Evidence suggests Russian cyber actors tampered with votes in the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump [1]. Some reports also suggest that Trump was compromised or influenced in some way by the Russians [2][3], although much of their contents are presently unconfirmed [4].

Washington had previously been concerned Russian cyber operations would alter vote counts on election day [5]:

	"Russian government hackers have interfered in the political process leading up to the 8 November elections by undermining the campaign of Hillary Clinton. In preparation for an American retaliation in the event Russia tries to change the counting of actual votes on election day, U.S. government cyber operatives have “penetrated” Russia’s telecommunications networks and electric grid. The penetration, and the sleeper malware left behind, would allow the United States to hit back in case Russian intelligence agencies do carry out a cyberattack on U.S. election systems on Tuesday."

The White House was prepared launch a bipartisan effort to protect U.S. voting infrastructure, but some lawmakers opposed the effort [6]:

	"Though Russia has long conducted cyberspying on U.S. agencies, companies and organizations, this presidential campaign marks the first time Moscow has attempted through cyber-means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election, the officials said."

	"...officials devised a plan to seek bipartisan support from top lawmakers and set up a secret meeting with the Gang of 12 — a group that includes House and Senate leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’ committees on intelligence and homeland security.

	Obama dispatched Monaco, FBI Director James B. Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to make the pitch for a “show of solidarity and bipartisan unity” against Russian interference in the election, according to a senior administration official.

	Specifically, the White House wanted congressional leaders to sign off on a bipartisan statement urging state and local officials to take federal help in protecting their voting-registration and balloting machines from Russian cyber-intrusions.

	Though U.S. intelligence agencies were skeptical that hackers would be able to manipulate the election results in a systematic way, the White House feared that Russia would attempt to do so, sowing doubt about the fundamental mechanisms of democracy and potentially forcing a more dangerous confrontation between Washington and Moscow.

	In a secure room in the Capitol used for briefings involving classified information, administration officials broadly laid out the evidence U.S. spy agencies had collected, showing Russia’s role in cyber-intrusions in at least two states and in hacking the emails of the Democratic organizations and individuals.

	And they made a case for a united, bipartisan front in response to what one official described as “the threat posed by unprecedented meddling by a foreign power in our election process.”

	The Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests.

	According to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics.

	Some of the Republicans in the briefing also seemed opposed to the idea of going public with such explosive allegations in the final stages of an election, a move that they argued would only rattle public confidence and play into Moscow’s hands.

	McConnell’s office did not respond to a request for comment. After the election, Trump chose McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as his nominee for transportation secretary."

More recently, there has been a bipartisan push for a Congressional select committee to investigate the full spectrum of Russia's efforts to influence the election [7], which would have helped raise public awareness of the issue [8] with less risk of it being politicized [9]. However, this effort too was blocked by top lawmakers [10]. The more secretive Senate Intelligence committee [11] has instead launched their own probe, although they have declined to investigate the reports of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump [12]. Russia had hacked Republican state campaigns and the RNC, although none of the information obtained was released [13][14].

These developments should concern Americans, especially since researchers of Russia's influence techniques have spoken of how the Kremlin "skillfully use[s] high-level political corruption" [15] and "the weaponization of money" [16] to achieve their aims. The overwhelming majority the public sees government corruption and the influence of money on politics as a top concern [17][18][19][20], and these views are shared equally among Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike [21]. It appears that America's fears are not unfounded.

Americans have hoped they could solve the problems of government corruption and money in politics at the voting booth [22]. But the same problem we hoped democracy could solve has curtailed the democratic process's function to fulfill the will of the people [23][24][25][26][27]. Americans overwhelmingly support ending the influence of corrupt special interests, but our electoral process today creates a high barrier to entry for candidates who don't align themselves with these interests [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. In the past, it has been difficult for these candidates to get on the ballot, never mind get elected. In the future, should tampering with votes becomes acceptable, electing a candidate who respects the will of the people over the will of the corrupt and powerful will be impossible.

It is now clear that these problems with our electoral process are not only a threat to democracy, but a threat to our national security. If a candidate can't win a U.S. election without support from wealthy donors and the media, special interests will continue, on the whole, to choose America's leaders. But these special interests need not be domestic in origin. In their support of Trump through state-funded media campaigns, social-media astroturfing, money influence, and espionage [35], Russia has essentially acted as a pro-Trump super-PAC [36] (and unlike domestic super-PAC's, it is hoped, Russia's "super-PAC" support includes vote-tampering).

