Things can’t seem to get much worse for Democrats and Hillary Clinton at the moment. After a historical campaign waged by the U.S. media, the DNC and the federal government to undermine and ultimately terminate Donald Trump’s unlikely candidacy and ascension to Executive Office, a backlash of equal force is now making itself forcefully felt.
For months, we were told ad nauseum by mainstream media powerhouses like CNN and The New York Times that Donald Trump indeed colluded with Russia. The basis, of course, for these extremely grave claims were elusive “anonymous sources.” For months we were told that there was “proof” of collusion, and even more shockingly, government officials started confirming these claims, referencing these same “super secret” sources.
It seemed for awhile that the sources must’ve been hiding out somewhere, in fear of their lives for unearthing such groundbreaking evidence of collusion between the president and a foreign government. This had to be the case because we never received a piece of concrete evidence from them.
That rationalization was rendered obsolete about a month ago, when it was revealed that those sources could be traced all the way back to Fusion GPS, an intelligence firm hired by the Clinton campaign, the Obama campaign and the DNC. It specializes in what has been dubbed by mainstream media — the same institution that owes the American people an explanation for its negligent lack of journalistic integrity — as “opposition research.”
Usually “research” is grounded in verifiable evidence, and the loftier a claim is, the higher the standard of proof becomes; this much is self-evident to the members of any democracy that is democratic not just in name but also in practice. However, what Fusion GPS spat out was not research. Instead, “opposition research” has been used as a euphemism for propaganda.
The Trump dossier, as the document has been popularly dubbed, reads more like a screenplay synopsis for the next Hollywood franchise. But as the old adage goes: Better late than never. At least now we can identify the culprits of this whole thing, i.e., Hillary Clinton (no stranger to this sort of spotlight), the Obama campaign and the DNC.
Moreover, the journalists who peddled the propaganda based on “anonymous sources,” which we now know didn’t exist, may take accountability for their skullduggery. I also believe we’re yet to receive an apology from a media outlet.
Democrats have been scrambling to distance themselves from the fiasco. Former DNC Chair Donna Brazile said she was not involved in hiring Fusion GPS. She also insinuated that the administration kept something from her. “I asked one question on November 4th, and I was told that I did not need to know,” she said, according to ABC News. What exactly was it Donna Brazile was being kept in the dark about?
Just several days ago The Washington Post revealed that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. at Trump Tower, has ties to Fusion GPS. In fact, the very file she handed Trump Jr., which reportedly contained dirt on Hillary Clinton, was compiled by Fusion GPS. It’s worth mentioning that the file contained useless information and was promptly dismissed by the Trump campaign. The mainstream media-trick here would be to link the Clinton campaign, which worked with Fusion GPS, to Russia, the government to which Veselnitskaya had ties. But in an attempt to uphold basic journalistic ethics, I’ll refrain.
You might be wondering why you should care about any of this. You probably hate Donald Trump and all of his policies and therefore praise anything disparaging about him that comes fumbling out of the mouths of news anchors.
One would imagine that here at Hopkins we cherish the scientific model of inquiry. And yet, when it comes to our political opponents, we utterly abandon such objectivity. I don’t think it’s very controversial to assume that most students on campus think Russia “hacked” last year’s presidential election. And frankly, that’s absurd, and I can now comfortably say it is unscientific too. Bold claims require equally fantastic pieces of evidence. And yet, after months of investigation by Robert Mueller, special counsel in an investigation into Russia and Trump, the reserves of evidence of collusion are still empty.
This has turned into nothing less than a dog and pony show, as the media and political establishment try to come to grips with their historic loss at the hands of Donald Trump. All the while, real evidence of illegal activity against the DNC and Hillary Clinton continues to quietly mount.
Let’s stop chasing our tail and put aside the embarrassing witch hunt against our president and direct some of that zeal instead toward the real suspect, who’s deftly slithered her way out of that critical spotlight. The Queen of our political establishment has been on the loose long enough, and it’s about time we focused our ire on her.
James A is a junior English major from Garden City, N.Y.
