Why I Believe Russia-gate is Overblown (Dangerous, Delusional Russian Hysteria!!!)

The U.S. "Intelligence" agencies do not have a good track record

• Mueller was part of the intelligence team making the case for the 2003 Iraq War:

Baghdad has the capability and, we presume, the will to use biological, chemical, or radiological weapons against US domestic targets in the event of a US invasion. 

 This was on of the two largest blunders of my lifetime (along with Vietnam), resulting in about 1 million unnecessary deaths.

• John Brennan, former head of the CIA who has testified about Russian meddling, was a top aide to George Tenet at the CIA who infamously "assured Bush that the evidence that Iraq had WMDs amounted to a slam dunk case".

Mistakes were made; hundreds of thousands of lives lost; U.S. credibility destroyed.  

The intelligencies agencies have a job to do, and that's fine.  But we the people need to form our own political judgments considering more than just the few pieces of evidence released by the intelligence agencies.

The Impact of the Russian Interference is being Greatly Exaggerated 

• Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA as well as Secretary of Defense under President Obama, said yesterday that the Russian interference was equivalent to a physical bombing (can't find link, but I saw this on the NBC Nightly News).  His top assistant at the CIA, Jeremy Bash, described the episode as an event of "epic  proportions".  The mainstream media is unanimous in echoing the intelligence community's opinion that this is all as a very big deal.
• The fact is, however, that the Russian effort is trivial in the big picture.  The U.S. routinely seeks to influence public opinion in other countries, including Russia, and on a much bigger scale.  Also, the total Russian operation is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money spent by U.S. sources.  And some of the Russian money was spent on other things, including funding anit-Trump rallies after the election. 
• As Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein emphasized at a Friday news conference:
  
  There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity.  There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election. 

Let's Not Overreact Once Again

In matters of "national security", the U.S. public has been repeatedly whipped into a bi-partisan frenzy of support for aggressive military behavior and more military/intelligence power and spending.   I do agree that we should discourage the Russians and others from meddling in our elections.  But's let keep the big picture in mind.

The U.S., as a global superpower, has squandered credibility and the moral high ground since 9/11, by applying laws and logic selectively.  Practically, this attitude has brought us domestic chaos (the Trump Administration) and international skepticism.  Let's quit digging this hole by trying to blame Russia for Trump.  We're only fooling ourselves.

More Reasons We Need Sanders Wing Policies

Sanders' platform addressed several areas that have been problematic, and not addressed adequately by the Obama / Clinton wing of the Democratic party.

1. Financial Bubbles

Discussion at EschatonBlog :

Bubbles are the problem with the financial markets. Bursting them is painful, but better sooner than later. Bitcoin is the obvious current example, but the stock markets have been in severe bubble territory for some time.

But when bubbles do burst, it is problematic for everyone, whereas their inflation manages to benefit those with the most resources to get into markets.

Yes. That's one of the problems I've had with mainstream Dem, as well as Republican, policies. After dotcom and housing, we should have learned some lessons about these financial bubbles. I guess Dodd-Frank was better than nothing, but it hasn't prevented more potentially damaging financial bubbles.

2. Health Care and Tuition Inflation

Kevin Drum notes that tuition and medical expenses have risen much faster than the general rate of inflation in recent years.

My UU Elevator Speech

1. There is one human society. (Unitarian)
2. All are included. (Universalist)