Steve Benen on MaddowBlog gets a trifle hysterical – or perhaps he’s a little lacking in the imagination department – with regard to the ongoing scandal of Russia interfering in the American election:
If we stopped here and went no further, we’d still have one of the most important campaign stories in American history. It’s an almost unimaginable crime: a foreign adversary provided clandestine assistance to a presidential candidate, creating a dynamic in which the next leader of the free world managed to reach the office thanks in part to foreign espionage.
Well, no. Nearly unimaginable would require something out of the pages of the National Enquirer involving space aliens. The discussion de jour? We’ve certainly interfered in our share of elections, both during and after, including Iran. Interference in an American election is not nearly unimaginable, except that we’ve never had it thrown in our faces before.
But all this is sort of behind the point. Here’s what Steve has not yet addressed: what do we do about it? The Constitution, so far as I recall, does not address the question. I am not a lawyer, so I don’t know if we’ve ever had reason to address it in the courts – so, assuming not, what’s the response?
Obama can not do anything. Any positive response on his part to the crisis that requires an extension of his term will result – quite correctly – in cries of illegitimacy and, on the fringes, of dictatorship. His role is to call out the problem to the citizenry, entreating a response.
Clinton? I think she should do little, otherwise she risks sullying her reputation with the epithet of “sore loser”, and while no doubt most conservatives still despise her, in the long term I suspect she’ll be exculpated of all charges and considered one of the finest candidates for President to not win the job. But she has little leverage at this time.
Trump? Honestly, beats me. This is without precedent. I doubt he can legitimately (but, of course, yes legally) step aside on this basis: this nation needs someone to run the Executive branch. But to do so wisely? I just don’t see him able to do so.
Perhaps he should be really wise and try to construct a national unity government, with Democrats and Republicans in the Cabinet, and the Senate Republicans doing their job, rather than the rubber stamp they tend to employ. McCain and Graham have shown some grit, perhaps they can lead the way.
Otherwise, it’s going to be a rough, divisive four years, which may result in the destruction of the Republican Party, and the loss of American prestige world-wide.
