Not good for Americans

Over the last few days the nasty guy said he’d have no problem taking info if a foreign agent offered dirt on a political opponent. Later the nasty guy tried to walk it back, but not convincingly.

Asha Rangappa is a former FBI special agent. She spells out why it is wrong to accept such info and the practical reasons why we don’t want a president or presidential candidate to do this.

For one thing, nations don’t have “friends,” they have interests. Hostile foreign adversaries, in particular, are designated as “hostile” because they are typically acting against U.S. interests, principles, or values.

When foreign governments are offering to “help” a particular candidate, it’s not because they want to have a beer with them at some point. They want to be able to change our policies — including ones that make it easier for them to do things against the interests of the U.S.

The second reason we don’t want this is that when such help is accepted and kept hidden, it becomes a source of liability for the candidate/officeholder. This means that the foreign government then has LEVERAGE over a person who ends up in a position of public trust.

Obviously, someone who can be directly or indirectly coerced into using their position and powers to advance the interest of another country — including to the detriment of the United States — IS NOT GOOD FOR AMERICANS. This is bad.

Garry Kasparov, head of the Human Rights Foundation, responded to Rangappa:

Asha gets to the core of Trumpism, and other aspects of crumbling democratic norms. People like Trump don't ask WHY things are wrong if those things are useful to them personally. They look only at the consequences, good or bad.

When I said in a Feb 2017 interview that Americans were about to find out the hard way that many of their institutions were based on the honor system, this is what I meant. Donald "So Sue Me" Trump doesn't care about norms.

Mafiaso minds only care about consequences. They don't care "how bad it looks" or that it's against the intent of the law. Only if the costs to them are higher than the benefits.

They exploit the benefit of the doubt that the law provides the accused in the free world. "Prove it. Sue me. Is it really illegal?" And, eventually, "If you really cared, you would stop me."

Autocrats use the weakness of the opposition as a pretext for further abuses. This is why impeachment proceedings are essential, by the way. It's not just moral hazard or politics. Every delay is a green light.

So you have to fight at every turn, for every inch, and it's exhausting because the aggressor has the advantage, the full spectrum of state power to use & abuse.

Every concession to an autocrat, however minor, is a preparation for defeat later. There is no good faith, no common ground. They will betray you as soon as it suits them. Fight or lose.