Bipartisanship has never been more important, more crucial, than it is right now, and thank goodness the U.S. Congress – at least in this matter – is getting its act together.
This “matter” is the evidence from our intelligence-gathering agencies, most especially the Central Intelligence Agency, that the Russians were like busy termites, hacking into American computers and trying to interfere with the American electoral system, at Hillary Clinton’s expense.
For months, that was an accusation that communications from the Democratic National Committee and other Clinton sources were hacked and disseminated. But now the accusations have been at least partially validated by findings from the CIA.
No, this latest revelation does not mean Clinton “really” won the election, although she did if you count the popular vote – by nearly 3 million votes. However, all independent election observers agree Donald Trump won the election fair and square on the basis of electoral votes.
What has sparked lots of conspiracy theories, however, are Trump’s favorable comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump’s business connections in that country, and ties between some of his advisors and potential cabinet members who have also had favorable business dealings with Russia. One must ask, where does business end and government begin?
Trump has scoffed at the CIA revelations about Russian interference, calling them “ridiculous.” His knee-jerk rejection of the nation’s premier intelligence-gathering agency does not speak well for him. It’s a serious stumble that may prove to be a major impediment in his ability to lead the free world.
But never mind conspiracy theories; never mind Trump’s rejections. That will all work itself out in time. Right now, what’s important is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that two Senate committees will investigate the CIA evidence about Russian hacking. The Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee will both conduct hearings.
Democrats and Republicans — most notably an outraged Republican Sen. John McCain — have expressed strong support for such hearings.
What is vital is the committees discover exactly how the hacking was done, and if possible the specific individuals or groups who were behind it, what they were aiming to accomplish and (most importantly) how to prevent it from happening again. And those questions and answers are not just crucial for our voting system and our faith in it, but it’s also crucial to learn the Russians’ dirty tricks, so our national security system can be made safe from foreign hackers – Russian and otherwise.
Relations with the Soviet Union used to be based on which country had the most nuclear bombs. Now the one-upsmanship rivalry seems to be based on the dirty, shadowy methods of cyber crimes. That kind of subversion and misinformation can be just as dangerous, potentially, as bombs themselves, causing suspicion, fear and hatred that could escalate into uglier outcomes.
It will take a lot of work and technological know-how to make our country’s voting process and national security safe from hackers, snoops and efforts at voter-suppression. The only way that work can begin and succeed is with the strongest bipartisan efforts, and let us rejoice the U.S. Congress is united on that new front.
Most of all, let’s hope the Senate investigations do not descend into partisan blame games and bickering sessions.
