Were we at war with Russia through the years that “Uranium One” was in development? What was the tone of the American-Russian relationship at that time?

Perhaps December, 26, 1991 — the day the Russian tricolor was once again flown above the Kremlin — was both too good to be true and too good to last.

As regards “tribute” and so many other forms of corruption now associated with governance (and perhaps business) in the United States, I, you, and we are no longer happy campers.

Are the worlds of international business and international affairs so inherently criminal that our executives and politicians have had to “play ball” themselves to get things done?

Perhaps so, and our acclimatizing to the World Wide Web where so much may be finally seen is part of a great national and global “coming of age”.

Or not.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/10/06/american-election-2016-him-or-her-two-tales-for-two-scoundrels/

We’re not through the elections yet, but when we are, we’ll have been treated to possibly the slimiest mud fest in American election history. As much cannot be what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they set out the lofty ideals on which we have thrived. With that said, a look back at the Civil War, which reminders are all around my neighborhood, tells that we’re a rough people and we make deals behind closed doors — or perhaps over drinks — for both private and public purpose.

In retrospect, how should one feel about the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the “black budgeted” “Charlie Wilson’s War” developed to enable the indigenous of the region to halt and eject Russia’s military advance?

Mission accomplished.

Rather than take a strong partisan position — especially with this election! — I’ve chosen observation from the sidelines. Clearly, Moscow has renewed Russia’s identification as a “mafia state” or centralized “security state” — a state run by secret police. And then one looks at Moscow’s shaping of the Syrian Conflict and what it has done to that state and, possibly, how it has used terrorism to create unstable conditions in our own politics (Brown vs Red-Green x large portions of the Republican and Democratic Parties’ makeup respectively).

Is today’s Moscow the same as that with which we encouraged cooperation 25 years ago?

I don’t think it is.

The more recent “Trump-Manafort-Yanukovych-Putin” arc in relationship has bothered me more than the much earlier “Uranium One” deal, but with both, too much in the way of mixed personal and business and political behaviors seems indeed disheartening.

My fellow Americans — and those just visiting from elsewhere — the system may be broken and corrupt, and we can’t fix it right away.  However, we know the difference between bunkum and plain good responsible and responsive government — so God help us should we ever have another election season like the one that will be over (and God willing on that too) in two days.

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