The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 26, 2018, Image 4

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The times., December 26, 2018, Image 4

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Newspaper Page Text4A OPINION Sttnes gainesvilletimes.com Wednesday, December 26, 2018 Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com Submit a letter: letters@gainesvilletimes.com The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Don’t let Russia defeat the US with cybermeddling Tribune News Service The nation learned this week the full extent to which Russia used social media to manipulate the 2016 presidential election. And it did so by exploit ing our own racial, religious and political divi sions. The detailed accounting of Russia’s malign activity — in a pair of reports commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee — is both astonishing and chilling. It also is definitive: Russia’s online warfare is real, sophisticated and unrelenting. It mutates as needed and grows ever more effective. And it con tinues today. Ignoring or discrediting such reports guar antees the cyber campaign by Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin will play an ever-larger role in our elec toral process. It also fails to understand that such Russian disruptions continue efforts that began in the 1930s with Soviet Union propaganda cam paigns intended to inflame America’s racial divi sions. Only the methods have changed. The 2016 campaign spread misinformation, fake news and conspiracies across social media — including Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and PayPal. The weaponiza- tion of Instagram was particularly extensive. One account, ©blackstagram, had more than 300,000 followers. All told, Russian trolls elicited 187 mil lion engagements such as comments and likes on Instagram. The trolls created Facebook pages like “Black- tivist,” “Army of Jesus” and “Heart of Texas.” They dubbed Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine the “Satan Team”; Donald Trump and Mike Pence were the “Jesus Team.” One fake post claimed Clinton had received $20,000 from the Ku Klux Klan. A Tum blr post urged Pokemon Go players to name their Pokemon after victims of police brutality. Remem ber: Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 25 Russians and three companies on charges related to election interference and hacking. The reports conclude that Russia intended to attack Clinton and elect Trump by suppressing Democratic turnout and pushing right-wing vot ers toward extremism. There might never be a clear conclusion that the interference got Trump elected. But it’s worth noting that Russia targeted African-Americans more than any group, urged them to boycott the election or vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and dispensed incor rect information about the voting process. And, for the first time in 20 years, turnout among black vot ers did decline. Trump’s victory came via narrow wins in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — where black turnout was lower than expected in Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia. Now Rus sian trolls target Hispanics with a “Brown Power” campaign that’s using stories about deportations and treatment of migrants to inflame tensions. More study is needed to learn how to prevent attempts by Russians or any political operatives to influence future elections. So are tough regulations; Google, Facebook and Twitter did not provide all data requested by Senate investigators. Social media users must become savvy about who pro vides information online, and cross-check stories. Failing to learn from one’s mistakes means repeating them. In this case, that would be a disas ter for our democracy. Your government officials U.S. government President Donald Thimp, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500, 202-456-1111,202-456-1414, fax, 202-456- 2461; www.whitehouse.gov Sen. Johnny Isakson, 131 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224- 3643, fax, 202-228-0724; One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 970, Atlanta 30339, 770-661 -0999, fax, 770-661 -0768; isakson.senate.gov Sen. David Perdue, 383 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224- 3521, fax 202-228-1031; 3280 Peachtree Road NE Suite 2640, Atlanta 30303, 404-865-0087, fax 404-865-0311; perdue.senate.gov. D.S. Rep. Doug Collins, 1504 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515,202- 225-9893; 210 Washington St. NW, Suite 202, Gainesville 30501,770-297-3388; dougcollins. house.gov D.S. Rep Rob Woodall, 1725 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515,202- 225-4272, fax 202-225-4696; 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville 30045, 770-232-3005, fax 770- 232-2909; woodall.house.gov Hall County government Board of Commissioners, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, P.O. Drawer 1435, Gainesville 30503, 770-535-8288, www.hallcounty.org. Chairman Richard Higgins, rhiggins@hallcounty. org; District 1, Kathy Cooper, kcooper@ hallcounty.org; District 2, Billy Powell, bpowell@ hallcounty.org; District 3, Scott Gibbs, sgibbs@ hallcounty.org; District 4, Jeff Stowe, jstowe@ hallcounty.org. County Administrator, Jock Connell, jconnell@ hallcounty.org Planning Commission, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, 770-531-6809. Tax Commissioner’s Office, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, P.O. Box 