All signs indicate that Russia intended to exploit these weaknesses in our electoral process from the outset [37]. The Kremlin could rely on America's political establishment to use every tool available to them [38][39][40][41][42][43][44] to tip the scales against candidates who would reform the flawed political system that keeps this establishment in power. Americans wanted an anti-establishment candidate this election [45][46][47][48], and Trump wasn't the only one [49]. But he was the only anti-establishment candidate to receive support from the Kremlin. For some, the culmination of the Kremlin's propaganda [50][51][52][53][54] and the establishment's opposition to Trump [55][56] have created the appearance that Americans voted for the change they wanted and won. But, given the unprecedented level of meddling in this election, we have no way of knowing the true will of the people.

We do know now that Trump is most likely not what the people wanted. If Trump was in conflict with the old establishment, he seems comfortably at peace with the new one. Since election day, he has aligned himself with some of the same unpopular special interests [57][58] he once criticized on the campaign trail [59][60]. And, it is hoped, a president who fawns over [61], benefits from [62], and aligns his interests with [63][64][65][66][67][68] an enemy of the United States is not what the people wanted either.

Please understand that this is, by all accounts, a foreign coup of our government [69][70][71][72], backed by corrupt business interests and corrupt government officials. This is not the first time Russia has enacted a coup in another country [73][74][75], nor is Russia the only country to do so [76][77][78]. But this is the first time a foreign coup has been enacted on America, and what this means for our country and the world is yet to be seen.

And make no mistake: our government is corrupt. Even still, we should not write-off everybody in the government. There are many who, even if they've made mistakes before, do care deeply about our country. We can count on them to help us in a time of crisis like now, and we should look for them everywhere we can. Even those who have been corrupt in the past might have a change of heart. Americans should not be quick to judge each other when we need all the help we can get to make it through this.

Nor should we rely on the government alone to fix itself. There is no government by the people and for the people if the people do not involve themselves with the governing, nor is there government by consent of the governed if the governed never exercise their power to grant and withdraw consent. The American system is not a system of "let someone else handle it." Our founders, guided by the values that the liberty is for all, no man is above the law, and all men are created equal, designed our constitution to ensure that our nation belongs to the people; that it's course is steered by the will of the people, and not by unaccountable officials, self-interested corporations, or foreign powers. These values are a precious gift to our nation and the world--we cannot lose them to apathy.

Since Americans voted for Congressional leaders this election too, vote tampering could also have influenced the outcome of Congressional races. This means that none of the officials in the next administration can claim to have been democratically elected with certainty. It's important for all Americans to understand how precarious this situation is. You should expect many "elected" officials to deny that vote tampering occurred out of interest in keeping their position. And because Republicans gained control of all three branches of government this election, you should also expect the issue of vote tampering to be used for political gain by at least some politicians from the Democrat's side.

But issues fundamental to our democracy and national security are not political issues. We must do everything we can to prevent our politicians from turning the American people's fight for democracy into another fight between Republicans and Democrats [79].

This is important because it is all too easy for any of us to fall into the trap of trusting the words of our favorite politicians and pundits over our own capacity for reason. There is a real and well-documented problem in our country where holding a strong political affiliation hurts your ability to understand other people's ideas and process new information [80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88]. They more you see your political identity as part of your personal identity (i.e. the more you take politics personally), the stronger the effect. The remedy is to not take politics so personally. Keep an open mind about other's ideas, a healthy sense of doubt about your own, and a habit of verifying everything you hear. If you find yourself thinking your favorite politician can do and say no wrong, be assured that they can do and say lots of wrong (they're politicians, after all! And, of course, the same goes for your favorite pundit or politically-inclined celebrity). More importantly, we must remember that our identities as Americans come before our identities as Republicans or Democrats. The partisans who's political positions you most vehemently disagree with are your fellow Americans: they are just as much a part of our country as you are. If you believe you have a responsibility to look out for your country, you have a responsibility to look out for them.

