‘Focus of any discussion in Washington is on demonizing Russia’

It’s an ingrained habit in most Americans of a certain age to see Russia as a bad buy, says anti-war activist David Swanson, adding that the Democrats have pushed it for partisan and profiteering reasons.

The US Senate held its annual hearing with intelligence chiefs on the global threats facing America. Russia ended up dominating the meeting as opposed to the threat posed by North Korea or ISIS.

RT: Are you surprised the focus of the hearing veered toward Russia rather than a range of issues?

David Swanson: Everything in Washington DC goes to Russia with or without evidence, with or without relevance, it goes to Russia. A completely corrupt election system and all they want to talk about is Russia. A completely corrupt president and all they want to talk about is any ties to Russia. This is the focus of any discussion of defending the US; it has to involve demonizing the enemy out there which right now is Russia.

RT: What do you make of the idea that was presented of always seeing Russia as the bad guy when something goes wrong?

DS: That has been around since I was a little kid. It is an ingrained habit in most Americans of a certain age. It has come back and been pushed very hard by the Democratic Party and by certain people in power in Washington for partisan reasons, for profiteering reasons in building up a Cold War. But it is also an incredibly great excuse to say “we don’t have a broken election system because we don’t count the votes and we have a broken media and we intimidate voters, and the machines break.” No, “We have a great election system, but Russia messed around with it.” You know, it passes the box somewhere else.