This year’s presidential election brought half the nation to tears as Donald Trump was named the 45th president of the United States. A massive wave of fear and contempt swept across America when it was announced our country’s future lay in the hands of a despicable monster. Hillary Clinton’s devastating loss surprised even those in support of Trump, as the majority of the American people anticipated Clinton to claim victory with flying colors.
How exactly did a man like Trump manage to garner enough votes for the win? While it is difficult to accept the fact that almost half of the American population chose to support Trump’s campaign, for some, there is comfort in knowing an external force is held accountable for efforts in attempting to interfere with the 2016 election.
The Obama administration recently accused Russia of hacking the Democratic National Committee’s computers and various political associations. Public condemnation made by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security developed from pressure inside the administration to hold Moscow responsible for generating disharmony surrounding the election.
With the success of hacking the DNC network in 2015, a Russian government hacking group was able to read all emails and view all chat communications between the committee’s employees. A second hacking group in April broke into the network once again, this time pursuing the opposition research on then-candidate Trump. The DNC uncovered the infringement around this time, calling on the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike to install their technology onto the DNC’s computers to begin an investigation.
These two hacker groups had already been on CrowdStrike’s radar from previous attacks in the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. CrowdStrike was able to identify the hackers by drawing connections to their techniques used in the past, linking them to the Russian government and their involvement in previous campaigns.
The group responsible for the security breach in April is known as Fancy Bear, who allegedly stole the files pertaining to Trump’s opposition research. The other group guilty of hacking the DNC network last year calls itself Cozy Bear, charged not only for the DNC scandal, but for affairs involving the White House, state departments and the Pentagon. Members of the Democratic National Committee have installed CrowdStrike’s software to block future attempts at penetration.
Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, told The Washington Post, “Russia must face serious consequences. Moscow orchestrated these hacks because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin believes Soviet-style aggression is worth it. The United States must upend Putin’s calculus with a strong diplomatic, political, cyber and economic response.”
Trump’s enthusiasm to restore diplomatic relations with Russia should raise the question of Trump’s true intent regarding our nation’s security. Placing trust in a nation guilty of hacking into the confidential affairs of one’s own country foreshadows insecure and dangerous international relations. Likewise, Putin’s support of Trump’s ideals causes concern over the type of relationship valued between these two powerful leaders. Any nation in support of the degradation of women, the discrimination against our country’s multicultural identity, the racist and sexist attitudes arising from collective hatred and contempt is a nation undeserving of respect.
What may be a victory for the Republican Party could be the downfall of our entire nation. We, as Americans, have the right to fear not only internal threats to our nation’s equality, freedom and identity, but the possibility of the failure to maintain honest relations with other nations. With the election of Trump as America’s next president, liberty and justice for all has become a lie. Let’s not fall to the dangers of deception as well.