In his speeches and tweets, Trump has said "I am your champion" and "I am your voice." [89] This could not be farther from the truth. We are Americans. WE are the champions and stewards of our country. YOU are your voice. Some Americans have expressed fear that, if it weren't for Trump, the powerful and corrupt will control our country [90][91]. This is nonsense. In a free society, the government should be afraid of the people, and you can be assured that they are afraid. We have the power to choose the course of our country, and so long as we exercise that power, we have nothing to fear.

Starting January 15th, and continuing every day until the 20th, there will be a series of protests across our country. Though some of these protests have been previously organized for partisan issues, any American wishing to preserve democracy, whether they lean Republican or Democrat, whether they work for the government or not, can join these protests.

When we protest, we are going to demand that our government hold free and fair elections.

Specifically:
- We will demand that our government explain exactly what happened to our democratic process in the 2016 elections.
- We will demand that our government hold a new election to either replace or confirm the results of the old one, for the presidential race and every congressional race.
- We will demand that this new election be conducted exclusively with paper ballots and paper trails in all 50 states.
- We will demand that, before this new election occurs, campaign finance reform will be enacted, including a repeal of the Citizens United ruling.

You should understand that the founders of our country did not anticipate voting machines and hacking. We have no legal remedy for replacing the results of a botched election, and if one cannot be enacted soon enough, the only way to hold a new election may be through a temporary suspension of the law, in essence breaking the law. But great leaders of our country have done this in past times of crisis [92], and now is one of the greatest crises we've ever faced. And we should know that all the legal frameworks and procedures that implement our democracy amount to nothing if Americans can't participate in it. The spirit of democracy as it exists in the values of the people is more important than the implementation of democracy as it exists in the law.

You can find the protests that have already been organized here [93] or by searching online. If you are too far away from the nearest rally, find your city or town hall building and protest there (no permits necessary! [94]). If you protest at your city hall, protest every day from the 15th through the 20th, but especially starting 8:00 AM on the 20th (Trump will be sworn-in at noon). If you have work that day, show this to your manager and bring them. If you're not the protesting type, now's the time to become one. Either way, write these same demands, and any other thoughts you might have, to your state "representatives."

We will not stop until we get free and fair elections. The next important date is Tax Day, April 18th. Many years ago, some great Americans insisted there will be "no taxation without representation." Is this sentiment not as true today as it was then? Why should we pay taxes to a government that was not democratically elected? Who are these officials accountable to if our votes don't matter? These Americans were right when they promised no taxation without representation. You are invited to make due on that promise come tax day [95]. Our government is not legitimate until free and far elections are held. (Also, if you live in Boston, feel free to throw all your parking tickets into the Harbor until then.)

Please help by sending this message to everyone you know. If you want to be anonymous, use a throwaway email address [96] or social media account. Send this to every journalist (especially local ones), volunteer worker, government employee, Wall Street employee, military member, law enforcement officer, activist, and hacktivist who's contact information you know or can find. Send this to every church and mosque, every black lives matter chapter and every police department, every Democrat organization and every GOP organization, every government watchdog group and government agency, all 17 of our intelligence agencies, and any other organization you can think of. We have to get every American on the same page, and we need all the help we can get.

Whether they admit it or not, the free world looks to America as an example and a leader. We should remember that we are not just doing this for ourselves, we are doing this for our friends and allies in every democratic nation on earth. In 1970, KGB operative Yuri Bezmenov risked his life defecting from the Soviet Union to warn Americans of Russia's regime change operations targeting our country [97]. His first American book, titled "Love Letter to America," opened with:

	"I am what you may call a 'defector' from the USSR, and I have a message for you: I love you very much. I love all of you--liberals and conservatives, 'decadent capitalists' and 'oppressed masses,' blacks and whites and browns and yellows, rednecks and intellectuals. For me you are the people who created a unique nation, country and society in the history of mankind--by no means a perfect one, but, let's face it--the most free, affluent and just in today's world.

	I am not alone in this love. People all over the Earth, whether they praise America or bitterly criticize her, look upon you as the only hope for mankind's survival and the last stronghold of freedom."

In a later interview, Bezmenov explained his reasons for defecting:

	"I have come to talk about survival. It’s a question of the survival of this system. You may ask me what is in it for me. Survival, obviously. Because, as I said, I am now in your boat. If we sink together, we will sink beautifully together. There is no other place on this planet to defect to."

This is our home, our last stronghold. It's time to defend it.


