"She Said, She Said"
“Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!”
Trump; 6-28-2018
There is no question that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections. No intelligent person denies this. That, of course, leaves Trump and his most ignorant supporters. Let's focus on Trump: it is not that he actually believes that Russia didn't “meddle” in the election – for he and many others in his campaign actively coordinated with Russia.
Now, let's consider his hard-core base. Their level of understanding is defined by the synergism of ignorance, hatred, and fear. For who else would even consider James Woods' opinions on politics, much less be influenced by him? Surely no one with the capacity for rational thought. It is safe to say that this population is now, and will continue to be, played by Russian “meddling.”
Rational people agree that Trump, like Putin, appeals to “white nationalism” in order to reap financial, economic, and political power. It's not as if he or his family have anything in common with his followers beyond the color of their skin. The Trumps don't socialize with those fools. No. They exploit their ignorance, hatreds, and fears. And all the while, Trump is hurting those very people, with his tax-cuts, reductions in food stamps, and medical insurance. They are just too stupid to understand this.
Russian intelligence and organized crime continue to work to create the atmosphere that allows Trump and his ilk to exercise power. It is easy to see, especially among the Trump base. They are the foam dripping from a rabid dog's mouth, that serves to warn us of danger. But the Russian “meddling” in our social-political system is not limited to those fools.
They are intent, in cooperation with Trump forces, to further divide the rest of Americans, including within the Democratic Party. The last thing that they want to see is a unified party, where all segments coordinate to elect a variety of Democrats to the House and Senate. And, of course, governors and state officials. No, I say they are pulling out all the stops in their effort to disrupt.
They are equally intent upon dividing the party from its natural and potential allies. They need to prevent alliances where there is mutual benefit from ending Trump's rule. Instead, they will continue to try to focus on issues where groups have not seen eye-to-eye in the past and other fracture points. They will try to dose discussions with heated emotion, using issues just as insignificant as James Woods.
At this point in time, does anything that Peter Fonda says matter? Should we be sidetracked by debates on if his greatest social contribution was “Easy Rider,” which had a great sound track, or his inspiring John Lennon's song, “She Said, She Said?” Does anyone doubt that our real enemy will try to attack and divide us with such nonsense? Hoping people will give more than a rat's ass about if an individual named Susan Sarandon supported Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
We need to keep our eyes on the prize, to borrow some wisdom from the past. Instead of allowing our actual enemy to divide groups where, like individual fingers that Trump & Co can break, we need to unite those fingers into a powerful fist. One that protects all of our rights. Now, I believe that we need to use the organized, non-violent, confrontation-of-injustice tactics of Gandhi and King. That allows us to symbolically understand Malcolm X's statement that sometime turning the other cheek may involve breaking the enemy's neck. Because that's exactly what we have to do in November at the voting booth.
The Russian-Trump effort will continue to focus on areas such as ignorance, fear, and hatred. Thus, we all need to be aware of any tendency we have to react to the actual enemy's appeals to divisive emotions. I know I do, just like everyone else. We all need to focus on what is most important, and that means keeping our eyes on the prize.
Peace,
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
K+R 
Side note: I Googled "things Russia has stated that are demonstrably false" because I wanted to list some things to support my argument that we shouldn't take them at their word about anything and guess whose name showed up in all the links? Google doesn't lie!
we need at this time so that we don't splinter into small groups and bicker with each other over small meaningless things. I know I have a bad habit of doing that but I'll try to remember your statement when it happens in the future.