Making a Russian bear a Democratic scapegoat

Democrats needed a scapegoat after Hillary Clinton's unexpected Election Day loss – and found it in Russia, says a political analyst. 

People who understand how the Left operates knew what was happening in past weeks as President Barack Obama blamed the Russians for November's outcome, says Sandy Rios, a Washington, D.C.-based talk show radio host for American Family Radio.

"They were laying the groundwork in case Hillary Clinton did not win," observes Rios, "and they wanted to blame the win on something besides her."

"The Russians hacked the election" has been the meme from Democrats and the media for weeks, alleging that the Russians purposely helped Trump defeat the Democratic nominee. 

President Obama doubled down on that accusation Thursday when he announced punishment: 35 Russian diplomats would be expelled from the U.S., and two Russian-owned properties would be shut down.

The purpose, Obama said, was to punish Russian efforts to "harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behavior."

Russia was being punished for "hacking the U.S. presidential campaign," according to The Associated Press.

In particular, Obama was sanctioning two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB, the story explained.

What the Russian government allegedly did - or more likely people affiliated with it - was break into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and the computer of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman.

Podesta, in fact, was fooled by a "phishing email," a common tactic by hackers that claimed to be from Google and asked him to change his password. 

The hacked mails, later leaked by Wikileaks, revealed that the DNC cooperated with Clinton to defeat Sen. Bernie Sanders; Clinton demanded $12 million for Morroco's king to attend a meeting; and Clinton's hatred for "every Americans," among other revelations.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has stated that there were no altered ballots or hacked voting machines, Daily Wire, a conservative news website, noted in a Dec. 17 story. 

Under pressure to disclose proof of Russian government involvement, President Obama has said he will share details of the alleged electioneering with Congress in the coming days.

But Rios says there's probably not much there.

"I think there is sort of broad agreement that they are always messing with technology," Rios says of Russia, "but the intelligence agencies do not agree on Russia's involvement in our elections."

Obama's purpose, she says, is an attempt to "delegitimize" Donald Trump's presidency just weeks before he takes the oath of office.