Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win by Luke Harding

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ho.Ly. Shit.

I am certainly no fan of the 45th president’s administration. Their policies, let alone their continual vitriol and mockery of basic decency and decorum, leave much to be desired. That said, I’d like the office of the president to remain in tact and unscathed or untarnished beyond repair. I want my own country to succeed even if an administration I have very little respect for is at the helm.

But,… if even a fraction of this book is true, 45 and this entire moment in history will make Nixon and his cronies look like saints. It will make Watergate seem like spilled milk rather than a betrayal of the highest order by those with a Constitutional duty to uphold the rule of law and act in the best interest of their country with honour and integrity.

Luke Harding, already a respected investigative journalist and a hero of mine given his work with Edward Snowden, weaves together and unpacks an incredibly complicated tale of how the current occupant of the White House in DC represents the ultimate long-game played out by the KGB and now FSB and Putin. Taking Christopher Steele’s dossier apart bit-by-salicous-bit and carefully examining each layer as though it were a slowly rotting onion, leading inevitably to the demise of the US and the Western alliance as Putin’s ultimate revenge on the collapse of the Soviet empire, this piece of journalism reads like a spy novel. Unfortunately, it’s not reporting fiction, but actual events and describing real people. It’s hard to imagine the pieces, each one of them, being refuted at this point. And, to be honest, I’d like to think that some of it is proven untrue, if only because the truth is simply too chilling and awful.

If anything, this book and it’s portrayal of collusion by the now most powerful person on the planet who may merely play the role of the Kremlin’s puppet, along with members of his cabinet, senior staff and more than a few other Congressional and DC insiders, make clear that Mueller’s investigation must be protected. Whatever the outcome. And, at all costs. Should nothing come of it, then fine. So be it. But, there are too many convenient coincidences. Too many odd overlaps. Too many moments which might be explained away as innocent yet appear anything but. And, if true, those individuals must face the punishments — judiciously and publicly — they deserve.

I’m too young to really remember Nixon’s resignation or the death spiral of his administration. But, I’m wide awake and all-too-aware for the current shit show, and can only wonder how long it will take us to recover. Whatever rabbit holes this all leads us down, we can only hope that we come out of it better equipped to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.

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