So what is so unusual, or wrong, about an outside interest trying to influence an election?

Influence, nothing. Manipulation, everything.

I think I get it. Sort of.

@josie I think it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Obama did his best to keep Netanyahu from being re elected. I think it is likely we, the U.S.A. has interfered or tried to influence other countries’ elections.

I’m not sure that a national party backing its candidate carries the same level of “outsiderness” as a government which tries to influence the election in an arguably adversarial nation, especially using strategies like widely disseminating misinformation and hacking into various organizations’ databases/software/etc. I’m not saying someone has to necessarily like or agree with the former, nor that the latter is unprecedented on the world stage, but I do think the scope, intent, and strategies employed in both situations differ.

Two main differences as I see it (or IMHO)...

1) Shared Interest: While Georgians may not feel closest to Californians, the majority will recognize that the post is a federal lawmaker, and therefor has implications for the nation as a whole and all parts of it. They’re hoping to influence national policies through local elections.

2) Not trying to cause damage: The problem with Russian interference is that their goal seems to be creating dissension, division, and confusion between the American public. People from New York don’t want to divide or confuse people in Georgia, they just want their guys to win.

That doesn’t get into one other that may or may not have substance in either case (we don’t know at this point), but definitely stokes fear.

Collusion: If Ossoff was receiving money in order to put donor’s interest before his district’s, and that could be proven, that would be a big deal, right?

That’s what we’re looking at with the Trump campaign. Did they know Russia was involved, work with them, or receive benefits from them with the promise of a return? That would be a big deal and there’s a lot of signs that point to at least discussions along those lines. We’ll see how it plays out and what’s actually found or can be proven.

Influence is normal.

Hacking our voting machines would be cause for concern.

And, since our elections seem to be largely determined by money, having a significant effect on the finances of a candidate could also be cause for concern. Particularly because, as with all the other groups that invest extreme amounts of money in our politicians, they expect the politicians they pay for to act in their favor when in office, instead of say, for the benefit of the non-corporate non-billionaire non-foreign-government citizens of the country.

So, when we find out that Trump may have a huge amount of financial dealings with Russia, that might be interesting. If we find out that Trump’s Secretary of State appointee Rex Tillerson happens to have billions at stake with the USA’s sanctions on Russia , that might tend to be a motive for how they relate to that country , more compelling than things like Putin’s apparent interest in taking over Ukraine .

As the self proclaimed leader of the free world (America) maybe the free world should get a say on who “our” leader should be. If other nations got to vote even, you can guarantee Trump would not have gotten the gig.
I realise of course that Russia ain’t exactly what you’d call free, but cast them aside & let your imagination drift a little, can work wonders.

@Zaku As far as I know, Russia is accused of trying to influence votes, not hacking voting machines. If that’s the case, and I’m not sure if that is the only accusation, but if it’s the case, I’m not sure it’s as big a deal as it’s made out to be. Is it illegal for me to post on social media that I don’t like a presidential candidate in France or Germany? Is it any different for a foreigner to post that sort of thing about an American election? Does motive matter? Maybe.

If America wants to protect against money influencing elections they need to take the money out of the equation more. Of course, people have said that for years.

If Trump, or his team, worked with the Russians to influence the elections then I have a serious problem with it. I don’t believe that happened at this point, but if there is evidence he might have, I agree with investigating it.

There’s nothing “unusual” about it… The US has been doing it for a long time. Most countries do. But you can’t get caught. Then it’s “wrong.”

Hacking into emails is a crime. Trump was perfectly fine with the DNC emails being leaked, but flies into a rage when his behavior is leaked.

There is also a distinction to be made between spending by national parties and acceptance of foreign money by members of the government, which is unconstitutional. I don’t know the legal status of acceptance of foreign money for the purpose of becoming a member of the government, but at the very least it is a bit shady.

@JLeslie Russia is accused of both. Here is just one article mentioning the alleged voting system hacking attempts, which Putin denies. Putin has said that the hacking attempts seeming to come from Russian addresses, using Russian techniques, and using Russian language, indicate it must not be Russia but an attempt to frame Russia, probably by someone in the USA. It’s funny but he does have a point – an intelligent intelligence agency certainly could spoof a cyberattack to make it look like Russia. Or Russia could do it sloppily and just say that. ;-)

People trying to influence elections by conversation and advertising is one thing.

Dumping massive amounts of money in campaign donations is another.

And then there’s plotting with candidates to have them and their friends (e.g. Rex Tillerson) stand to benefit BILLIONS of dollars if they lift sanctions, and who knows what other deals involving nation-sized gifts of power and wealth in exchange for acting in ways Putin and Russia would like instead of how you and I and the Ukranian people might like.

@Zaku Well, it obviously doesn’t matter what Putin says he did or didn’t do. I was watching the mini-series about Einstein (which was fantastic) and it just shows how our government will go after people for petty reasons. I was in a CIA lecture three weeks ago that included some of the propoganda rhe US put out during WWII. A reminder you can just never be completely sure. They said something about the propaganda laws changing. I wish I could remember. It was a great lecture.

I think America screws around in the leadership of other countries. I don’t know if we give money to promote a particular candidate, but we have helped kill off, or arrested, leaders if we don’t like them.