There goes my trick knee again. It’s throbbing. My gut is grumbling. My fingers are tingling.
Something is telling me that the “smooth and seamless transition” from the Obama administration to the Trump administration is going to become a lot less smooth and seamless.
Why? Gosh. Let me think. Oh! It’s that Russian hacking thing, I reckon.
Donald J. Trump is dismissing — and dissing — the intelligence community’s assessment that Russian spooks hacked into our cyber network and sought to affect the presidential election.
President Obama, meanwhile, is declaring his intention before he leaves office in a little more than month to strike back at the Russians.
Who’s reacting correctly here, the president or the president-elect?
I’m going to go with the man who’s still on the watch in the Oval Office.
Trump’s stated view that the CIA is all wet and his belief that the Russians didn’t do anything wrong is a profoundly dangerous posture to take, given what we know about Russian President Vladimir Putin’sĀ world view and his demonstrated ability to commit atrocious mischief whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Barack Obama is planning to take action against the Russians, whileĀ hoping forĀ an easy handoff to the man who’ll succeed him.
The transition could be made a lot smoother if the new guy, Trump, would accept what theĀ intelligence community already knows. The Russians aren’t our friends and they aren’t likely to become friends if they detect they have a patsy sitting behind that big desk in the Oval Office.
My hope, of course, is that the president retains the dignity he has brought to the office and ensures as smooth a transition as possible. If only, though, this Russian hacking matter hadn’t gotten in the way.
