Letter to the Poughkeepsie Journal - Sent 3/24/17

By Bill Kriebel

The “mainstream” media have been filled with speculation that candidate Trump’s associates “colluded” with the Russian government to sabotage an “inevitable” Clinton victory. But what did that alleged collusion allegedly produce? It produced evidence that the media colluded with the Clinton campaign to assure her victories in the primaries and the general election. That evidence has been corroborated on many fronts, but there’s still no convincing evidence that Russians were behind it, nor that Trump had anything to do with it.

Now the same colluding media are ridiculing Pres. Trump’s assertion that the Obama administration spied on him or his campaign. Why is this so unbelievable, considering it’s the same administration that turned the IRS into a political weapon targeting conservative groups? If Trump is right, he had both the media and the Obama administration colluding against his candidacy, and worse, working to sabotage his presidency after he was elected.

If Russia meddled in our political process, it’s something we should expect and be prepared for in the future. If a sitting president meddled in the political process to try to influence who succeeded him, that is an affront to democracy and should be dealt with harshly. That is something that strongly calls for investigation.

I believe the “mainstream” media are obsessing on the Russian angle to divert attention from their own sins, and possibly the sins of an administration that never viewed them as anything but an ally.