I think I’m going to let someone else pick this up if they care to as I honestly can’t discern a coherent pattern here. You normally make more sense to me even if I disagree with your point.

I don’t believe we ever had truly unreliable intelligence about the Middle East in the case of Iraq (nor do I think what we knew was handled dispassionately or apolitically). In fact, all of the intelligence we needed from prior to 9/11 apparently existed, but we failed to put together the correct scenario or to act on it (no blame, just saying). Which is not to say that we do not have more established and reliable channels of info on Russia, but our intelligence gathering on virtually everything has likely never been more complete thanks to the vulnerable nature of communications, satellite technology, etc.

All of my current misgivings about the intelligence community come from what particular officials say and what they do, or what they electively choose not to say or do, despite what they demonstrably know. The lies, misdirection and meddling are indefensible. “The Russians” could only DREAM of pushing election results around at the level of one entitled, self-congratulatory man named James Comey.

I have no clue about Metaxas’ claims. He makes my head spin these days. But I have to say, having listened to primarily NPRs coverage of the Butina/NRA/Republican story, what was lacking was any specific information about scale and results. The same is true of the Russian election meddling. I understand that the Russian government is not a trustworthy entity, and that they have avidly sought to penetrate our own defenses on every front for decades. But the concern from certain quarters about Russia and some decidedly inept actors seems suddenly outsized and alarmist.

Thank you Dr. Throckmorton for your clarity, evidence-based decision-making, and commitment to truth.

Yes, they are cartoonish stereotypes that the left invented to ridicule cold war conservatives.

I don’t think we should extend unearned trust to anyone in authority over us or in positions of great power, rather we should look carefully at what they do. The Russians (government? self-interested individuals or factions? companies?) interfering in our affairs should be dealt with accordingly, and any aggression by Russia against its neighbors should be dealt with. IMO, the greatest threat from Russia is that they will cooperate with China to topple the American dollar, but we apparently have no problem dancing with brutal, totalitarian China. Thankfully, Russia can’t make dirt cheap flat screen televisions.

In terms of our intelligence agencies? I see little to give me encouragement, and IMO it has only gotten worse since Bush was the President. I have been appalled at the actions and statements of James Comey, but he’s just one entitled meddler in an intelligence community with no substantive outside accountability.

Intel about Russians is historically more reliable than intel about what middle east players are doing. We have a long history with the Russians. You are also conflating the intel Bush received and what he and Congress chose to do with it. Furthermore, it is not logical to reason from a past incident to the current situation. Because the intel was inaccurate in certain aspects before doesn’t mean the intel is wrong now.

If Metaxas has evidence for his position he should say what it is. The evidence I found is the best that can be gleaned by those outside the situation. Given the history of the Russians and their disinformation campaign, I will still choose US institutions over Mickey Mouse or Putin.

Your last comment is full of cartoonish stereotypes and implied straw men. This brand of discourse is not the norm for you in my experience.

Each situation is different, but this sort of activity has always been a staple of the USSR and Putin’s Russia. The evidence of this most recent case comes from far more than our intelligence community and should not be partisan. Even so, are you suggesting that we never trust them again because of selective intelligence displayed by the Bush administration? That we should rather trust governments such as Putin’s?

Yes, I have been co-opted by the dirty Russians. They have sullied my opinions of our upstanding and unassailable intelligence agencies and politicians.

Seriously, though… I am baffled at how the left transformed in only one year from skeptics about the red scare and our intelligence apparatus, and then alarmism about Russian geopolitical influence and beligerence, to indignantly defending the sacred honor of the CIA and FBI and warning us about the subversive (and nearly subconscious) influence of evil Russia.

I fear your attitude and conclusions here reflect exactly the sort that Russian operations wish to elicit. I would challenge you to step back a bit and re-evaluate.

Last week, she struck a plea agreement in which she admitted her guilt in exchange for a reduced sentence. About 97% of such cases end up in a plea agreement.

Combined with the 93% conviction rate if you do take your case to trial, this is not a good thing. Far too often, defendants are essentially forced into taking pleas after prosecutors threaten to pile on far more serious charges if you decide to chance your arm in court. It’s little short of legal blackmail.

Yes, there is a place for plea bargains, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s propping up a judicial system gone wild — if fewer cases could be railroaded by the current system, there wouldn’t be the time or money to convict so many people, and perhaps then the US prison population wouldn’t be five times the European average any more.

All that said, I doubt Metaxas has ever shown the same amount of concern for the millions of American citizens who have been railroaded by the system…

James Clapper is a documented liar on the matter of domestic spying, James Comey is a complete weasel who willfully or incompetently threw the election to Trump with his meddling, and individual government agents acted on gross political bias with little to no oversight. Wikileaks is the best friend any American ever had.

If I have to choose between trusting our government or trusting the Russian company that bilked someone by producing those hamfisted and absurd Facebook ads, I choose Mickey Mouse.