Huw Davies
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

Caitlin, you must be the only ‘rogue’ journalist in Melbourne. Maybe we should butt heads over coffee some time. You enjoy coffee? You live in Melbourne, it’s a given. It’s hard to find a real journo who doesn’t follow a consistent pro or anti political line consistently. I have long ago given up on Australian print and tv media, apart from the ABC and even then I have to swallow hard to accept some of the ‘unbiased’ stuff they put out. Being balanced for the ABC means giving raving loonies and alt-right Lieberals equal time with what’s left of the left of politics.

However, there is always a however, I find your insistence on denying the Russian connection puzzling. It is writ large in the connections of Trump and the hangers on behaviour of, if not pro-Russia then decidedly anti American democracy, sleaze bags, prior to, during and after the stolen election of 2016. Why else is Trump so frantically trying to terminate all enquiries into this subject? Why did he openly root, as the Americans say, for Vlad The Impaler to hack the DNC and Clinton email servers? Nothing to see here? Bullshit.

It’s a long time since I studied American and Soviet/Russian politics but I can spot a broken system where I see what has happened to America. When corporate slush funding money becomes the principal motivator of the majority of American politicians it doesn’t matter what the source is, Russia or the NRA, defeating Obama or Clinton and stashing what’s left after paying for attack ads is acceptable behaviour.

The Ruskis did the under the counter dirty tricks and the amoral right wing of the GOP (does the GOP have an un-amoral wing anymore?) wallowed in the frenzy of televised election filth that defeated Clinton. She was/is not lily-white as a politician but she did/does have a better grasp of what government and governance means. No politician trying to truly govern in the interest of the American people in general will ever succeed against a Congress as venal and in thrall to big money, from whatever source(s). Russia is just the latest player in American politics. Their money and influence are simply another manifestation of American naivety when it comes to politics for the average American. Frankly, they are just a bunch of dumb shits when it comes to government.

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    Huw Davies

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    Graduate of Australian National University. Worked as a teacher, foreign aid administrator, corporate philanthropy trust manager, now retired. I DONT GOOGLE!