Rep. Ken Buck's replacement for Colorado's 4th a real doozie

 Update: 3 19 2024: Buck's replacement was picked to run in the primary. Greg Lopez is an election denier, against abortions with no exceptions, with a history of domestic violence, DUIs, and other run ins with the law.  Boebert did not vie for the nomination.

https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/28/greg-lopez-ken-buck-colorado-4th-district-lauren-boebert/

Nov, 1, 2023 posting on this blog as background?Ken Buck, R-CO, just announced on Andrea Mitchell's midday news program on MSNBC that he is not standing for re-election. Buck was an outspoken critic of his fellow House members who still supported the Big Lie and excused the Jan.6 riot/insurrection. He also was a strong supporter of aid to Ukraine. His district in Colorado is red, and he has just left the field to further takeover by MAGA. He, however, has made it clear he will still be a strong voice on the issues that put him in direct conflict with the new speaker, Mike Johnson though he rationalised his recent vote on Speaker that Mike Johnson did not participate in the Jan 6 violence and sought remedies within the judicial system.. When asked if Buck would support Trump or Biden in the upcoming presidential election, he answered he did not like either one. He does not plan to leave the Republican party.

He follows the recent announcement of a long time member of Congress from Texas that she could not seek re-election. Longtime Texas Rep. Kay Granger won’t seek reelection | The Hill

GOP Rep. Ken Buck is leaning in to his role as a conservative contrarian. But will voters in Colorado’s reddest district punish him for it? | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org) 

Why election deniers have reasons to keep up the big lie

The importance of continuing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen is that it has become a political strategy key to Trump's re-election.  No evidence has emerged in nearly four years of trying to find it that would have found enough irregularities to result in Trump being re-elected.  By now, rational thought should have debunked the lie long ago.   Instead, more political leaders still embrace the Big Lie than ever before.  Not all of them are so irrational to ignore the lack of evidence. It has evidently become an important 2024 election tool for Trump supporters. 

The brief tenure of Ronna McDaniels as a political commentator on NBC left me with mixed feelings.  McDaniels, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, had been brought on to the network to give news coverage a more balanced appearance, I assume. Still, it ended in heated and on-camera objections from many NBC and MNBC stars. the network brass reversed itself.  In her first appearance, she refused to back down from being an election denier who contributed to the January 6 violent rioters and Trump's attempted coup to overturn the 2020 election results to turn him from a loser to a winner. I would have looked forward to her defending election denying in the face of challenges from other panel members or moderators. The sign of a true believer is to admit that Biden sits in the White House, so he is now President, but never to admit the 2020 election was legitimate.  McDaniels, now a private citizen, passed the true believer MAGA test in her interview on Meet the Press in March, igniting howls of protest that giving a public platform to promote such lies was unacceptable. She refused to agree the 2020 election was fair and referred to all of the "problems" in the 2020 election. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ronna+mcdaneil+meet+press+first+interview

How can one explain why election denials  have such power even in 2024? It makes no sense unless you view it as a cynical political strategy that benefits Trump and the MAGA movement.

     1. One explanation could be that it has value as a strategy and a tactic to give some sort of rationale to justify a second coup, violent or otherwise.  The 2020 election was stolen, so expect 2024 to be stolen again if Trump loses, goes the pitch. Political violence is already being threatened. The chief election official in Colorado is the Secretary of State, a Democrat, and like other election officials throughout the US, she must have 24-7 security protection because of the threats of violence against them. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/politics/threats-us-public-officials-democracy-invs/index.html

Trump has a long history of supporting violence to accomplish a political goal. Even if you think he is just bluffing and bloviating, then learn how he has promoted violence in the past. It is a big part of who he is Promising to free and forgive violent and convicted January 6 protestors is just the most obvious one, but his inciting violence or advocating it has a record. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/trump-fans-flames-of-violence-yet-calls.html

     2. Another explanation could be that it is also a way to identify those who are true MAGA supporters from those who are not, like a secret handshake to get entry into the Trump club or as a hex sign to warn off a political attack by MAGA party disciplinarians of being primaried or publicly humiliated. Fear of loss of power or livelihood in a primary is a powerful motivator.   Trump's threat of revenge and retribution if he is re-elected is his promise often repeated.

