The Cold War never ended.

[Saviolo]

This thought occurred to my sleep-fogged brain this morning, listening to the BBC News on my clock radio. A story came on about Putin and Trump (it may have been a reference to the comment Putin made to Trump that Russian hackers couldn't have done the DNC hack because they would never have gotten caught), and my brain just clicked on the idea that the Cold War is still happening.

It's not a new conflict. Russia (while no longer the USSR) has not stopped its spying upon the USA. It has been spying, hacking, and trying to delegitimize US power for years. Russia doesn't trust NATO or the UN, and wants to shake faith in both of those organizations.

And they've scored an enormous win with their installation of Trump. The results of the election were complicated, and there were many factors that led to Trump's electoral college win and popular vote loss. One factor was the Russian influence and probably (at this point practically indisputable, but let's wait to hear officially the extent) meddling in the election process. And they've got exactly what they want in power in the USA. Trump is perfect for Russia.

Trump doesn't trust NATO or the UN because Breitbart and InfoWars have told him how terrible they are for America. He trusts Putin because he represents the perfect idea of a strong man who rules with an iron fist. Trump admires that. Trump knows nothing about policy, hell he thinks Paul Ryan is a big wonk (but that's a whole 'nother marketing campaign). And now Trump is degrading the opinion of the office of the President of the USA around the world. World leaders are doing their best to go around Trump to deal with governors, or just deciding they'll be better off dealing with other allies.

So, the global opinion of the USA sinks, and Russia looks stronger and stronger. It's the same old cold war optics. It's a war of information, and Russia has won a huge victory in installing Trump.

As for the results of that victory in the USA, it's going to be decades before the reversal of the harmful policies manages to normalize things again. The GOP has been pushing the false narrative that they just haven't managed to get anything done, which is why the health care bill is so important:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Keep up the pressure, keep calling, keep protesting. It's not working fast, but it's working. GOTV in 2018 and 2020. Keep fighting, self-care, be good allies.

I don't have much to bring this all together, I just wanted to get it out of my head and all together in one place.

[Pachamama]

1. No - It never ended...

And guess who is winning?

[Saviolo]

2. It's honestly hard to tell...

But mostly it's extremely wealthy people who own corporations, or are arms dealers.

It's far easier to point out who's losing, and it's a multitude. POC, women, LGBTQ+, the poor, the unemployed... the list goes on and on.

[Pachamama]

3. I agree if you are defining it by the various "groups" and interests

But I am actually looking at it as a straight definition based on the original Cold War involving the US versus the former Soviet Union/now Russia. That Cold War, the competition and global dominance and seeking of spheres of influence - that never ended. But the tactics changed and I believe that Russia is winning the "war" now...