Interference in election is troubling

Unfettered interference?

What happened on Nov. 9, 2016 may go down in history as the first time a foreign government has interfered in the election process in the USA and was successful in selecting the presidential candidate of their choice. They accomplished this monumental task with the help of the director of the FBI who violated a protocol to never interfere two months prior to any election date with statements adverse to any candidate.

This unfettered interference was the result of leaked documents, all 100 percent negative to only one candidate. The content of the leaked material, whether true or false, is not relevant at this point since there is a more important issue at stake. The perpetrators, including those who participated and condoned what happened, could someday find the shoe is on the other foot.

Sen. Marco Rubio wisely stated, when asked what he thought about the leaked material: “What happened to the Democrats today could happen to us tomorrow.” The question here is: How would any of us feel if the leaked material was against our candidate instead of against the other candidate?

The irony of what just happened is that the successful candidate lacks the credentials and ability to govern this great nation and he knows it. We can all hope he defers the heavy lifting to his apparently capable vice president. We all know a similar deferment happened, quite recently, when the Republicans occupied the White House and their presidential choice was lacking in acumen. Could what happened today be considered a déjà vu?

Finally, should any and all of us be concerned about the outcome of future elections? Should we be bothered that so many otherwise fine people in this country have accepted the outcome without asking themselves as Rubio stated, “Is it OK that the same thing could happen to us?”

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Interference in election is troubling."