House Republicans claim they want to investigate the Russian hacking that took place during the presidential election. Only two Republican leaders Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC.) are aggressively outspoken in leading such a pursuit.
These senators — who claim to be “hardened” advocates of an investigation over the Russian hack were on Meet The Press this Sunday. McCain would be a true advocate if he didn’t accept the reality that his party leadership would not support such an aggressive investigation. Here is his quote from the NBC transcript:
“I would like to see a select committee. Apparently, that is not in agreement by our leadership. So we will move forward with the Armed Services Committee and I’m sure Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committee will as well. But it is possible if enough information comes out, that that decision could be reversed. I still think it’s the best way to attack the issue.”
This parallels the accusations against Clinton which Republicans kept in the news for years, contributing to how negatively the American people saw her. Republicans generated the accusations of Benghazi and her emails which all went through an aggressive vetting process and continued regardless of what the final outcome was, which determined that there was nothing there.
Republicans and Russia Both Wanted The Same Presidential Outcome
These masters of conspiracies continued to go with the claims, overwhelming every interview they were on with their talking points in order to stay on script.
Among voters, there was doubt at play about trusting Clinton. This didn’t matter when it came to the popular vote, which showed Clinton ahead of trump by almost 2.9 million votes, which shows that much like the Russian interference with propaganda, the anti-Clinton campaigns the GOP was running also had something to do with determining the outcome of the presidential election. That outcome always was that Trump was the better option, no matter how vile he was.
The consensus view is that the accusation that Russia was behind the hacks during the presidential election is widely accepted, so much in fact that journalist Glenn Greenwald accused the Washington Post of contributing to Russian hysteria around it.
This brutal attack on national security is accepted by most and is shaking up Western democracies. But when Chuck Todd sprung the following question about Hillary at McCain, he was vague to even out the comparison:
“Would you be more comfortable today if Hillary Clinton were preparing to be president as far as national security is concerned, Senator McCain?
McCain Uses GOP Fiction To Change Outcome
He claims that he doesn’t think much about that because of the result of the election. He also added that her statements about Benghazi and releases from Wikileaks, were other reasons for why she should not be president. Is it reasonable to think that she would have been just as bad?
For obvious reasons, neither senator was willing to go past the point of absurdity they’ve reserved for Hillary Clinton, even though Trump is far more absurd than anyone running for the highest office has ever been, and out in plain sight.
Without saying so directly, Graham doesn’t believe that Donald Trump is a Russian spy because when Chuck Todd asked him why he thinks Trump is pushing back against the Russian hacks so much; he said it was because he didn’t want people to delegitimize his election win. If Graham believes this to be true, then it takes the teeth out of his and McCain’s pursuit to investigate the Russian hacks.
Congress must set partisanship aside, follow facts & work together to devise a policy to deter, defend against & respond to #cyberattacks pic.twitter.com/QY9roggx1j
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) January 5, 2017
When Todd asked John McCain about reports that Russian leaders were celebrating Trump’s win, McCain said that one could only draw the conclusion that the Russian government were celebrating because they wanted the outcome to be what it was. It so happens that America’s adversary wanted the same thing Republicans “reluctantly” wanted, which was for Donald Trump to win.
It was largely believed – appropriately so – that Donald Trump winning on behalf of the Republican Party would not happen, and that it would destroy the party. No one really considered that he would win or theorized what that would do to the party other than to change it. Graham continues to phase in and out of how reason works within the rules of his own fiction and with the rules of reality, by attempting to appear bipartisan with the facts.
“Quite frankly, I haven’t heard any Democrat at all of prominence say that we doubt that Donald Trump won. Putin’s not the reason Clinton lost and Trump won, I don’t think anybody’s saying that.”
When both senators were asked about the positive and negative things they could say about the outgoing President Obama and his legacy, McCain said having the first black president was historic but that backing off from his red line with Syria showed weakness. Even worse was Graham’s view as he blames Obama for taking America from a nation of strength to one of weakness. But also added that it was sad and he didn’t want to say that but could not see how anyone could draw a different conclusion.
It would be difficult to find any Republican who has a better view of the Obama administration. It’s also clear that none of them are willing to abandon their fictitious view of Hillary Clinton’s corruption, which they will always have access to whenever they need it.
Our full MTP intvw with Senators McCain and Graham on Russia hacking, Obama's legacy, Trump transition and more: https://t.co/IpPBhFnu9K
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 8, 2017
Featured Image by Screenshot via NBC
