Wednesday, July 26, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
17
Commentary...
We know election interference when we see it
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
It must seem like a pretty
good joke in the labyrinthine
halls of the Kremlin: the
Americans in a giant twist
about Russian interference in
the 2016 election. We ought
to recognize it when we see
it. The Russians understand
— better than 99 percent of
Americans — that the USA is
the world champion of med-
dling in the internal political
affairs of sovereign nations.
Of course, when WE do
it, it’s “promotion of democ-
racy.” One might forgive
the spider in the Kremlin
for rolling his eyes at the
pious hypocrisy. A short and
incomplete list of countries
in which we’ve interfered,
intervened and outright
overthrown regimes in order
to further our geopolitical
interests might offer some
perspective:
Mexico; Chile; Cuba;
the Dominican Republic;
Panama; El Salvador;
Nicaragua; Venezuela…
Actually, it would be easier
and much briefer to list coun-
tries in Latin America where
we haven’t interfered, inter-
vened or invaded.
Republic of Vietnam;
the Philippines; Iran; Iraq;
Afghanistan; Syria; Libya;
Israel; Ukraine; Italy;
Republic of Georgia; Russia
itself…
We’re talking dumping
mountains of cash to influ-
ence elections, financing and
backing coups d’etat, and,
when necessary, full-scale
military intervention.
Oh, but most of that was
in the old days — you know,
the Cold War.
Yeah… no. It started well
before the post-World War
II U.S.-Soviet rivalry, and it
has continued well past the
fall of the Berlin Wall and the
purported “End of History.”
For historically amnesiac
Americans, the past isn’t just
past; it’s like it never hap-
pened. The countries where
we play our games don’t see
things that way. The actions
of the past resonate down
to the present, whether we
choose to remember them or
not.
We sow the wind and are
constantly surprised when
years down the line a whirl-
wind kicks up and blows us
over.
Just one example: We
and the Brits overthrew the
government of Mohammed
Mosadegh in Iran in 1953.
Seemed like a good idea at
the time. It took 20 years
for that exercise in not-
very-covert strongarm
realpolitick to wind itself up
into the tornado of the Iranian
Revolution of 1979. Now
here we are in 2017, still try-
ing to figure out what to do
about a revolutionary Shi’ite
Iran, which has extended its
influence across Iraq and
Syria to its Hezbollah client
in Lebanon.
Our actions in Eastern
Europe are of a much more
recent vintage, and from
the perspective of Vladimir
Putin, directly challenge his
power in the here and now.
From the perspective of the
Kremlin, the Russians are
defending themselves against
OUR aggressive behavior in
what they consider their legit-
imate sphere of influence.
Our conviction that we
act for (well mostly) benign
purposes and that there
is no moral equivalence
between our actions and the
sanguine activities of the
bloody-handed tyranny of the
Russian (née Soviet) klepto-
cratic state may be a com-
forting tale to tell ourselves
— when we think about it
at all — but it doesn’t cut
any ice with the Russians.
Everybody’s the hero in his
own movie.
We’re playing a game of
thrones here, and have been
ever since we stepped out
onto the world stage in the
Come See
What All Th e
Excitement’s
About!
Vegan and gluten-free
options always available.
Spanish-American War in
1898. You could push it as
far back as 1846, when we
provoked a war with Mexico
and gained what is now the
American Southwest and
California for our efforts. The
game of thrones is nasty and
played for the highest stakes
— and dirty play is always
part of the deal. We’ve made
some smart plays and some
really dumb — and costly
— plays. Some of the dumb-
est plays have been a result
of pretending that we don’t
really play in the dirty, nasty
game at all.
That’s the one big advan-
tage Putin has, as the leader
of a petro-state in very
shaky economic condition:
He at least knows he’s play-
ing the great game and who
his adversary is — and he
embraces it.
Unfortunately, our own
current players in the game
are rank amateurs — and
incompetent ones at that.
It’s tempting to see sinister
motives at play in the cozi-
ness of Trump’s campaign
with Russian agents of
influence. Bannon, Flynn,
Manafort — admittedly,
there’s a lot of smoke there.
Yet it’s increasingly difficult
to picture the Trump family
being capable of rubbing two
sticks together to actually
make a fire.
Given Trump’s shallow
narcissism and utter clue-
lessness about history and
geopolitics, he may well
have simply been treat-
ing this whole business as
just another Miss Universe
Pageant that the Russians
could partner with him
on. Which is, in itself, an
astounding geostrategic state
of affairs to ponder.
Historian
Alfred
Mccoy points out the hard
See INTERFERENCE on page 21
Do you know your agent?
Do you understand your policy?
Are you overpaying?
Call or come in today for a
free Farmers Friendly Review
541-588-6245 • 257 S. Pine St., #101
www.farmersagent.com/jrybka
AUTO • HOME • LIFE • BUSINESS
e
You’re Happier If You Rid
a Bike Because You’ll…
Open 7 days a week
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
403 E. Hood Ave. | 541.549.2699
Reduce
R
d
stress
Strengthen bones & posture
Burn calories & decrease body fat
Have less strain & fewer injuries
Increase strength, fl exibility,
stamina & cardiovascular fi tness
HAVE FUN!
MEANINGFUL
MEDICINE
Natural Treatments &
Counseling to Support
Wellness
Kim Hapke, Naturopath
971-409-0908
Sisters Art Works Building
You already know how to ride a bike … come see
us and we’ll get you on the best one for you!
.Rainey,
January 7, 2001 - July 14, 2017
Loved and Missed by so Many
and Especially Ali
If you’d like to honor Rainey,
please make a donation in her name to Furry Friends Foundation.
We rent, sell & repair mountain,
road & around-town bikes
We rent stand up
paddleboards, too!
ters
Corner of Hood & Fir • Sis
ek
we
a
s
day
7
•
541-549-2471
rs
yea
27
Celebrating