We, Americans, are often not much more than a pile of sanctimonious horse manure. People are peaved at Trump for saying that we tried to influence Russian politics and Putin's reign. From the NYT on US flooding Russia with cash to hurt Putin:
"Most Americans view such efforts as benign — indeed, charitable. But Mr. Putin sees them as hostile. The National Endowment for Democracy gave a $23,000 grant in 2006 to an organization that employed Aleksei Navalny, who years later became Mr. Putin’s main political nemesis, a fact the government has used to attack both Mr. Navalny and the endowment. In 2016, the endowment gave 108 grants totaling $6.8 million to organizations in Russia for such purposes as “engaging activists” and “fostering civic engagement.” The endowment no longer names Russian recipients, who, under Russian laws cracking down on foreign funding, can face harassment or arrest."
So should we expect no retribution? We spy on them, they spy on us.
Dialogue was established on many things that are problems between the countries. Obama and Clinton killed dialogue. You don't restart dialogue or negotiations by attacking your target.
