It would be so much easier, and this book could be a lot shorter, if I could tell you that the Russians did it.
Hillary, famously—infamously—did not campaign even one lunch-hour in Wisconsin.
Obviously, the Russians were behind it. My sources inform me that Putin told Clinton, “Whatever you do, Agent Hillary, DON’T campaign in Wisconsin!”
Of course, these sources are crazy. And, I confess, they don’t exist.
Neither does evidence of Kremlin interference in Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania.
The Russians did not Crosscheck thousands of voters in North Carolina, bust the scanners in Detroit, purge half a million in Ohio nor hack the ID laws of Wisconsin.
Yes, a Russian-based site downloaded the voter rolls of Illinois—as did I. And we both used the same super-spy technique: we hit the “Download” button on the state website. (Voter rolls, comrade, are public documents.)
But, the Russians-fixed-the-election story line is a lot more acceptable to Americans than explaining that Trump was elected by endemic racial apartheid in America’s voting system constructed by the GOP and made possible by their cringing enablers, the see-no-evil Democrats.
I was asked on MSNBC before the 2016 election if I feared that the Russians would hack the voter rolls in Ohio. I noted that Ohio Republicans control the voter rolls, have the passwords, control the count and hand Black voters placebo provisional ballots like candy. So, why, I responded, would the Republicans need help from some pimply kid in his mommy’s bedroom in Moscow?
Wrong answer, Palast! “The Russians did it” is a cheap way for MSDNC to give you “news” quickly, so they can get to the prescription drug commercials with those fast-talk endings, “SnoreVex can cause your eyeballs to fall out, your toes to turn purple, your parents to divorce and Mariah Carey to make another comeback. If you experience any of these symptoms . . .”
Did the Russians attempt to interfere? Yes, but about as effectively as a mosquito interfering with a Steph Curry three-pointer. A Russian oligarch spent a ginormous $150,000 on Facebook ads, about 1/10,000th of the $1.2 billion spent on pro-Clinton ads.
The Russians did it? Nyet.