# Why Obama can't do anythin g about the Russian hacking. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 16, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848 "2016-12-16T11:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/21 "2016-12-16T15:19:00Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > The point of the article is not that Russians will be moved by this information- they already expect their leaders to be corrupt. The point is the effect it could have on European banks and such. If they don’t want to do business with him any more, that hurts Putin and friends. But as I showed, the information is out there. With documentation. Do you think European banks are not aware of it? ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/22 "2016-12-16T15:20:45Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is a joke, right? It’s in the top 2 or 3, right? Vietnam, Iraq, ??? What else would you put above it? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/23 "2016-12-16T15:31:25Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > But as I showed, the information is out there. With documentation. Do you think European banks are not aware of it? The Bloomberg article seems to suggest there is more to reveal. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/24 "2016-12-16T15:56:11Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > It’s in the top 2 or 3, right? Vietnam, Iraq, ??? What else would you put above it? Slavery, the way we treated the Native Americans, Vietnam, perhaps the Japanese internment. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/25 "2016-12-16T16:00:45Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is a joke, right? Of course it’s a joke. The biggest mistake was made very recently. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/26 "2016-12-16T16:12:24Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > It’s in the top 2 or 3, right? Vietnam, Iraq, ??? What else would you put above it? World War 1, the Bay of Pigs, removing support for the Shah of Iran, withdrawing air support from South Vietnam, the occupation of the Phillipines, and the Embargo act of 1807. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/27 "2016-12-16T17:20:10Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > There was an article the other day in Bloomberg, [Obama Should Out Putin’s Wealth as Payback for Election Hacking](https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-13/obama-should-out-putin-s-wealth-after-election-hack): > It is a pretty interesting approach. On the one hand, it clearly falls short of starting WWIII over this and implicitly accepts that Trump wins anyway, yada yada. There is proportionate payback, arguably, without the kind of cyberwar risks outlined in the OP’s article. That approach was considered and rejected way back when Bill was POTUS. - President Bill Clinton considered doing this to Slobodan Milosevic during the war against Serbia, and in fact there was a very active “information warfare” campaign threatening the financial assets of Milosevic’s cronies—a big reason why they deserted him. But several of Clinton’s advisers, including the secretary of the treasury, urged him not to go after a foreign leader’s money: The dangers of blowback were too severe.\* (from the original link) I assume the same dangers exist today as then. Also… From CNN today. _Donald Trump’s dismissal of US intelligence about Russian election meddling has deeply alarmed the White House, prompting a new and combative approach to the President-elect that’s caused rifts between the incoming and outgoing administrations_. And, Putin’s response; “prove it.” This, of course, will not happen. It won’t happen not because we couldn’t prove it, but because proving it would disclose our cyber tricks. Obama is without resources and time to do anything. Score one for Russia. Score 2 for Russia in getting their chump elected. They won this one. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/28 "2016-12-16T17:25:59Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Of course it’s a joke. The biggest mistake was made very recently. Those words will haunt us from January on, as you are proven right over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/29 "2016-12-16T17:29:36Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > We’ll never know one way or the other. The best cyber attacks can take years to discover. The US will never disclose exactly where and when we retaliated. Russia will never admit they were adversely impacted. This. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > The article I’ve linked below points out some interesting reasons as to why Obama is powerless to respond to Russia’s hacking with anything more than rhetoric. > > …\… > > I’m betting Obama does nothing and passes the problem on to Trump, who will never accept that there was any hacking in the election. I believe two statements above should be amended thusly: “…why Obama is powerless to respond PUBLICLY…” “…Obama does nothing PUBLICLY…” Does anyone else remember a time when covert activities were carried out **covertly**? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/30 "2016-12-16T17:42:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This. > I believe two statements above should be amended thusly: > > “…why Obama is powerless to respond PUBLICLY…” > > “…Obama does nothing PUBLICLY…” > > Does anyone else remember a time when covert activities were carried out **covertly**? :dubious: What Obama will do is add Coca Cola to the list of forbidden trade items with Russia. He’ll keep it secret, then claim that he did something but he can’t tell us. Not because Obama doesn’t want to, but because he really has no options that don’t backfire. Then of course, Russia has but to wait a month until Obama is out and their new administration takes office. Then they can go back to influencing our political process to meet their needs. