The Democratic Party with the corporate media in tow has been consistently promulgating the idea that Russia meddled in the 2016 election in favor of Trump. This effort is part of a larger scheme. Even before the election powerful factions within the US were agitating for a new Cold War against Russia.

And now Congress is getting into the act, with the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passing a bill giving Congress the power to block any effort by the White House to weaken sanctions on Russia, following the lead of the Senate that passed a sanctions bill 97-3.

A New York Times interview with Noam Chomsky provided a small sample of just how unhinged our discourse has become.

“For liberal opinion, the political crime of the century, as it is sometimes called, is Russian interference in American elections. The effects of the crime are undetectable, unlike the massive effects of interference by corporate power and private wealth, not considered a crime but the normal workings of democracy. That’s even putting aside the record of U.S. ‘interference’ in foreign elections, Russia included; the word ‘interference’ in quotes because it is so laughably inadequate, as anyone with the slightest familiarity with recent history must be aware.”

There is a method to the madness of a new Cold War.

The ideology of the US ruling class–the cold war kids— mandates endless conflict with Russia, and is seen as essential to the US grand strategy of empire. The stability of the NATO alliance, and the entire U.S. strategy of permanently subordinating Europe to its rule, is founded on the New Cold War with Russia.

Then there’s the MIC, Military/Industrial/Complex, that rakes in billions from the sale of advanced weapons systems that would be threatened by Trump’s intention to normalize relations with Russia.

The overweening power of finance and Wall Street over the US economy and their corresponding need to maintain the US dollar as the worlds reserve currency, also mandates US global primacy, which increasingly relies on raw military power to get its way.

The permanent war party that controls Washington D.C. may not be good at fighting and winning wars but since Vietnam has become superbly talented at coopting liberal critics by describing these conflicts as “liberal interventions.” President Trump has made their job easier. Now, with the ongoing investigation into Russian interference, erstwhile liberals, who used to look askance at the MIC and the deep state intelligence agencies, excitedly point to these institutions as validation that Trump should be deposed.

The rest of the country doesn’t seem to agree. A Harvard-Harris survey poll conducted last month shows that majorities in both major parties are saying “enough with Russia.”  They want Congress to drop the Russia madness and get progressive things done on healthcare, the economy and jobs. Almost three out of four respondents to the Harvard-Harris poll said that lawmakers aren’t focusing on the issues that matter most to them. More than two-third of Democrats (68 percent) say that. Sixty-two percent of voters say there is “no hard evidence” that Trump has colluded with Russia.  Sixty-four percent say the investigations are “hurting the country.”

The first Cold War did immeasurable damage to American values. From the McCarthy witch hunts and charges of sedition leveled against labor unions, to support for murderous right-wing juntas as a bulwark against indigenous nationalism that US planners depicted as a world-wide communist revolution, the US tarnished itself and its ideals.

With all of our domestic problems, including “the massive effects of interference by corporate power and private wealth,” the last thing we need is another Cold War.

Update: This describes the cold war kids to a t.

“A problem arises when almost all experts and politicians participating in these Washington based think tanks come from federal agencies or industries tied to the military through contracts worth billions of dollars. Hardly offering any dissent from official or mainstream opinions on issue ranging from Russia to the F-35, politicians, experts and journalists all agree that Russia constitutes the main danger and that the F-35 program does not have any critical issues and is actually a superior weapon, two lies in full swing. Think-tanks and their guests promote an erroneous narrative that seeds, nourishes and sustains the problems and inefficiencies that beset military systems and Washington’s strategic vision. They offer no criticism, no change of policy, only echo chambers of lies and propaganda.”