On This Independence Day, Let us again Declare Independence from Foreign Interference

           Today is the 241^st anniversary of the independence of the United States of America.  On July 2, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania approved a resolution of independence from the United Kingdom.  The Congress then authorized the Declaration of Independence to explain their reasons for the separation because of “a decent respect for the opinions of mankind.”

            The Founding Fathers recognized independence as the right of self-determination and sovereignty and thus as a strong protection against violations of liberty from the mother country.  They were concerned about foreign interference in American affairs and continued to be long after the States won their independence from the British.  The Framers of the Constitution established the Electoral College, which elects the President of the United States, as, in part, a safeguard against foreign interference and the foreign Emoluments Clause to prevent personal interest from influencing judgment by federal officers of what was in the best interest of the U.S.  The Founders who were the first Presidents guarded against foreign interference or too much interest on behalf of foreign states, including states with which Americans traded or even had friendly relations with the U.S.  They were especially wary of the influence of hostile powers.

            The Russian Federation has been increasing its efforts over the last few years to influence affairs, including the outcome of elections, in Europe and the U.S.  Russian interference has become increasingly noticeable, even in the U.S., since the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Through overt propaganda from state media to anonymously disseminating disinformation, especially through the Internet, to the covert stealing and leaking of government or party documents, mixed together with a few forgeries and then disseminated through the media and Internet, through the creation of human-curated or automated social media accounts.  The Russians will exploit divisions and manipulate opinion by appealing to preconceived beliefs of those on the left or the right or wherever to advance Russia’s foreign policy of dividing the West and undermining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.  Their insidious methods often influence opinion without the targeted audience ever realizing it has been deceived or manipulated.  Sometimes, Soviet-style active measures of political interference employed by ex-KGB Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin include violence, such as the attempted coup d’etat in Montenegro last year. 

Russian interference was evident in the American presidential election campaign last year, to a degree that altered the outcome of both the Republican Party nomination and the presidential elections, in violation of American self-determination and sovereignty.  The Russians were successful in opposing a candidate they believed would be more opposed to their policies and favored a candidate who was not and who is even favorable to certain Russian interests.  Alas, the constitutional safeguards the Framers established of the Electoral College and the Emoluments Clause have been ignored by the leaders of the majority party of the President.  The danger the Founders feared of foreign influence, especially of a hostile power, is now most clear and present.  Putin is more brutal a tyrant than King George III of the United Kingdom and a craftier menace. 

It is still not too late to regain American independence from foreign influence once again and to use the various constitutional safeguards to face the threat of a hostile Russian authoritarian regime.  The Congress, the Courts, the States and the People all must demonstrate their patriotism and defend America through constitutional means by supporting independence, self-determination and sovereignty and by upholding federalism, the separation of powers, representative government and liberty.  The extent of the threat from Russia must be analyzed through adequate investigation of Russian interference in American politics in order to ascertain vulnerabilities to further interference by Russia, other state actors or non-government entities, such as criminals and terrorists, and to develop appropriate defenses.  The leaders of the Russian Federation must be punished, as well as any Americans who collaborated with them to deter further interference and the few punishments already imposed upon Russian leaders should certainly not be eliminated.  In my next post, I shall discuss a particular punishment of Russia approved by the Senate and being considered by the House of Representatives that the pro-Russian President opposes.  

I call upon all American patriots today to declare American independence from Russia by supporting effective measures to oppose foreign interference and to exercise more fully the legacy of self-determination and sovereignty the Founding Fathers bequeathed to posterity.