    3. There could be another, darker reason for keeping the Big Lie going. It provides motivation and a rationale to enact voter suppression legislation and call it "voter integrity."  If the system is broken, we should fix it, according to pious logic. The problem is there is no evidence the system was that broken to justify unlawful purging of voter records, playing keepaway from convenient ballot drop boxes, and stopping mail in voting. However, suppressing the vote benefits the Trump re-election efforts by weakening his feared opposition.  What the MAGA "fix" is passing laws making it hard for targeted, presumed potential anti-Trump and pro-Biden voters to vote, all in the name of "voter integrity," based on the presumption that the young and the poorer minorities are the ones to commit voter fraud.  The current crusade is to end mail-in balloting (the fraud-free system used in Colorado by most voters). That is both a race-based approach that appeals to the white nationalist element of MAGA and one that does not stand up to evidence of prosecution records. Furthermore, when the MAGA crowd and FOX media lost millions in losing the defamation suit against the vote tabulating systems of Doniniium, they just kept spouting their unproved theories.  If the solution is to use only paper ballots, the answer is to keep mail-in voting and still provide same-day polling places as Colorado does. Paper ballots kept secure are the best proof in an audit that the computer systems upheld the validity of the count in an audit.   https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/5-egregious-voter-suppression-laws-2021

https://www.lwv.org/voting-rights/fighting-voter-suppression

     4. It supports the continuing rule of autocrats, which Trump promotes and what he promises to be. However, know when an autocrat controls the election system, as Trump would like to do with his appointments. there is no faith that there is any election integrity at all. We just witnessed the Russian sham elections recently, which were neither fair nor free, giving Putin his 6th term with 87% of the vote, the same incredible outcome of voting as in the old Communist-controlled USSR.  Putting MAGA in control, like the fox guarding the henhouse, of counting the vote is about the same lack of faith and credibility as it is in Russia. 

5. The Boss requires it. He has honed the technique over many years. Donald Trump has a long history of denying he lost a contest. It was noted when he was the Apprentice star who failed to get the Emmy he thought he deserved. Election denial was again used to explain the rigging that explained Obama's success, which popped up in 2012, and then, in 2020, it set off a bell in an October presidential debate. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timeline-donald-trumps-election-denial-claims-republican-politicians/story?id=89168408   At first, it was just a comment made during a debate by Donald Trump in  October of 2016 that set off the first alarm bells. .https://www.npr.org/2016/10/20/498713509/donald-trump-says-hell-accept-the-results-of-the-election-if-he-wins    Some watching the debate thought he was just making a joke, but the joke was on us. He was not kidding. Others thought he believed he would lose, so he was preparing his followers to not lose faith; he never lost anything, and he would do something.   And something he did culminating in the January 6 attempted coup.  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/no-modern-presidential-candidate-refused-to-concede-heres-why-that-matters  

6. The purge is complete.MAGA election deniers have taken over the GOP and many state officials.They got the power and prestige by riding on election denying oratory. The US Speaker of the House is an election denier, and the present and just past RNC (Republican National Committee) chairs are election deniers. Election deniers are in place to administer the 2024 elections in many states.   https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/election-deniers-playbook-2024 

In Colorado, recently mostly blue,   a very conservative and disgusted  Rep. Buck (R)  bailed out of the House before his term was up, leaving the GOP control hanging by a thread. He cited that the lies still promoted by the 2020 election were stolen. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-rep-ken-buck-leaving-congress-eroding-gop-majority-rcna143046 His district is ruby red, so he will likely be his replacement who passes the MAGA loyalty tests. The Colorado state party chair, Dave Let's Go, Brandon Williams, the supreme Colorado election denier, is also running for Congress to fill another announced House vacancy in a red district.  Republican state chair Dave Williams wins top-line in Colorado's 5th Congressional District primary | Elections | coloradopolitics.com   

Buck's replacement was picked to run in the primary. Greg Lopez is an election denier, against abortions with no exceptions, with a history of domestic violence, DUIs, and other run ins with the law. https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/28/greg-lopez-ken-buck-colorado-4th-district-lauren-boebert/

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/candidate-lets-go-brandon-nickname/73-cac3b05d-4d57-4ac6-961c-6d308155e2f6

In my own county, the newly elected County Clerk nearly lost to opponents who suspected she was an election denier who would be running elections. She squeaked by winning her election recently after claiming the retiring loyal and much respected GOP clerk was OK, but the rest of the 2020 election, state and national, was a fraud. Go figure.    

