By David K. Shipler
Of all the
odd things that have happened on the way to the presidential election, the
weirdest is the spectacle of Republicans, once the fist-pounding party of
national security, shrugging off Donald Trump’s affinity for Vladimir Putin and
for Russia’s geopolitical ambitions. Further, to turn normalcy completely
upside down, the Democrats, once the party of internationalism, are pointing
fingers at the specter of treacherous foreign influence subverting American
democracy.
With some
exceptions, the right has been indifferent and the left has been apoplectic over
Trump’s embrace of Moscow’s perspectives. He has spoken admiringly of Putin,
and Putin has returned the favor. The Republican candidate has accepted
Russia’s annexation of Crimea, deleted a call for lethal arms to Ukraine from
the Republican Party’s platform, brushed off the suspicious murders of nonconforming
Russian journalists, and questioned whether NATO members such as the Baltics
should be defended in accordance with the treaty’s obligations.
Presumably
to help Trump, two of Russia’s intelligence services hacked the email files of
the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, with mildly embarrassing releases so far and, surely, more serious
disclosures to come. Meanwhile, Trump receives favored coverage and commentary
by the Kremlin’s Russia Today television broadcasts in the U.S.
The
question is whether Putin, who is reputed to be a canny manipulator, really
thinks that Russia would be well served by having a crackpot in the White
House. Maybe so, if he’s as short-sighted as his KGB training taught him to be.
