Do you agree with president Obama's decision to not make the Russian hacking story public

[La Lioness Priyanka]

before the election?

As i am sure most of you have read or heard, Obama knew that the CIA had evidence that Russia was hacking deliberately to make trump the president. He then disclosed to Mitch McConnel and other high level GOP who refused to allow this info to go public. They said if he allowed it to go public, then would decry it as politically motivated. So Obama sat on the story.

Should he have gone ahead anyway?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. My own opinion is that he tried to do the noble thing

but it would be better for his legacy had he done the politically smarter thing.

[bettyellen]

2. In hindsight I wish he had. Only because people still listen and respect him...

[Hortensis]

34. In hindsight, Obama would have tried the other thing too.

Crocodiles awaited down both paths.

[bettyellen]

38. If he had talked about them leaking emails, the spin would have been that Dems made a big deal of

Them too. Which is a fact, but obsecures the more important issue of their interference.

[Hortensis]

40. Right. Costs and benefits to all choices, and what

they all would be not even known in hindsight. We know it wasn't a casual decision.

[guillaumeb]

3. Yes, this was a failure of huge proportions.

After nearly 8 years of GOP obstruction, what possible reason could the President have had for his inaction?

[DK504]

31. I agree completely

Why after getting beat down for 8 years would he expect any honorable behavior from these cretins.

[Squinch]

4. I don't agree. I don't know what he was thinking. Fuck McConnell. Obama had the entire

intelligence community to back him up.

[Johonny]

5. Given what the FBI and the GOP did with Hillary's emails...no

good for Goose is good for gander. Nuf said. They violated the spirit of government neutrality first and won. So being on a high losing horse isn't a good thing.

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. I'm on the fence, but I respect his decision making. If there's one thing I've learned about him...

these past 8 years is that he's a thoughtful and reasonable person. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't this information classified? Can you imagine the faux outrage had the president disclosed classified information?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. yeah, i am on the fence too. i will say Obama is too decent for the likes of McConnell

and they know this.

[joshcryer]

19. Obama doesn't act on optics.

He does what he feels is right. To a fault. The Republicans do what makes them win.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. agreed

[Hoyt]

7. GOPers would have claimed Democrats can't stop Russian hackers. Truth wouldn't matter.

There is also a question whether the hacking had any impact on the election. Ignorant white wingers were going for Trump.

[msongs]

8. to do so might make the repubs sad nt

[BeyondGeography]

9. Good arguments on both sides, IMO

He definitely would have been seen as putting his thumb on the scale by the R's and I doubt Trump's core voters would have cared. But it would have opened the door to some pretty relevant questions as to why Putin was so all-in for Trump and it would have put Trump on the defensive.

It also could have shed light on Comey's motives. First the FBI disagrees with the CIA that the Russians are targeting HRC and the D's, then he sticks his neck out on Wiener's emails? WTF?

I guess I'm trending no in answer to your question, but a big part of that is we lost. I think Obama felt HRC was going to win and she would have been better off post-election without his having entered the fray. Whatever one's feelings,this was not an easy call.

[True Dough]

28. I agree with everything you wrote

Sums things up nicely, IMO.

[Horse with no Name]

10. I think he really thought that she would win

and he didn't want to expend the political capital is would have taken to do that.

[Raster]

11. NO, I do not. Obama should have gone ahead and addressed the nation.

Seventeen Federal intelligence agencies concluded the same thing.

The uber-fail of Obama's eight years is his penchant for bi-partisan agreement and cooperation, which bit him -AND US- in the ass every fucking time. The GOP are dishonest, feckless bastards who would sell their own mothers if it were politically expedient.

I'm tired of being the good citizens... and getting kicked in the 'nads every damned time for it.

[Angry Dragon]

13. he should have called their bluff

it is always a political play to them when they are called on their bullshit

[whathehell]

14. Yes, he should have gone ahead anyway, definitely. n/t

[ismnotwasm]

15. I think he did the right thing, except when I don't

Because it's now clearly in the court of the Republicans, who as expected trying to spin it away, and thus far failing--surprisingly. It was an epic gamble.

On the other hand, given the shit Hillary was subjected to during the primaries and the GE, I am not sure it would have helped. Everything Hillary said or did was spun to the negative, by players on both sides of the aisle. And people ate that shit up.

Then I think the public should have been told, If it was politicalized, then is was--except so much was at stake. So I go back and forth.

[JustinL]

16. based on my limited knowledge, I would have to say no, I don't agree

Avoiding accusations of political motivation was a profoundly insufficient reason to withhold the information.

However, I don't discount the possibility that his decision was based on other considerations that he can't discuss. If he thought that releasing the info would jeopardize a criminal investigation or intelligence-gathering operation, and was confident that Clinton would win anyway, then his decision would be more understandable.

