One needs an appreciation of the collection and analysis process that precedes a public announcement of a critical intelligence assessment, such as the recent charge by the CIA director that Russia interfered with our election and did so solely to get Donald Trump elected.  The fact that Russia also hacked the Republican National Committee is quickly brushed away as an inconvenient fact that doesn't fit the Democratic narrative.  To follow their tangled thinking, which grasps at any theory that might halt the ratification of the election by electors, Russia's theft and leaking of documents showing the machinations by Clinton, Podesta, and others in their party to undercut Bernie Sanders – Clinton's more likable party rival – and their schemes to vilify Trump voters prove that Putin was on Trump's side and stole the election for him.  It's a theory supported by no evidence and no facts. To accept the veracity of CIA's announcement,...(Read Full Post)