Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union's leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis, once said of America: "We will bury you!". A common quote also attributed to him is "We will bury you without firing a shot." The sentiment behind these quotes was less a direct threat than they were a warning. What he meant, I believe, is that, America would destroy itself, without Russia having to send armies to do it for them. Like any good hunter, the thing they needed most was patience. All they had to do was wait for their prey to wander into the field of fire on it's own, walking willingly, unknowingly, into its own destruction.
How right he was.
In addition to the 12 indictments filed against 12 Russian operatives last Friday, another Russian operative has been arrested and charged with infiltrating political organizations of the United States and attempting to surreptitiously influence American politics in favor of the interests of Putin's Russia. This time it was a 29 year old woman named Mariia Butina, a Russian national, who was charged with myriad political related corruption charges.
You can read more about her arrest HERE
The most disturbing revelations from Butina's arrest was the groups she had infiltrated and was using to spread corruption throughout the American political system. Those groups were a strange, unholy mix of finance and banking institutions, conservative Christian groups and, the National Rifle Association. Yes, the NRA.
The NRA (the New Russian Army?) is being exposed, with each new twisted revelation, as nothing more than a storefront operation to funnel Russian money and corruption into American politics. It was already revealed earlier this year that the NRA had received funds from Russian oligarchs, although NRA officials deny that any of that money ever made it into their extensive American political activities. Really? So, what was that money used for, grounds keeping?
Khrushchev was right. We are destroying ourselves through the groups once thought to be the most patriotic, the most "American". And we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the layers of corruption that have been built up over the last 50 years.
Buckle up America, as more is uncovered with Mueller's investigations, it is going to get bumpy. Keep a vomit bag handy... we're all going to need it.
Top image source: San Antonio Peace Center
Maria Butina story source: RawStory