So Congressman Don Beyer things we should delay the pro forma vote of the Electoral College until the electors can receive a full briefing on Russia's efforts to influence the Presidential Election?
Now Publius Fred wants to be absolutely clear, he neither approves of the apparent (or is it transparent) efforts of the Putin regime to influence the US Election. But to the extent that those efforts succeeded, it was only by virtue of the American electorate having been swayed by a mixture of fact and propaganda. In other words, it was business as usual for any election in the last, oh, 224 years (Publius Fred will give the initial election of George Washington the benefit of the doubt). Should we be concerned that a foreign power as interfered with our electoral process? Certainly. But let's not pretend that but for the release of a few emails and false news stories the result of the election would have been vastly different.
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It seems only fitting that Publius Fred's second post should address the same subject matter as that of The Federalist No. 2 (and 3, 4 and 5). Actually, No. 2 never quite reaches the subject of its title. Nonetheless, it is worthy to note that Publius considered the subject of dealings with foreign nations of paramount importance.
Sadly, a good many in our nation today do not seem overly concerned with "Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence," viz. the outright dismissal of the President-elect of intelligence reports that the hacking of various political organizations was backed by the Russian government (influence) and likewise his disregard for the power of a nation of one billion plus people (force). President-elect Trump's dismissal of the CIA report on Russian influence can be, one hopes, dismissed as his usual blather for the street. If, however, the future President truly believes that the report is merely sour grapes from those in the agency allegedly disappointed with the outcome of the election, we are in serious trouble. Like Stuart's cavalry was for Lee to the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, the CIA is the eyes of the President on matters of foreign intrigue -- and without it he is made blind. Of more serious consequence, however, is the President-elects open flouting of the One China Policy. Perhaps it is simply that he fails to understand the dangers of poking the Asian tiger. Publius Fred thinks, however, that it is even more simplistic than that. Because President-elect Trump is solely motivated by his own self-aggrandizement, and measures his success in besting, or at least in believing he has bested, the other side, he assumes that the other side plays for the same reason and the same result. China does not, however, care a fig for winning in the short term. China can play the long game; in fact, it has been doing so for going on 70 years -- longer if you count Mao's time in the hills. Publius Fred is no so much concerned about loss of trade with China (farewell, Walmart), but with loss of influence, already dwindling, in South Asia and the equatorial and Polynesian Pacific. China lacks naval power, but not air power. And its interest in expanding into the South China Sea is intended to exploit that imbalance. Moreover, even if China could not successful defend a projection of power off of the mainland, it could not be subdued by sea power alone. The President-elect should heed Vizzini, "Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - the most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' - but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!'" In The Federalist No. 1, Publius determined to give his readers a General Introduction to the work that would follow. Publius Fred sees no good reason to depart from this format. Thus, this first post to The Frederalist Papers journal will be a general introductiong to what Publius Fred believes will be a continual and evolving work in progress. You, Dear Reader, may think of what follows as The Frederalist Manifesto, as it will set out the ethos under which Publius Fred hopes to conduct this experiment in online self realization.
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AuthorPublius Fred Archives
May 2020
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