Colorado county clerks revolt against GOP election denialism pressure

 This is an excerpt in italics from  a December 9 posting with additional commentary and updated status of the Tina Peter's federal trial scheduled for Febrary 2024

In Colorado, on December 8, 2023, there was an explosive report by Kyle Clark, KUSA,  a local station,  about threats and politics of election denialists that shows how   MAGA lies are used to seize control of the election processes on a local government level.  . Next Conversation: Head of Colorado's County Clerks Association talks election rigging lies - YouTube  

 This is a prelude to Trump's attempt at the Big Lie again to stay in power if he ever gets elected again, and it is his pretext for Trump loyalists to control the entire election process from registration to voter access, to vote casting, to tabulation, and to reporting at the exclusion of any opponents in the process.  It is the end of free and fair elections if he succeeds is doing this throughout the country, and the attempt is already underway, as this Colorado GOP attempt illustrates.  The message: elections are already corrupt (the Big Lie), not free or fair, so why not put your MAGA buddy in charge. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: An election denier will now be the Colorado state GOP chair Update 3 12 2023         Note: a critic of the Big Lie, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), was a casualty himself. He will not run for re-election in a ruby-red district.

The following comments are my additional ones to the December 9 posting.  Note in  Kyle Clark's interview of the executive director of the County Clerk's Association he and nearly all of the Colorado county clerks are Republicans.  As a former county clerk (Denver)  years ago, that was also the case. (I was usually the lone Democrat).  Party ideology then was simple: do the best job to ensure the voting process goes smoothly and accurately and follow the rules.  Those were low-technology processes back then, and voting machines were the lever type backed up by paper ballots.  In every layer of the process in Denver, representatives of both political parties looked over each other's shoulders to ensure that the rules were followed and the process was honest.(*no longer required, though)  In the time of high tech, in Colorado, those paper ballots are still available for any audits if questions are asked, and recounts that are triggered by a percentage in close races, and still are.  Clerks were proud, and most still are  (with several exceptions in 2020) of being accurate and rule-abiding. To have a state party GOP chair threatening to primary any GOP clerk who is not loyal to MAGA and claim the process for which they were proud and took responsibility is outrageous and insulting, but also a threat to clerk's positions to which they were elected after surviving their primaries ..   As individuals, thanks to the threats of their own party chairs, they could not speak out individually, but their association did. on Clark's broadcast on NBC's Denver affiliate, 9 News..

In my own county, election denialism nearly caused the GOP candidate for the county clerk to lose her election in 2022.. It was a squeaker in a red county blushing a bit purple. She was running to fill the vacancy left by the previous Republican county clerk, respected by both parties who chose not to run again for the office. The candidate refused to say the 2020 election was not fraudulent, but when pressed, she admitted her Republican predecessor had run a clean election. It just was that every other county, by implication, was corrupt because she was MAGA..  In the meantime, seizing national attention was a GOP country clerk, Tina Peters, in Mesa County who had fallen for the national party election denialism, broke the rules, and gave the codes to a Trumpster nonstaff member to seize the county machinery and jeopardize the security and integrity of the vote count, ... 

More on the Tina Peters case: Federal trial schedules in February 2024

Update: 12/10/2023  Tina Peters files federal lawsuit to halt investigations, prosecutions (coloradosun.com)  Peters is facing trial early in 2024 after federal indictments for her actions in 2022.

Update: 2/11/23  New information from the FBI delays the Tina Peters election tampering trial. What is interesting is FBI evidence claiming that the "update of computer systems "was not performed by an employee of the clerk's office" as Peter's claimed but by someone else using a copy of an employee's access key.ttps://www.cpr.org/2023/02/09/tina-peters-trial-delayed/

Tina Peters arraigned on 10 felony, misdemeanor charges in case alleging election equipment breach | Courts | coloradopolitics.com

Ken Buck throws in the towel.

