Opinion: The left’s obsession with Russian hacking shows how badly it’s in denial

To the editor: The two months since the election have been hilarious. There have been recount demands, popular vote angst, elector intimidation, secession threats, Russian hacking woes — the list is endless, and comical. (“U.S. intelligence report doesn’t say whether Russian hacking helped elect Donald Trump,” Jan. 7)

Hillary Clinton’s supporters are in such a state of denial and confusion. The Democrats are resolved to confront, contest and obstruct the new administration at every possible turn. It should provide more hilarity and chuckles as the attempt is doomed to fail.

Liberals are faced with a stark reality: Donald Trump as president. I cannot help but chuckle every time I think about it. Oh, and there’s a capper to the whole standup routine: The U.S. Supreme Court will be firmly aligned with the conservative movement for at least the next 25 years.

Life is good, and laughter is the best medicine.

Michael Murphy, San Pedro

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To the editor: Of course Trump owes his victory to Russia. When an election is tight, every little thing contributes to the outcome.

Russia did more than one little thing: It hacked the Democratic National Committee and, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, gave WikiLeaks information designed to damage only Clinton. It paid for and produced an onslaught of lies disguised as news, also with the purpose of damaging Clinton only, then flooded Facebook with anti-Clinton posts.

No one expected Trump to win, not even Moscow. But now, Trump is the most illegitimate president-elect in the history of the United States. That illegitimacy along with his other flaws bode ill for his presidency, the nation and the world.

Bella Silverstein, Santa Clarita

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To the editor: That the GOP, Democrats and talking heads are uber-exerting themselves to avoid saying the election was illegitimate leaves the public with Trump’s legitimacy as president being the lingering question.

Their avoidance trains the mind to focus on that as the big question. Maybe the politicians and the media need to avoid asking it, but we regular folks don’t.

The question of Trump’s legitimacy has the effect of injecting permanent doubt into the very DNA of this presidency. For the duration of Trump’s presidency, the electorate will have, as a fixed feature of its collective psychology, this: “Well sure, he’s our president, but not really.”

Gregory K. Herr, Brea

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To the editor: The pundits acknowledge, more or less reluctantly, that we cannot prove Russian hackers persuaded undecided voters to favor Trump over Clinton through the use of WikiLeaks and fake news stories.

They didn’t have to; they served a different purpose: Voter participation was 55% because, I think, borderline voters were turned off, potential Trump voters by Trump himself and Clinton voters by the hacking (and the FBI’s unprecedented final-week intrusions).

Clinton suffered by far the worst. Even though she received nearly 3 million more votes than Trump, she got fewer votes than President Obama in 2012, even with a larger electorate.

In effect, Trump was elected by disgruntled non-voters.

Rick Dunn, San Diego

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To the editor: No, Trump doesn’t owe his victory to Russian involvement. He owes it to FBI Director James B. Comey for pushing voters who were on the fence and undecided over the edge with his last-minute announcement that he possibly had new information regarding Clinton’s emails.

Karla H. Edwards, Santa Clarita

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