emptywheel

I bet Vladimir Putin made Tom Brady wear that Make America Great Hat, too.https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/932306822115004423 …

The existence of 62 million Americans who are dumb enough to support Trump w/o foreign meddling doesn't negate the problem of Russia trying to influence 100K more, and whether that was decisive doesn't mean Trump isn't beholden.

Thanks. Did you mean to reply to a different tweet, one which that sentiment was on point to?

The reference to Brady implied, to me, that homegrown support for Trump meant Putin's meddling was innocuous.

Gotcha. It was meant to be an analogy that noted we let our own stars engage in stupid political support, even for douchebags like Trump, without the same kind of scrutiny. And often for the same reason: because top athletes and top--whatever Trump is--travel the same circles.

I get your analogy. I also think there are a lot of pundits who downplay Putin's meddling by saying it didn't swing the election. I perceived a connection.

I think there are a lot of commentators who apply standards to RU w/o self-awareness that similar things happen in our own country.

We have one of the most dreadful histories of any country in the world. Iranians and Filipinos should hate our guts, for example. But that doesn't mean we should give Putin a pass. It doesn't work that way.