Photo: AP
The DNC hack revealed exactly the type of disrespect for voters and widespread cronyism you’d expect from an establishment party. It also showed something else, something much more fundamental: there are no good sides to politics. There is no ‘lesser of two evils’. The moment a genuine threat to the establishment arises, no lie is too sleazy to try and take him down.
It still comes as a shock to voters that politics is a dirty business, no matter which side of the coin you’re on. This awareness is arguably the best thing to have come out of the hack. People are becoming conscious of the fact that the two-party system exists to prevent change and protect the interests of the corporate and political elites, insofar as they are separate entities at all.
At this point, it appears likely that the Russian government was behind the hack. This revelation was used instantly and unabashedly by the pro-Hillary camp to distract from the fact that the DNC itself is the bigger threat to America’s ‘great democracy’. If it is true that the Kremlin was behind the hack, it would not be the first time in recent history that Putin has masterminded American embarrassment. When Putin offered Edward Snowden political asylum within hours of the request, he struck gold against Obama. He showed his talent for dark comedy with the statement that ‘Russia is not the kind of country that expels fighters for human rights’, an obvious jab at Obama’s whistle-blowing policies. Putin, of all people, was able to effectively put a dent in the US president’s Nobel Peace Prize aura for all the world to see. It was only the beginning of Putin’s master trolling.
The mocking of western democracy’s fading image of justice and liberty is a recurring theme in Russia’s involvement with American affairs. When asked about his positive remarks on Donald Trump, Putin praised Trump’s intent to repair relations with Russia. Trump has returned the favor on more than one occasion, admiring Putin’s strength and suggesting that “the two of them would get along very well.” Responding to questions about his involvement with the DNC hack, Putin told what we now know to be another one of his jokes ‘we do not interfere with the internal political processes of other countries, especially the US.’ He continued ‘America teaches everybody else how to live with their lessons in “Democracy”, but do you actually believe the US elections are democratic?’
American voters who prior to the leak would have answered ‘yes’ now know better.
The big question for those who take liberty seriously is whether the leaked emails will sufficiently damage the public’s trust in the two-party system to start demanding actual change. As it stands, there are multiple possible outcomes. Voters who would have grudgingly voted for Hillary to prevent Trump from taking the presidency could continue to walk away in protest, achieving nothing except venting their emotions. Another predictable knee-jerk reaction, no doubt desired by Putin, is a surge in hate-votes for Trump.
Artist: Mindaugas Bonanu
But just maybe the DNC reveal will lead to a mass rejection of mainstream politics altogether. Instead of dismissing cronyism and corruption with ‘it’s just politics’, voters should ask themselves how the Frank Underwood version of democracy became acceptable. Instead of voting for the lesser evil they should reflect on how decades of ‘voting for the lesser evil’ yielded a choice between the poster child of corruption and a grotesque caricature of America’s worst qualities. A choice less than 10% of the electorate wants to make. There is another way. The Libertarian Party, headed by Gary Johnson and Jill Stein’s Green Party are ready to break the binary choke-hold that has become American politics. In a turn of events as awesome as it is unlikely, Putin’s sabotage might have tipped the American voter over the edge towards demanding political reform and individual freedom. Or it could just have accelerated a great democracy’s steady race to rock bottom. Either way, it is not ultimately Putin who will be to blame.