Yes, organized criminal Russia likes the GOP

In response to Jim Rush’s letter: Russia Now Supports the GOP?

The letter is well reasoned except for one fact, Russia is not the USSR nor is it communist. In 1991 the USSR under M. Gorbachev collapsed and Boris Yeltsin became president. Briefly under a new constitution, it seemed to be a democracy: however, it soon morphed under Putin into a capitalist kleptocracy boasting eighty-five of the world’s billionaires. Our President sold one of his Florida properties to one of them for a profit of over forty million.

No, it is not surprising that Russia supports right wing even fascist candidates in Europe’s elections today. What is surprising is that the party which supported the Joseph McCarthy crusade against Russian espionage in the ’50s now wants to turn a blind eye to Russia’s manipulation of our election. Party first?

You ask why the Russians support a capitalist. As soon as Paul Manafort became Trump’s campaign manager, the candidate began to praise Putin and question the value of NATO. The only change they wanted to make to the party platform was to take out the plank supporting Ukraine against Russian invasion. The Baltic states fear they will be next. Get the picture?

We rightly fear all dictators no matter what their label. You said Bernie is a socialist, but aren’t we all to some extent? Social Security, Medicare, public schools, roads, airports, the military, police, and many more are all socialist institutions.

This story was originally published April 19, 2017 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Yes, organized criminal Russia likes the GOP."