 Update: 3 19 2024: Buck's replacement was picked to run in the primary. Greg Lopez is an election denier, against abortions with no exceptions, with a history of domestic violence, DUIs, and other run ins with the law. https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/28/greg-lopez-ken-buck-colorado-4th-district-lauren-boebert/

Ken Buck, R-CO, just announced on Andrea Mitchell's midday news program on MSNBC that he is not standing for re-election. Buck was an outspoken critic of his fellow House members who still supported the Big Lie and excused the Jan.6 riot/insurrection. He also was a strong supporter of aid to Ukraine. His district in Colorado is red, and he has just left the field to further takeover by MAGA. He, however, has made it clear he will still be a strong voice on the issues that put him in direct conflict with the new speaker, Mike Johnson though he rationalised his recent vote on Speaker that Mike Johnson did not participate in the Jan 6 violence and sought remedies within the judicial system.. When asked if Buck would support Trump or Biden in the upcoming presidential election, he answered he did not like either one. He does not plan to leave the Republican party.

He follows the recent announcement of a long time member of Ccongress from Texas that she could not seek re-election. Longtime Texas Rep. Kay Granger won’t seek reelection | The Hill

GOP Rep. Ken Buck is leaning in to his role as a conservative contrarian. But will voters in Colorado’s reddest district punish him for it? | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org)

Is a backlash against right wing/autocratic governance beginning? Poland sends a message

 The Trump-like Law and Justice party in Poland stood for less support of Ukraine and the EU, and a stronger arm government in Poland voted against right-wing incumbents who had attempted to reduce support for Ukraine and connections with the EU . The right-wing isolationists lost. Democracy won and touted the opposition center.   https://apnews.com/article/poland-election-vote-720f7b81838c33ccb2865fb3bc6e0414pear   Poland elections: Tusk, opposition beat conservatives, exit poll shows - The Washington Post  Will coalition politics come to the US to save democracy? 

Europe uses the parliamentary system, requiring coalition building among a variety of political parties. The US depends on the coalitions to be developed within their two-party system. However, there is now talk with a coalition of moderates of both parties to join together and break the roadblock to the stubborn inability of the GOP members of Congress able to agree on a House Speaker.  Their weak position is due to the fact that 4 votes could determine the outcome of a floor vote.  For the first time, the word "coalition" (enough Democrats vote with enough GOP congressmen) is a possibility. In the vote to oust McCarthy, many called depending on some bi-partisan Democrats to be treasonous or worse. McCarthy neither asked for Democrat support and doubled down on a last minute  appeal to the right wing on media.  Jim Himes (D-CT) on Morning Joe (MSNBC) this morning said that the current GOP caucus vote leader who is 50 votes short, Jim Jordan, would not receive any Democratic votes since he was an election denier and Jan. 6 stop-the-count supporter and against more aid to Ukraine. However, if the GOP put forth a more centrist nomination, they would be open to providing Democratic votes to give the moderate the needed votes. However, that was a couple of weeks away if a voterama in the House fails to get Jordon over the finish line.

One of those voting against Scalese and Jordan is Ken Buck (R-CO), both because of election denialism and failure to support Ukraine.   Could he be part of the coalition vote later if the voterama does not break the stalemate? Next speaker must publicly support 2020 election results, Rep. Buck says (axios.com)

US voters still prefer democracy over a dictatorship (autocracy). That should be comforting. The House GOP is sitll controlledd by  Trump and a hard core minority.  Trump has made it clear he is for Jordan .  Jordan represents chaos and discord like his mentors. Jordan's his record as a legislator has been an oral bomb thower and attack dog for the right wing and in January 6 hearings and the Biden "crime family". No wonder he would notget any moderate Democrats to join in a coalition on his behalf.Poll: Majority of Americans endorse democracy, younger generations skeptical | MPR News

