RUSSIAN HACKING

RUSSIAN HACKING

Accusations of Russian hacking of the American 2016 presidential election are a hot topic in the news. Americans are divided on whether these accusations are true. Some on the left reject the accusations out of hand. Some on the right, mainly Trump supporters, dismiss the accusations out of hand as “excuses.” The hacking allegations are not implausible. Here’s why.

Given the fact that the USA intervened in the Russian elections of the 1990’s, to say that the Russians hacked the U.S. election is not an implausible claim. At the moment we simply cannot say one way or the other, if they did, until we see the actual evidence. VP Biden swore there would be revenge for the hacking. The billion ruble hack of the Russian Central Bank, I believe, was that revenge. If the Dems were not hacked by Russia, then why go on television and say we are going to hack you back?

The establishment does not want to get too deep into woods on this issue. They want to attack Trump’s legitimacy without bringing into question the legitimacy of the whole system. When one examines the legitimacy of the system, if we posit that the President is a representative elected by all of the voting age people, then it becomes apparent there has never been a legitimate president. 

The legitimacy of the whole American Electoral System is in question. Why is there not a direct democratic vote for President? Why are machines capable of being hacked being used at all?

Half of the voting age population in America does not even come out to vote. This fact alone undermines the very principle of representative government. Our representation is not representative of all the voting age population and no effective reforms are being taken to increase voter turnout.

Then there are the gerrymandered congressional districts designed to keep conservatives in office. And there are the various barriers erected to keep people from even coming to the polls. There is no national voting holiday. Ex-convicts who are mostly poor have been disenfranchised. America is far from being a functional representative democracy. No one in the media will even point it out.

No one in the media is asking these questions.

The following reforms would be prudent:

1.   Amend the constitution making voting a right.

2.   Amend the constitution abolishing the Electoral College.

3.   Amend the constitution to make election days a holiday.

4.   Amend the constitution to end the disenfranchisement of convicts which effects the poor and working class.

5.   Amend the constitution to ban voting machines. Hand counted paper ballots will be the preferred method.

6.   Amend the constitution to end gerrymandering.

7.   Amend the constitution giving voters a tax refund for going to the polls and voting.

Trump by deciding to live in an ill protected in Manhattan penthouse apartment is making himself an easy target for a foreign decapitation attack utilizing a suitcase nuclear weapon. His hubris is legion and will give the Russians parity something they have never had in their dealings with America.