1. The Federal Government was concerned Russia would hack U.S. vote tallying systems this election, and statistical analyses and predictive and exit polling suggest vote count manipulation occurred.
http://pastebin.com/89jwNihx

2. Trump was a potential victim of Russia's "ideological subversion."
http://pastebin.com/bDsxzvDS

3. "FBI Investigating Unconfirmed Claims That Trump Was Personally Compromised by the Russians"
http://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-investigating-unconfirmed-claims-trump-compromised-election/story?id=44693343

4. "Report: CIA set up task-force in 2016 to investigate possible Russian funding of Trump's campaign"
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-dossier-claims-cia-2017-1

5. "U.S. readies retaliation if Russian disrupts Election Day"
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20161107-u-s-readies-retaliation-if-russian-disrupts-election-day

6. "Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html

7. "'How much and what damage?' Senators call for a special committee to investigate Russian hacking"
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-senate-russian-hacking-20161218-story.html

8. "McConnell has previously said the Senate Intelligence Committee can handle the investigation but the four senators say they are concerned the issue could be politicized and, because of the importance of election security in the U.S., they think a separate group is a better idea."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/12/18/Bipartisan-group-of-senators-ask-for-special-committee-on-Russian-hacks/1161482108473/

9. "Well, first, the select committee will operate as much as possible in public, which is not the usual routine of an intelligence committee. And public hearings are important. You know, we have to protect sources and methods of intelligence information. But the public has to know."
http://www.npr.org/2016/12/22/506625944/senators-call-for-select-committee-to-investigate-russian-hacking

10. "McConnell rejects push for select committee probe of Russian hacking"
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/mcconnell-rejects-push-select-committee-probe-russian-hacking/

11. "What a Special Committee Investigating Russia’s Cyberattacks Could Do"
http://dailysignal.com/2016/12/20/what-a-special-committee-investigating-russias-cyberattacks-could-do/

12. "Key Senate committee won't probe possible Trump-Russia collusion"
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/senate-trump-russia-investigation-233572

13. "Russia hacked Republican state campaigns but not Trump's: FBI head"
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-cyber-rnc-idUSKBN14U2DD

14. "U.S. think tanks targeted by Russian hacking day after Trump’s election"
https://www.cyberscoop.com/russian-hacking-us-think-tanks-cozy-bear-cfr-brookings/

15. "active measures enabled the Kremlin to skillfully use high-level political corruption to penetrate state-led networks connecting power elites of two countries on economic and policy matters."
http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/interviews/2211-russia-s-information-techniques-in-europe-a-new-strategy

16. "The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money"
http://www.interpretermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The_Menace_of_Unreality_Final.pdf

17. "New Low: 17% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed"
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2011/new_low_17_say_u_s_government_has_consent_of_the_governed

18. "75% in U.S. See Widespread Government Corruption"
http://www.gallup.com/poll/185759/widespread-government-corruption.aspx

19. "71% of Americans Think the U.S. Economy Is Rigged"
http://fortune.com/2016/06/29/marketplace-edison-survey-rigged/

20. "America’s Top Fears 2016"
https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2016/10/11/americas-top-fears-2016/

21. "Americans of different political persuasions may not agree on much, but one thing they do agree on is that money has a greater – and mostly negative – influence on politics than ever before. Among liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, large majorities favor limits on campaign spending and say the high cost of campaigning discourages many good candidates from running for president."
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/07/as-more-money-flows-into-campaigns-americans-worry-about-its-influence/

22. "The upheaval and the explosion of discontent that have provided a launch-pad for outsider candidates from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz to Bernie Sanders are not, as so many establishment pundits suggest, just another episode in the long history of ad-hoc populist moments of discontent sure to fade away."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-caddell/what-happened-in-iowa_b_9157958.html

23. "Corporate political action committees (PACs) play a prominent role in the political strategies of U.S. organizations, and the ability of firms to nfluence political outcomes is highly controversial. TO the extent that PACs enable groups of firms to pursue corporate agendas at the expense of the social good, they promote sociall suboptimal outcomes. This study examines the impact of corporate PACs on entry restriction in manufacturing industries and finds a negative relationship between corporate PAC spending and the entry of new firms. results suggest that PACs are used to shape industry strcutre to the ecnomic benefit of incumbents."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249705366_Do_Corporate_PACs_Restrict_CompetitionAn_Empirical_Examination_of_Industry_PAC_Contributions_and_Entry
http://sci-hub.cc/10.1177/000765039803700202