Polls are disturbing regarding continuing support for Ukraine, though leaders of both parties in Congress say support for Ukraine remains strong. CNN Poll: Majority of Americans oppose more US aid for Ukraine in war with Russia | CNN Politics   Other analyses of the same poll give support of Ukraine a  thumbs up and still strong. Americans’ support for helping Ukraine remains strong. Just look at the polls. - Atlantic Council

Are Americans more supportive of Ukraine than Congress is? - Atlantic Council

I have not seen a poll that delves into younger voter skepticism of democracy.  My question, what do they want instead? It appears that the skepticism among gen z is that democracy has failed to address their agenda on specific public policy issues, but if anything, they want the government to do more. The issues are liberal. This does not show an anti--democracy bias, just frustration with it reflecting their issues.  Rising political tide of young adults, Gen Z – Harvard Gazette

Conspiracy theories like the Big Lie depend on ignorance: Colorado election officials to educate the public

 Rep. Ken Buck (Colorado) was right in his refusal to support the two leading candidates for Speaker of the House today  because both have continued to claim Trump won the election of 2020.  The Big Lie is the unproven, unevidenced BS promoted by epic poor loser Donald Trump and his MAGA movement that the election was stolen. Ken Buck Says He Refused To Vote For GOP Speaker Candidates Due To 2020 Election Lies (yahoo.com)   (Ken Buck, R-CO) 

 Three years have passed since 2020 and in spite of every effort made, no evidence has emerged to support the Big Lie.  All voters need to know where the House Speaker of their party still stands on the issue.  It is a litmus test of who in Congress is the most extreme MAGA supporter or who is not. So far as their constituents are concerned, polls show three years after the 2020 elections, 70% of Republicans still think the election was stolen. CNN Poll: Percentage of Republicans who think Biden's 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70% | CNN Politics  

Conspiracy theories take root in ignorance, and the best antidote to such political strategies is educating voters on how their vote integrity is protected by the new technology and other measures.  The education campaign by election officials is now being conducted in advance of the 2024 elections in Colorado.. Residents invited to observe election machine  'integrity checks,' new ballot box technology | Election Coverage | gazette.com  It is worth the effort, even if the only educated are those in the media This can be  helpful provided media reports what they learned whenever the Big Lie rears its ugly head again. As a former elections official years ago in Denver, I, too, had to catch up with the intricate use of modern technology and practices in Colorado in 2020, and frankly, I had to dig and dig to find much on the subject. Education of the public  of how the process works is sorely needed. 

One reassuring thing I learned in catching up with the election system was in Colorado, new technology is backed up by old-school paper ballots (dropped off or mailed in) so that any "forensic audit" or recounts have the evidence to give a definitive count. Other states also have their methods.  So far, after every attempt by those who claim the election of 2020 was stolen across the US, after innumerable recounts of stacks of paper ballots, audits, and findings by judges who were appointed by both recent and past ideological and official parties,  no evidence has turned up that would have changed the result of the 2020 election. Period.

 Colorado has become the epicenter of election controversies. Colorado Republicans and independent voters were the ones who  filed  a law suit  that aims to knock Trump off the 2024 ballot . The state has had three years of controversy with an election denier leading the state GOP, one Trump loyal county clerk convicted of a crime of tampering the election machinery, and even a candidate for  county clerk suspected of being an election denier who still got elected and is now occupying the office in charge of counting votes..(Grand County MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Is an election denier a candidate for county clerk in Colorado? Suspicions validated (Mesa County).Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters sentenced to home detention and community service in obstruction case (nbcnews.com)  .  Colorado GOP selects combative, election-denying new leader | AP News

This next segment is also reproduced as a separate blog post on 10/13/2023   This persistent belief the 2020 election was stolen is a danger to democracy. Perpetuation of the Big Lie is central to the  anti-democracy strategy to destroy faith in the democratic process and then use what they themselves had  sabotaged and undermined to replace it with an autocrat who makes sure their MAGAs win by whatever means necessary, including replacing the Department of Justice with loyalists.  

