections of other countries, but has brought down leaders, attempted to assassinate others and is known to have spied on foreign diplomats at the UN.
Hillary Clinton blames her loss on the FBI Director for his letter advising Congress that a trove of new emails had been discovered and on Putin who, she says, has a personal beef against her. She forgets that her popularity ratings were among the lowest and she had lost voters’ trust long ago.
Michelle Obama is consumed with doom and gloom. “We are feeling what not having hope feels like,” she recently told Oprah Winfrey.
As president-elect, Obama avoided any criticism of the incumbent President Bush on the grounds that would break with tradition and during the run-up to Obama’s inauguration, Bush was equally gracious. Yet, he’s going after Donald Trump tooth and nail and co-opted his family members to do the same. While out on the stump for Hillary, he told the crowd ominously that “the fate of the republic rests on your shoulders”.
A glaring example of ‘Do what I say but not as I do’ is his ramping-up of Russia’s alleged hacking of the DNC for the purposes of swaying voters in Clinton’s favour when in October he told her rival to “stop whining” about the integrity of the election”.
But he didn’t criticise Jill Stein’s efforts towards getting a recount in Wisconsin, eagerly backed by the Clinton team, which provided Trump with more votes than he originally garnered.
Just days ago, Obama undermined the electoral process by tasking the intelligence community to provide “a full review” of Russian hacking activity and how that may have impacted the ballot. For the first time ever, the Electoral College, which rubberstamps the people’s choice as a mere formality, also requested access to such intelligence.
In light of Trump’s unorthodox cabinet picks and policies designed to unravel Obama’s legacy, it’s no wonder senior Democrats, and a smattering of Republicans, are in panic mode. Trump is set on overturning the ‘old order’; doing things the way he thinks they should be done rather than how they’ve always been. He’s in the process of shaking up the system and those who stand in his way can expect a Twitter tongue-lashing or a character assassination.
Even before he’s got his feet under the Oval Office desk, he’s placed America’s ‘One China policy’ in jeopardy, eliciting dire warnings from Beijing, closed the curtains on a two-state solution by tapping a colony-supporting ambassador to Israel who’s anxious to see the embassy relocated to occupied Jerusalem and he’s promised safe zones in Syria for refugees to be funded by Gulf states!!!
Trump is riding high, plumping his feathers like a peacock as scores of politicians and celebrities gravitate to Trump Tower to pay their obeisance but no one is invincible, especially not a president who dares to initiate a war with the CIA and the Federal Reserve.
Whistleblowers, not fabricators
Whether or not President Trump is a loose cannon or a man able to restore America’s role as a global leader, he was democratically elected. Furthermore, even if Russia is guilty of hacking into DNC emails, all that’s happened is the truth has been exposed.
The hackers weren’t fabricators but whistle-blowers. If the DNC hadn’t connived to get Bernie Sanders out of the race in Clinton’s favour, the conversation might be very different.
The deed is done and cannot be undone without damage to the democratic process, which could thrust the United States into a state of civil unrest or armed insurrection. Obama would be wise to accept the inevitable, quit stamping his feet and concentrate on making his exit as dignified as his entry. Give Trump enough rope...
Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com
