General Discussion

ffr

(22,665 posts) Tue Dec 20, 2016, 06:33 PM Dec 2016

With Russian meddling, truth is as disturbing as fiction - CNN International

Four years ago, I decided to take a stab at writing my first book. I intended it to be fiction. I may have failed.

Given my background in politics, and the adage that you should write what you know, a political thriller seemed appropriate.

My story posed a basic question.
What if leaders of a foreign entity are eager to change policy in America? Something substantial. How could they go about it?
<snip>

Along the way, a prominent American politician discovers the plot, but does nothing because he deduces that he and his party will benefit. And post election, even after certain voting irregularities make clear that something inappropriate occurred, the initial reaction of the media and the politicians divides predictably across ideological lines and the scandal becomes yet another subject of partisan bickering.

Remember, this was a novel, meant to be a page-turner with deeper lessons on the need for political reform. I put it to bed on July 15, and released it on August 15.

And then the actual Trump-Clinton campaign played out. (To be clear, the precise means of the meddling differed — my story involved voting machine infiltration as opposed to party emails and well-timed leaks — but the overall storyline was far closer to reality than I would've hoped).
<snip>

To state it bluntly, if a foreign government can figure out that the sorry state of our democratic infrastructure has become America's soft underbelly, it is long past time American political leaders also figure it out, come together, and take steps to fix it. - CNN

If he's thinking this, you know Putin, who'd have everything to gain by undermining our democracy, was thinking this.

That middle section about the politician who discovers the plot screams every member of the GOP. They have everything to gain in an election cycle where they're predicted to lose big.