While the USA did not qualify for 2018’s World Cup that was held in Russia, the team would have gone if it had qualified. The rest of the soccer-loving world had no trouble sending their teams to Russia.

Why would all of these countries do this if Russia is the world’s enemy? It was Jimmy Carter who prohibited the United States from participating in the 1980 Olympics. Why wasn’t there a similar outcry about Russia holding the World Cup?

Democrats and Republicans are denouncing Trump’s summit with Putin. Here some of the things that those on the Left are saying:

• Joy Behar said that the meeting “rises to the level of treason.”
• Joe Scarborough said that “Putin has something over Trump.”
• John Brennan, former CIA Director John Brennan under President Obama tweeted: “What Mr. Trump did yesterday was to betray the women and men of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and others and to betray the American public. And that’s why I use the term that this was nothing short of treasonous. Because it is a betrayal of the nation.”

This is the same CIA Director who did not investigate the Russian hacking that took place on his watch.

A point of clarification is needed. Russia meddling in our election is not the same thing as Trump colluding with the Russians to fix the election. The 12 Russians who were indicted by a grand jury for allegedly hacking the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2016 election.

Rosenstein made it clear that “[t]he conspirators corresponded with several Americans during the course of the conspiracy through the internet. There’s no allegation in this indictment that the Americans knew they were corresponding with Russian intelligence officers.”

Are we to believe that this is the first time the Russians have tried to interfere in our nation’s business or that we have not tried to influence the elections in other countries?

Here’s where things get crazy.

On Monday night, MSNBC contributor and former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks blasted President Donald Trump for his performance at the Helsinki summit alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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“And it’s just as serious to me as the Cuban Missile Crisis in terms of an attack or the 9/11 attack. The president is taking the side of the people who attacked us instead of trying to prevent a future attack. He has done nothing to make sure that the elections four months away are going to be safe.”

With the Cuban Missile Crisis and September 11th already on the table, she wrapped up the over-the-top comparisons.

“I would say that his performance today will live in infamy as much as the Pearl Harbor attack or Kristallnacht. And it’s really a serious issue we need to deal with.”

Yes, she said Kristallnacht. (Mediaite)

The Cuban Missile Crisis, the 9/11 attack, Pearl Harbor, and Kristallnacht. Let’s remember that all of this hacking took place on Obama’s watch.

By the way, none of the hacking that took place had any effect on the 2016 election.

Thus far, none of the indictments by the Department of Justice or Special Counsel Robert Mueller have had anything to do with collusion with Russia during the 2016 election. The most prominent convictions have been for false statements to the FBI. (Breitbart)

Rosenstein made it clear that “[t]here’s no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime. There’s no allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count or affected any election result.” The following is from the Washington Post, hardly a mouthpiece for Pres. Trump:

But there are reasons to be skeptical of the claim that Russia swung the election for Trump. First, Russian information warriors produced far less fake news and polarizing rhetoric than did domestic and other international sources. Russia simply added to the already deafening cacophony of inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation.

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It’s true that Russia has been increasingly trying to meddle in Western elections. But it hasn’t gotten much for its efforts — and these efforts have often backfired.

So why all the hostility toward Trump’s meeting with Putin? First, Hillary lost and Trump won. It was a devastating blow to the Democrat establishment for what was thought to be a sure thing.

Second, because Hillary didn’t win the crimes of Hillary and the neglect of Obama, the Bushes, and Clintons are coming to light. They would have been buried under a Hillary presidency.

Third, the Establishment of both parties like hot wars and cold wars. Billions of dollars are made. The companies that make the billions fund the campaigns of those who keep both kinds of wars going.

Fourth, Sen. Rand Paul called it right. “[A]ny country that can spy, does, and any country that can meddle in foreign elections, does. All countries are doing this,” Paul added, “but we’ve elevated this to a higher degree and we’ve made this all about the sour grapes of Hillary Clinton losing the election, and it’s all about partisan politics now. This is truly the Trump derangement syndrome that motivates all of this!”

It seems like the Swamp of both parties doesn’t want peace. I’m not saying that peace with Russia will come out of Helsinki, but can’t we try to “give peace a chance” while we try to fix the meddling? We could start by stopping our own meddling that often ends up with dropping bombs.