24. "Study Reveals How Often America's Politicians Do Exactly What Rich People Want Them To Do"
http://www.businessinsider.com/princeton-and-northwestern-study-on-elite-influence-in-politics-2014-4

25. "Promoting Small Donor Democracy: The Value of Public Matching Programs"
https://www.ced.org/pdf/Promoting-Small-Donor-Democracy.pdf

26. "Jolly introduced a bill a few months ago called 'The Stop Act.' It would prohibit federal elected politicians from personally soliciting contributions, but not do anything to limit the huge influx of money in the political system made possible by the Citizen's United Supreme Court ruling -one of the reasons politicians need so much money to be elected. 'This is Congressional reform,' says Jolly. 'Members of Congress spend too much time raising money and not enough time doing their jobs.'

Rep. Rick Nolan, Democrat from Minnesota, is co-sponsoring The Stop Act . 'Thirty hours is what they tell you you should spend. And it's discouraging good people from running from public office,' he tells O'Donnell. 'I could give you names of people who've said, 'You know, I'd like to go to Washington and help fix problems, but I don't want to go to Washington and become a mid-level telemarketer, dialing for dollars, for crying out loud.'"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/preview-dialing-for-dollars/

27. "As the story says, normal petitioning on the street barely works, and petitioners find they must first get a list of registered Republicans and then try to find them at home. This is why the new legislation in Arizona, HB 3605, is so devastating to Arizona’s minor parties. The bill requires over 5,500 signatures of party members (or registered independents) and the Green Party only has about 6,000 registered members in the state."
https://democracychronicles.com/signature-campaigns-independent-candidates/

28. "As Biden weighs 2016 bid, donors so far stick by Clinton"
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-biden-idUSKCN0QV01U20150826

29. "In ways both subtle and blunt, Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign is sending a message to Vice President Joe Biden about his potential presidential campaign: This won't be easy.

While Clinton and her team speak warmly of Biden in public, they have taken steps to make clear how they've taken control of the party's establishment in hopes of discouraging the vice president from entering the race."
http://web.archive.org/web/20150901040354/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/clinton-quietly-discourage-biden-2016-bid-33374845

30. Joe Biden's 1988 Presidential run was cut short by a misrepresented plagiarism scandal that was widely played in the news media. The scandal was instigated by opponent Mike Dukakis's campaign aide.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/09/13/plagiarism-suggestion-angers-bidens-aides/912bfcf1-b3f3-4850-a14d-e8b0bee1ed63/
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/24/us/biden-withdraws-bid-for-president-in-wake-of-furor.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/03/us/dukakis-rehires-aide-who-left-after-role-in-ending-biden-drive.html

31. "Road to the White House paved with dirty tricks"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/1988/nov/08/usa.alexbrummer

32. "Big Wall Street donors have a message for Hillary Clinton: Keep Elizabeth Warren off the ticket or risk losing millions of dollars in contributions."
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/elizabeth-warren-wall-street-vice-president-224489

33. "An Outsider’s Guide to Running—and Losing—a California Election
Pete Peterson, a Republican from Santa Monica, Learned How Much the Deck Is Stacked in Favor of Career Politicians"
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2015/06/11/an-outsiders-guide-to-running-and-losing-a-california-election/ideas/nexus/

34. "The producers hope viewers will learn more about what struggles independent candidates face.

'There are systems in place to help Democrats and Republicans run and get volunteers. And somebody who wants to try and run on their own with their message, their own party, it's really difficult, and I think we just want people to understand that'"
http://www.twcnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2016/12/4/film-crew-takes-closer-look-at-running-as-an-independent.html

35. "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections"
https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf

36. "The way that this propaganda apparatus supported Trump was equivalent to some massive amount of a media buy. It was like Russia was running a super PAC for Trump’s campaign. ... It worked."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html

37. "Putin is 'skillfully exploiting' the antiestablishment mood sweeping the US and Europe"
http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-exploiting-antiestablishment-mood-2016-11

