Kent Mitchell: Are Republicans happy with Russians trying to pick our president?

As we now know, Russia hacked into emails from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta and engaged in misinformation and “fake news” in the attempt to damage Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the presidency. In addition, the New York Times reported Russia broke into RNC networks, just as they had broken into those of Democrats, but released documents only on the Democrats. What information does Putin have on Trump? The implications are serious.

After our intelligence services substantiated Russian meddling in our election, French writer Bernard-Henri Levy commented he thought Americans would be rioting in the streets after learning of the charges. He’s right – we should have been. Instead, disconcerting has been the vapid response of the American people.

While Democratic representatives expressed outrage, Republicans have mostly remained silent – with the notable exceptions of senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham. That is not the Republican Party I grew up with. Russia attempting to influence our presidential election should not be a partisan issue.

I recall instructors relating that while we have an amazing system of government, it requires constant vigilance and it is not something we could ever take for granted. Those words have added meaning now.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Kent Mitchell: Are Republicans happy with Russians trying to pick our president?."