Donald Trump: The Russian Poodle
In 1972, President Richard Nixons White House dispatched burglars to bug Democratic Party offices. That Watergate burglary and related dirty tricks, such as releasing mice at a Democratic press conference and paying a woman to strip naked and shout her love for a Democratic candidate, nauseated Americans and impelled some of us kids at the time to pursue journalism.
Now in 2016 we have a political scandal that in some respects is even more staggering. Russian agents apparently broke into the Democrats digital offices and tried to change the election outcome. President Obama on Friday suggested that this was probably directed by Russias president, saying, Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.
In Watergate, the break-in didnt affect the outcome of the election. In 2016, we dont know for sure. There were other factors, but its possible that Russias theft and release of the emails provided the margin for Donald Trumps victory.
The C.I.A. says it has high confidence that Russia was trying to get Trump elected, and, according to The Washington Post, the directors of the F.B.I. and national intelligence agree with that conclusion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/opinion/sunday/donald-trump-the-russian-poodle.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region