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/31 "2016-12-16T18:15:12Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > World War 1, the Bay of Pigs, removing support for the Shah of Iran, withdrawing air support from South Vietnam, the occupation of the Phillipines, and the Embargo act of 1807. No. Slavery is by far and away mistake numero uno. Whether or not you include the steadfast refusal of half the country to accept the institution’s impending demise, causing them to pretend to start their own country and to actually start the bloodiest war in US history. Then we can start discussing the far more minor mistakes, like various misguided foreign wars and foreign policy mistakes. Besides the fact that we lost fewer Americans in Iraq, and all of them were volunteers instead of draftees, I’m having trouble seeing how Vietnam was much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/32 "2016-12-16T18:27:52Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > It’s in the top 2 or 3, right? Vietnam, Iraq, ??? What else would you put above it? > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Slavery, the way we treated the Native Americans, Vietnam, perhaps the Japanese internment. Okay, so we’ve established the Top Five are Vietnam, Iraq, slavery, the way we treated Native Americans, and Japanese internment. But we need to figure out which one gets dropped because I suspect we’ll need an open space in the next four years. Maybe two. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/33 "2016-12-17T03:40:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Yeah, Osama bin Laden can testify what a do-nothing Obama was compared to Bush. Without Hillary Clinton to tell him to just get on with it, would he have acted, or been talked into continuing to be cautious? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/34 "2016-12-17T05:15:31Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Gaaawd, lying our way into war, murder of civilians, torture, destabilizing an entire region, creating ISIS, and burning $4 Trillion was so long ago. Who cares!? Clearly the Democrats don’t care. After all, their presidential candidate was a supporter of this. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/35 "2016-12-17T05:21:30Z")
Remember the [Bangladesh Heist](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Bangladesh_Bank_heist)? I would bet that Cyber Command could do a better job against Vlad’s accounts. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/36 "2016-12-17T05:21:41Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Of course it’s a joke. The biggest mistake was made very recently. Yeah, I didn’t think Adam should’ve won _Survivor_ either. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/37 "2016-12-17T07:24:47Z")
The RNC was also hacked, in the same way that the IRS targeted progressive organizations. As in, they did it, but with much less persistence. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/38 "2016-12-17T07:28:00Z")
According to a WSJ report, the extremely sophisticated method the Russians used was phishing emails. Seriously? Did someone at the DNC actually answer one of those? > **[Republican National Committee Security Foiled Russian Hackers](https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-national-committee-security-foiled-russian-hackers-1481850043)** > > Russian hackers tried to penetrate the computer networks of the Republican National Committee, using the same techniques that allowed them to infiltrate its Democratic counterpart, according to U.S. officials who have been briefed on the attempted... ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/39 "2016-12-17T07:31:18Z")
Cnn reported in April that it looks like Podesta was the moron in question. Although he got a big assist from an IT staff that apparently didn’t know the most basic security procedures: > **[Is this the email that hacked John Podesta's account? | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/politics/phishing-email-hack-john-podesta-hillary-clinton-wikileaks/index.html)** > > A phishing email sent to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta may have been so sophisticated that it fooled the campaign's own IT staffers, who at one point advised him it was a legitimate warning to change his password. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848/40 "2016-12-17T13:04:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Yeah, Osama bin Laden can testify what a do-nothing Obama was compared to Bush. The sad thing is that this is Obama’s legacy to 8 years of leadership. History will view him as a moral and ethical president who spent 8 years flying about on Air Force one, otherwise getting nothing done. That’s not all his fault as he had a congress that was worthless. Oh, he didn’t get Osama, the Navy Seals got Osama. He just said “go,” and sat in a room and watched it on TV. Bush couldn’t even figure out how to turn on that TV. Trump would deny Osama existed and ask his [del]band[/del] cabinet of merry white men WTF he should do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-obama-cant-do-anythin-g-about-the-russian-hacking/774848.md?page=3)