There are advocates in the MAGA movement, such as Steve Bannon,  who see creating chaos as part of the strategy to replace democracy with a strong leader autocrat he favors that would empower MAGA movement to rule over those they disdain,. Claiming democracy does not work is dependent on their convincing the MAGA movement that it does not work for them at the ballot box. They have been very successful since 70% of Republicans still think the election was stolen. The ability of all citizens to choose their leaders via the ballot is the most central and fundamental characteristic of a democracy.     .https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/07/politics/steve-bannon-us-democracy and faith in its integrity is essential. Keeping the Big Lie going is how the MAGA anti democracy radicals are trying to damage that faith in order to give a rationale for replacing democracy with  a form of dictatorship (by Trump) instead..

What is now even more critical at stake in 2024 is an election of Trump who does not even support the Constitution, evidenced by the claim by his attorneys that Trump is not sworn to defend it. Trump tells court he had no duty to 'support' the Constitution as president (msn.com)  This lawsuit centers on Trump's failure to support the constitution on January 6.  Trump's frightening comment was revealed by the lawsuit against Trump brought by GOP and independent Colorado citizens seeking to disqualify Trump from being on the Colorado ballot in 2024. The 14th Amendment plan to disqualify Trump, explained - BBC News   The Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, named in the suit, plans to "see the suit through" . Colorado secretary of state calls Trump a ‘liar,’ vows to see ballot lawsuit through | The Hill    Trump's refusal to support the Constitution is consistent with earlier statements that he wanted to terminate or suspend the Constitution and his advocacy of political violence instead of ballots. .  Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post | CNN Politics

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: America's future, the short and the long, macro and micro, at stake in 2024 updated 9/30/23, 10/2/23

 This persistent belief the 2020 election was stolen is a danger to democracy. Perpetuation of the Big Lie is central to the anti-democracy strategy to destroy faith in the democratic process and then use what they themselves had sabotaged and undermined to replace it with an autocrat who makes sure their MAGAs win by whatever means necessary, including replacing the Department of Justice with loyalists.  

There are advocates in the MAGA movement, such as Steve Bannon,  who see creating chaos as part of the strategy to replace democracy with a strong leader autocrat he favors that would empower MAGA movement to rule over those they disdain,. Claiming democracy does not work is dependent on their convincing the MAGA movement that it does not work for them at the ballot box. They have been very successful since 70% of Republicans still think the election was stolen. The ability of all citizens to choose their leaders via the ballot is the most central and fundamental characteristic of a democracy.     .https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2022/07/politics/steve-bannon-us-democracy and faith in its integrity is essential. Keeping the Big Lie going is how the MAGA anti democracy radicals are trying to damage that faith in order to give a rationale for replacing democracy with  a form of dictatorship (by Trump) instead..

What is now even more critical at stake in 2024 is an election of Trump who does not even support the Constitution, evidenced by the claim by his attorneys that Trump is not sworn to defend it. Trump tells court he had no duty to 'support' the Constitution as president (msn.com)  This lawsuit centers on Trump's failure to support the constitution on January 6.  Trump's frightening comment was revealed by the lawsuit against Trump brought by GOP and independent Colorado citizens seeking to disqualify Trump from being on the Colorado ballot in 2024. The 14th Amendment plan to disqualify Trump, explained - BBC News   The Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, named in the suit, plans to "see the suit through" . Colorado secretary of state calls Trump a ‘liar,’ vows to see ballot lawsuit through | The Hill    Trump's refusal to support the Constitution is consistent with earlier statements that he wanted to terminate or suspend the Constitution and his advocacy of political violence instead of ballots. .  Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post | CNN Politics

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: America's future, the short and the long, macro and micro, at stake in 2024 updated 9/30/23, 10/2/23

 

Putin's winning strategy: the duping of the GOP

Update December 10, 2019 to reflect the articles of impeachment and the DOJ Inspector General Report on the FBI activities in opening and conducting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Putin's  strategy to shape US policy for Russia’s benefit is to attempt to dupe American voters and their government representatives.  It appears some have fallen under their spell.

