Russian interference in the 2016 election

The American public deserves to know the impact of what the Russians accomplished with their interference in the 2016 election.

For an example of this impact, one need look no further than John Podesta's hacked emails. Some of these leaked emails contained what can best be described as demeaning comments about Catholics. The publication of these emails, coupled with "messages" from single-issue (pro-life) minded bishops, enhanced by Russian social-media posts designed to polarize viewers, no doubt influenced a decisive anti-Hillary vote in previously Blue Midwest states.

Hopefully, Catholic bishops have learned that it was a mistake to support a presidential candidate simply because he professed to be opposed to abortion. "Indeed, the pro-life cause, like the concern for religious liberty, will emerge bruised and battered from its having been associated with this man," writes Michael Sean Winters in "What should the Catholic Church have learned this year," The National Catholic Reporter, Nov. 8.

It was just another example of a predicted outcome often attributed to Alexander Fraser Tyler (1747 - 1813), to wit: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy - always followed by a dictatorship."

The Russians took advantage of the fact that people will vote for what they want for themselves and their narrow vision, although important on personal level, it misses the big picture - thereby weakening our democracy in the process.

Frank G. Splitt

Mount Prospect