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What we also know is that the intelligence agencies have become dominated by neocons so their suspicions of Russian perfidy are hardly news.
Finally we know that Trump isn't a neocon - for him Russia is just another business opportunity with a vast amount of real estate. As it happens there isn't a huge amount of trade between Russia and the US so it is of less strategic economic interest than say China. If Trump wants to have a trade war with China, Russia could be a useful ally. If trump wants to break up the EU, Russia would be an even more useful ally.
So besides an adolescent infatuation with Putin's strong man machismo, there are real reasons why Trump might want to cosy up to Russia and why the intelligence agencies might be alarmed at that prospect.
What is unprecedented is the degree to which they have gone public in their opposition to him and the dismissive way he has treated their opposition.
Among the good things that could yet come out of a Trump Presidency would be a less reverent attitude to the intelligence agencies, possible cutbacks in their funding and access, as well as less meddling in the middle east and Ukraine.
Not a lot of consolation if he starts a war with China or helps to break up the EU, but hey, lets look at the bright side! Index of Frank's Diaries
But Trump's aims and politics don't necessarily conflict with their aims and politics. Both tend to corporate fascism, both claim to be patriotic but use plastic stick-on nationalism as an excuse to promote their own interests, and neither is much troubled by minor distractions such as human rights, the rule of law, or democratic accountability.
America is rotten enough that a truce is a more likely outcome than a war. Trump can't be reined in with a direct challenge, but he can be manipulated with ease, incapacitated in various ways, or even removed and replaced if necessary.
For now I would expect the game to be about waiting and exploring the ways in which he could be useful.
Challenges are more likely to come from the more overt political machinery, especially federal agencies and the judiciary. But if the letter agencies decide Trump is more of an asset than a liability, I wouldn't expect much lasting push-back from those quarters.
Among the good things that could yet come out of a Trump Presidency would be a less reverent attitude to the intelligence agencies, possible cutbacks in their funding and access, as well as less meddling in the middle east and Ukraine. Not a lot of consolation if he starts a war with China or helps to break up the EU, but hey, lets look at the bright side!
Not a lot of consolation if he starts a war with China or helps to break up the EU, but hey, lets look at the bright side!
- Jake Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.
Let's stipulate that we don't know precisely how much quality evidence is behind the report. However the intelligence agencies also gave us the "Saddam has weapons of mass destruction" guff to justify an invasion, so their bona fides are suspect.
I think Iran's alleged atom bomb is a better analogy: It's not out of character for any of the players involved, nor beyond their technical capabilities. But a lot of people have looked very hard for evidence that it actually exists, and found nothing at all beyond the paranoid ravings of notorious conspiracy theorists.
So while it's not at the same level of lunacy as Nessie or the little gray aliens at Roswell, it's certainly less plausible than grassy knoll theory off the Kennedy assassination.
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