Talk about winning a war without firing one shot at the enemy. The admiration, envy and emulation of totalitarian Chinese despotism in the U.S. must feel like a victory.
This was bin laden’s goal. Making Americans afraid was very successful because it turns out that stoking fear is very profitable and useful for gaining power. Now everyone is taking advantage of it.
We know Russia invested a lot in this outcome. Hence, at some point, this government will be seen as treasonous. Didn't China as well, wouldn't they know it's a net win for them and their interests, despite the few hurdles ("tariffs") that were announced?
I never understood why there hasn't been more investigation into Russian influence during the last four years. But maybe the ones to make a call about that didn't care.
Most of the claims of Russian influence were directly proven, the only thing not proven was direct coordination with the presidents campaign. Notably, there were several ‘dangled pardons’ to prevent people from testifying (pardons that were eventually granted) so who knows what actually happened.
I think the most dangerous claims about Russian interference could not be proven true, they weren't proven false. I'm talking here about Trump being a full on Russian asset.
As a side note, I'm not sure that he is _explicitely_ in contact with Russia, but since he got oRussian assistance, an implicit quit-pro-quo is obvious to me.
The fact Russia meddled in US elections is pretty clear cut by this point.
Definitely. At this point rest of the world might as well become friends with China. At least Xi Jinping the CCP aren't idiots, which makes them more predictable to deal with than Trump's regime.