[GoCubsGo]

23. Yep. I suspect there is a lot more that we don't know about.

I think that it is most likely that investigatory and/or intelligence-gathering operations would be jeopardized. And, that would likely make it even more difficult to stop this, or at least stop as much of the bleeding as possible. Wouldn't surprise me if he and/or his family were threatened, too.

[potone]

17. I think he should have.

We all know that the Republicans have tried to suppress the vote through voter ID laws and gerrymandered Congressional districts. Given the fact that they now seem to have been colluding after the fact in a foreign government's attempt to manipulate the outcome of the election, AND the fact that Comey interfered by his public announcement about Hillary's emails, yes, I think he should have done it. We have to stop being so high-minded that we let our opponents win every time. If the Obama administration had taken this seriously earlier, it might have made a difference. But regardless of that, if the Republicans had said that the revelation of these facts was politically motivated, Obama could have replied that it was the Republicans who were politically motivated in wanting to withhold this important information before the election.

In summary, fuck them!

[GusBob]

18. Once the Comey letter came out, he should have struck back

According to the NYTimes account, there are those within the White House who "regret the decision"

There should be a second part to this discussion:

What should PBO and VP do about it now?

[dogman]

20. He is Commander-in-Chief.

He has taken the oath to protect us from enemies, both foreign and domestic. He has an obligation to do right. He should act on it if it is true or he is as guilty as any perpetrators.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

21. Hillary talked about it a bit during the campaign

Having the President behind her a little more might have helped but I think that they thought they were ok going into the election and that It wouldn't really matter much once Trump was vanquished.

[LenaBaby61]

22. I wish the President would have been more forceful with this information ...

Because much of what he's fought for these past 8 years in which the thuglicans limited him ON will be LOST like dust under Cheeto's reign the next 2-4 years.

I WISH he had released the information. We're in deep shit now as a country, because we really don't KNOW if we'll be able to even vote the BUMS out in 2018 or in 2020. Whose to know if the Russians won't be allowed to hack into another election under a tRump DOJ? We KNOW voter suppression will be on 'roids under tRump et all, and that red states will be BLOOD red now.

[LisaL]

24. No.

Absolutely not agree.

[KamaAina]

25. Looks that way.

Appearing politically motivated is better than becoming the American S.S.R.

[forgotmylogin]

26. I think Obama had to wait

until the election was actually hacked before saying anything. If Hillary had won, he'd look as foolish as Trump.

[BigDemVoter]

27. Obama always does the right thing.

Unfortunately, one can't do the "right thing" anymore and remain a stable and democratic republic. You can't play nice when you're dealing with savages.

[LisaM]

29. It baffles me, actually. He knows the other side plays tough and would be all over it.

Heck, I thought he should have fired Comey back in July. I get that he's deliberate and that this is his style, and if it was two years until the next election, it would make more sense to me that he sat on information.

But this - this election has the potential to cause actual harm to a lot of people, and has already caused harm to some, including little kids who are being taunted at school.

Hillary had to deal with being attacked on many fronts, and I also think it would have behooved him to have shown her some support. She must have felt as if nobody was on her side, even those she had served well and faithfully.

Maybe he's still got some trick up his sleeve - I hope so. He was an honorable man for eight years. He tried very hard to right the ship that the previous administration had listing off course. I am in shock that everything can go back into the storm so quickly. Everything, everything he's worked for, undone because he wouldn't address election tampering? I hope to God this hasn't played out entirely yet, so I guess overall I'll reserve my final judgment, but if this slide into hell continues, then no, I don't agree with his decision.

[randr]

30. Nice guys finish last

When the stakes are the very existance of our planet there are no rules.

[pandr32]

32. Obama is still POTUS and he is in a spot...

Trying to navigate a very sensitive situation with Syria, and Russia and Assad are players he is trying to negotiate with to save lives. This is a crisis, too. Trust him.

[FrenchieCat]

33. We all knew, the media knew...

I doubt it would have helped! The media sat on the Russian story while doing daily readings of the Wikileaks emails provided by Russia to the media to hurt Hillary!

The media did what it wanted to do with the info...it ignored it! I don't think Obama having said anything would've helped. There were 11 intelligence agencies at that time stating that Russia had hacked the DNC… This was no secret!

[stillcool]

35. I'm not sure..

The dribs and drabs of this story have been with us for a long time. I don't know what choices he had, and what the possible consequences could be for any given choice. If there's not a certain win/lose percentage I would do nothing and wait for the odds to improve. I like the first do no harm rule.

[trueblue2007]

36. NO !!!! PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO PUBLISH the Russian hacking story

WE DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH.

[B2G]

39. This story has been out there since July.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/us/politics/spy-agency-consensus-grows-that-russia-hacked-dnc.html?_r=0