GEORGE W. BUSH, the former president, earned headlines with a recent speech that—while it did not name President Donald Trump—unmistakably rebuked his Republican successor for degrading America’s national discourse with divisiveness and even “casual cruelty”. Yet his weightiest words came moments later, when Mr Bush urged America to secure both its electoral infrastructure and democratic system against subversion by foreign powers. This time he named names. “According to our intelligence services, the Russian government has made a project of turning Americans against each other,” the 43rd president said. He added that foreign aggressions—including cyber-attacks, the spreading of disinformation via social media or financial influence—“should not be downplayed or tolerated”.
Almost a year after his victory, and despite numerous revelations of Russian-funded attempts to stoke racial, religious and ethnic conflicts during the 2016 election, downplaying the attacks remains...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2zaHXBn
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