1579, Gainesville 30503, 770- 531 -6950, taxcommissioner@hallcounty.org Tax Assessor’s Office, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville 30504, rswatson@hallcounty.org. Real estate property, P.O. Box 2895, Gainesville 30503, 770-531-6720; personal property, P.O. Box 1780, Gainesville 30503, 770-531 -6749 Some 2018 highlights: No wall, no more privacy Perhaps, as you have been celebrating the holidays and living your life, you missed some noteworthy news developments. As a public service, here they are: There is a Republican National Committee in name only. In the interest of being re-elected, Donald Trump has merged it with his very flush campaign apparatus. You knew Trump had co opted the party; now it’s official. They’ll be in the same offices, raising money and working for the same cause: four more years as presi dent for the man with the big brain. There is no more Trump Foundation. That’s right. The state of New York shut it down, insisting it had no oversight, did not give money to legitimate chari ties and was no more than a checkbook designed to collect other people’s money for Trump’s personal, political and business interests. We do not know who will take up the slack and pay the $7 annual Boy Scouts dues for one scout, such as Trump’s then 11-year-old son. We do not know who will buy $20,000 and $10,000 por traits of Trump (one six-feet tall) to hang over sports bars in billionaires’ mansions. We do know that the two paintings and a Tim Tebow auto graphed football helmet and jersey, which Trump bought for $12,000, are now valued by the IRS at $975 and must be sold. The “great wall” between the United States and Mexico has not and will not be built. After sending out henchmen and henchwomen to insist the gov ernment be shut down in pique over Congress’ refusal to waste $5 billion on something nobody thinks is feasible, Trump capitulated and let Congress do what it always does — kick the proverbial budget can down the road through a continuing resolu tion. By the time it expires, Democrats will control the House. They will not fund a wall. We do not know what Mexico will do with all the money it did not have slated to pay for the wall. Despite Trump’s insis tence that he eliminated ISIS from Syria, he did not. He may redistribute U.S. forces around the globe, putting troops on our borders to string barbed wire to keep out fleeing women and children, but ISIS, like the Taliban, is far from being defeated. There is no such thing as privacy. You may not be able to figure out how Facebook works, but be confident that somebody you did not want to see all your personal comments and photos has seen and shared them. Millions of photos and comments that users decided not to post or deleted have also been shared. And stayed alive on numerous web sites. This has started an exodus off Facebook, which may cause a re-emergence of once-ridiculed fam ily Christmas letters. Republicans and Democrats in Con gress actually cooperated with each other and the White House to pass a criminal justice reform bill. The U.S. has imprisoned more of its citizens than any other country; the bill just passed by the Senate (similar to one passed by the House) gives judges more discre tion in sentencing, requires prisoners be jailed within 500 miles of home and provides more money for vocational training and education for inmates. Supreme Court justices do not have to abide by ethics rules with which lesser judges must comply. So said a judicial panel looking into and dismissing 83 charges of misconduct filed against new Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It turns out the high court does not have a code of conduct, and Congress has never written one for it. The world is becoming a much less safe place for journalists, which may not surprise you given the verbal onslaughts against them by certain leaders of democracies, which invented the free press. Sixty-three journalists, and 14 people who helped produce news, were killed from Jan 1 to Dec. 1. An additional 348 were imprisoned. Remember when ketchup and pickle relish were declared vegetables? Now comes the Trump administration to roll back 2010 regulations limiting saturated fats and refined sugars and increasing fruits and vegetables for school lunches for 30 million children. Great. You ban high-fat chocolate milk at home, and your child gets it at school. (Note: The administration argues children won’t eat healthful food; two studies say that’s not true. Note two: Twenty percent of Ameri can children are obese, and the U.S. adult obesity rate is one of the world’s highest.) Cell phone and utility payments will now be reflected in some credit scores, making it likely more consumers will be approved for loans. Here’s betting 2019 will bring even more news. Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. ANN MCFEATTERS amcfeatters@ natioralpress.com "I'M THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE. JUST A HEADS UP, YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO GET ON THAT WHOLE CLIMATE CHANGE THING." DREW SHENEMAN I Tribune News Service HIGH-PROFILE, GLOBAL FIGURE WHO KNOWS GOOD FROM BAD. NOT INTERESTED. DEFENSE SECRETARY NEEDED _ <SSS£&- iimimmmmwmwiW’iW \C \ G ! r/ \ r \ off 7 S 1 m WALT HANDELSMAN I Tribune News Service She fumes EDITORIAL BOARD Founded Jan. 26,1947 345 Green St., Gainesville, GA 30501 gainesvilletimes.com General Manager Norman Baggs Editor in Chief Shannon Casas