On December 3, 2019, the House of

 Representatives voted on a resolution that opposed Russia's being readmitted to the G7. Russia had been kicked out of that prestigious group of world leaders for their grab of Ukrainian territory. There is an ongoing hot conflict there in which 13,000 Ukrainians have died .and for which the western leading government had sought critical anti-tank missiles, Javelins, to thwart further aggression.    Seventy-one Republicans voted against that  G7 resolution, including Colorado's own Rep. Ken Buck. That is a sad indication of how some in the GOP are becoming a supporter of Donald Trump's pro-Russian policies, a party that used to be firmly against Russian aggression. The resolution passed handily but in past, similar resolutions, including maintaining sanctions against Russia,  had received greater bi-partisan support. The seventy-one GOP votes in opposition on December  3 are a disturbing measure of how far the Russians have made inroads into the views of some voters and their representatives in Congress.  The Russian influence has also been felt in the issues surrounding impeachment, such as Cloudstrike and support of lethal military aid for Ukraine against Russian aggression.

That Russian influence and Donald Trump inviting them into the American system is a subject that appears throughout the articles of impeachment that will be voted upon in the House within a week or two. Within the same week, the long-awaited Inspector General report of the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference and active measures in the 2016 election verified the justification of the issue on its merits and that it was not done because of some "deep state" partisanship.  The GOP had tried to brush off and deny the Russian meddling as some conspiracy cooked up by Trump's opponents to unseat him. In a stunning role reversal, the once anti-communist GOP became an unwitting supporter of Russian activities and policies promoted by Trump and Democrats became the defense and Russian hawk party.  

It is likely those who used to be Russia hawks and now have flipped are also taking their cue from their leader, Donald Trump.  The mystery is Trump's Make Russia Great Again foreign policy. Why? Whatever the issue, Crimea, Syria, NATO, interference in the 2016 elections, he apologizes or supports Putin's policies and takes his word for Russian intelligence over his own US intelligence services.

The Mueller investigation found  widespread  Russian interference  in 2016 elections  and Special Counsel Robert  Mueller warned us that Russia is planning to do likewise in 2020. Constitution  law professors dominated the first day of the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings Dec. 4, citing the deliberations of the writers of our Constitution in formulating impeachment clauses.  The reason it was included in the Constitution, our founders  feared the re-establishment of a monarchy, a king,  by foreign influence, negating what the American Revolution.had accomplished. They also feared that waiting for the next election for the president to be disciplined for this might be too late  because the wrongdoing  practices of the chief executive could continue to get more foreign intervention to help get himself re-elected and perpetuate his ability to become a king, an autocrat.
That Russian influence and Donald Trump inviting them into the American system is a subject that appears throughout the articles of impeachment that will be voted upon in the House within a week or two. Within the same week, the long-awaited Inspector General report of the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference and active measures in the 2016 election verified the justification of the issue on its merits and that it was not done because of some "deep state" partisanship.

A propaganda initiative conducted by Russians has become central to the impeachment actions in the House. One of the two favors Donald Trump asked of the Ukraine president  was for him to open investigations of Cloudstrike in order to get an oval office visit, and later, to get the anti-tank missile aid Trump had frozen released.  The  Cloudstrike theory, that Ukraine, not Russia, hacked the DNC server is a conspiracy theory that contradicts the findings of the US intelligence services who traced it to a propaganda initiative of Russian intelligence. Both GOP Trump Congressional supporters and Trump himself have fallen for the conspiracy theory hook line and sinker, even after they were briefed by our intelligence services.

Putin  may be a younger generation than the Soviets,  but he was still trained by them as  KGB operative. The propaganda methods developed in the USSR were some of the most effective skills in modern history. I have seen them work from the inside, too, from my student days in Berlin as Communists consolidated control of their German zones. Putin has harnessed modern IT communications as his weapons to shape the minds of those he is trying to control. He is appearing to be succeeding.

______________________________________________________________________________

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/09/world/meanwhile-in-america-december-10-intl/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1gbEhI4rMxpHmiuo0FOh6xxF2ydkMtliGTCN2icRe1StKzzCmA8gho0Ng

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/04/republicans-have-become-party-russia-this-makes-me-sick/ 
The GOP now the Gang of Putin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/04/stop-calling-trump-russian-dupe-truth-is-much-worse/
Trump was not duped: he has used Russian interference for his own self interested reasons.