Is Russia linked to Republican voter suppression laws via the NRA?

We know that in at least one state and possibly all of the key states, Republican voter suppression laws turned the 2016 Presidential election.

How much funding did the NRA put into these efforts? And how much of that came from Russia?

Trump's Treason Summit

One has to wonder: what could move Republicans to oppose Trump if not his Treasonous attacks on America from a summit with Putin? What is backing the word of a foreign dictator whose interests oppose our own over the word of our whole US intelligence community if not "giving [enemies] aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere"?

Sure, he's since read a statement -- or should we say script -- to walk back one small word of what he said. Not that his reading seemed sincere, but even if it had, consider how the original "would" fits much more with everything else he said before and after than the "wouldn't" that he claimed when reading his script.

The Latest WSJ Revelations on Flynn and Russian Involvement While On the NSC

"According to the [Wall Street] Journal, the ethics advisors on the National Security Council actually told him to remove himself from this project but quote the activity continued." - Rachel Maddow

See the rest in "New revelations deepen Flynn legal jeopardy".

Red Implications

Anyone else suspecting that -- aside from the direction of the US Supreme Court for the next several decades -- the 2016 US Presidential election will also determine whether Ukraine gets annexed by Russia in 2017 or not?

And who wants to bet Putin would stop there?

Russia a Rival or Partner, Not a "Foe"

Someone please fill Mitt in on a fact of diplomacy: Word choice matters, Mr. Romney ... especially when running for or being President.

While this forum seeks to avoid specific endorsements to vote for a particular candidate, it's fair to say that there are certain statements that should clearly rule out the election of a candidate. It's the sort of thing that leaves one wondering, "what was he thinking?"

Not for the first time, having previously said similar things, in the third 2012 Presidential debate Mr. Romney said,

"First of all, Russia, I indicated, is a geopolitical foe ..."

Presuming he's not confused as to what "is" means, perhaps Mr. Romney is unclear on the meaning of "foe". Merriam-Webster defines foe as

1. one who has personal enmity for another
2. an enemy in war
3. one who opposes in principle
4. something prejudicial or injurious

That's very harsh language. As he's repeatedly stated that they're our foe, the only way it could have been an accident is if he just doesn't understand the meaning of the term. Assuming that he has some idea what he's saying then according to Mr. Romney's choice of term, he essentially claims that either there's hatred between our nations, that we're at war, that we're directly opposed as a matter of principle, or that they're actively hurting us. Mr. Romney is, of course, wrong. Quite thoroughly wrong. Un-Presidentially, ineptly, dangerously wrong.

Granted, relations with Russia are sometimes tense. Granted, our nations historically were foes of each other at certain points in our history. But the same could be said for many of our modern allies, such as Germany and the United Kingdom. That would be no excuse for calling them foes today.

Russia today is our geopolitical rival in many ways. In other ways it our geopolitical partner. We compete with Russia for influence over various nations that are important to both nations in trade. That makes us rivals, not foes. Russia recently allowed us to pass supplies through their territory and worked with us on joint counter-terrorism and counter-piracy efforts. That makes us sometimes partners, not foes.

Romney attempts to excuse his declaration by saying, 

"Russia does continue to battle us in the U.N. time and time again. I have clear eyes on this. I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin ..."

If one wishes to avoid wearing rose-colored glasses about a village facing a harsh winter, one does not set fire to the village. That Russia doesn't agree with us about everything in the United Nation just makes them a different nation with interests that don't always match our own. One can't improve our chances of cooperation in the U.N. by declaring them our foe. We may, however, make them more willing to side with us on issues where there's potential for compromise by engaging in joint efforts against our real, mutual foes: terrorists and pirates ... as we have done recently.

One builds an ally through efforts to work together. One builds foes through setting oneself against potential foes. Mitt Romney told us loud and clear what he would do for the United States. He would build us an array of foes. That would hurt us in trade. That would hurt us in treaties. Mitt Romney clearly represents the wrong direction for America in the world.