The Protecting Our Democracy Act (H.R. 356) which has as its purpose to establish a commission “to examine any attempts or activities by the Russian government, persons or entities associated with the Russian government, or persons or entities within Russia to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or sow distrust in elections for public office held in the United States in 2016.”
Including Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), the bill has 198 cosponsors and it has just gained the one thing it was missing: its first Republican co-sponsor, Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-NC). MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin tweeted the news this morning:
The announcement—Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) 1st GOP cosponsor of bill to create independent commission investigating Russian elex interference pic.twitter.com/2Fohw6itil
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2017
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As Rep. Swalwell announced in December,
“This past election, the principles of our democracy were attacked. We owe it to our constituents to defend the integrity of our representative democracy, starting with finding out what exactly happened and how we prevent it from ever happening again,†said Ranking Member Swalwell. “While our intelligence agencies have concluded with high confidence that Russia meddled in America’s elections, to what degree and whether other state or non-state actors were involved remains unresolved. Americans of all political parties are rightfully worried and deserve answers. To protect our democracy, we are calling for a fact-based, independent, bipartisan-appointed commission on foreign interference in the 2016 election.â€
As Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said in a tweet yesterday, “It is unconscionable that Republicans are refusing to investigate Russia’s interference with our elections.” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) is more concerned with leaks than with what was leaked, as is Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).
Former Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, also a Republican, has like Democrats in Congress been outspoken in his criticism of Republicans more interested in pushing a conservative agenda than defending our national security, accusing them of shirking their duties.
Democrats are fighting an uphill battle in holding the Trump administration accountable. Republicans, who were more than eager to investigate Hillary Clinton without any evidence whatsoever, are now refusing to even look for evidence.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