38. Criminal investigations and partisan civilian stings uncovered that Democrats may have committed voter fraud in the general election.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20161104_Meehan_claims__criminal_conspiracy__in_Delco_voter_registration_probe.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20161105_Ex-canvasser__FieldWorks__boss__didn_t_really_care_how_we_got_our_quota_.html
http://6abc.com/news/group-under-investigation-for-possible-voter-fraud-in-delco-/1588376/
http://www.npr.org/2016/10/19/498587397/sting-video-purports-to-show-democrats-describing-how-to-commit-voter-fraud

39. The Clinton campaign courted journalists, who acted on her behalf in unethical ways.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3125945-Story-Memo.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3125944-Press-Surrogate-Plan-030815.html
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/4097
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/13/emails-show-cozy-relationship-between-media-and-cl/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/31/donna-brazile-fired-cnn-contributor/
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CNN_controversies&oldid=759607395#Coverage_of_2016_US_Presidential_Election

40. Clinton turned key Biden ally Ron Klain in a way that bothered Klain. Multiple sources suggest this was a key part of why Biden didn't run for President.
http://www.politico.com/story/2008/11/klain-accepts-job-as-biden-chief-of-staff-015576
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5259
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/us/politics/joe-biden-white-house-2016-presidential-campaign.html
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5690

41. After Biden declined to run for the 2016 election, Politico senior staff writer and Clinton campaign ally Glenn Thrush wrote a hit-piece suggesting Biden is incompetent, and that Biden wanted to run following his son's death for the sake of his own legacy. Beau Biden's dying wish was for his father to run for President.
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/12681 ("OTR" stands for "off the record")
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/22284
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/30332
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/301553-sorry-not-sorry-politicos-thrush-doubles-down-on-podesta-emails
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/?q=&mfrom=gthrush%40politico.com&mto=&title=&notitle=&date_from=&date_to=&nofrom=&noto=&count=50&sort=6#searchresult
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/joe-biden-beau-2016-214459

42. "Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC"
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html

43. The DNC collaborated with the Clinton campaign to schedule as few debates with Sanders as possible. The debates that were held were scheduled during football games, or other events that would compete for viewership.
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5688
http://usuncut.com/politics/leaked-email-clinton-collaborating-dnc/
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/democratic-debates-saturdays-215842

44. "The breach of the Democratic committee’s emails, made public on Friday by WikiLeaks, offered undeniable evidence of what Mr. Sanders’s supporters had complained about for much of the senator’s contentious primary contest with Mrs. Clinton: that the party was effectively an arm of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign."
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/politics/dnc-emails-sanders-clinton.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/damaging-emails-dnc-wikileaks-dump/story?id=40852448

45. "Insiders and Outsiders: What Americans Are Telling the Pollsters"
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Political-Report-October-pages-1-3.pdf

46. "Despite 'Outsider' Popularity, Voters See Little Difference Between Candidates on Ideology"
http://www.rand.org/news/press/2016/01/27.html

47. "The battle lines of the new political order are emerging. When presented with the proposition that "the real struggle for America is not between Democrats and Republicans but mainstream America and the ruling political elites," over 66% of voters agree."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-caddell/its-candidate-smith-by-a-_b_5552229.html

48. "Anti-establishment" is not always easy to define, but in general the term has been used to describe political outsiders, reformists, or anti-corruption candidates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/what-is-the-dreaded-establishment-anyway-it-depends-on-whos-talking/2016/01/23/dcf01c0c-c143-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html

49. Some potential and actual 2016 Presidential candidates hold views about problems with the U.S. Government that are in line with the public's views (not an exhaustive list).
https://ballotpedia.org/Elizabeth_Warren_possible_presidential_campaign,_2016
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/275943-poll-sanders-is-most-liked-candidate
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/12/21/jon-huntsman-risks-gop-courting/77493886/
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/politics/joe-biden-regrets-not-running-for-president/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/politics/lindsey-graham-2016-campaign-drops-out/

50. "How a Putin Fan Overseas Pushed Pro-Trump Propaganda to Americans"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/world/europe/russia-propaganda-elections.html

51. "The Kremlin paid Russian trolls to wage information warfare on behalf of Donald Trump"
https://mic.com/articles/164790/russian-trolls-donald-trump-intelligence-report

52. "One Professional Russian Troll Tells All"
http://www.rferl.org/a/how-to-guide-russian-trolling-trolls/26919999.html

53. "Broadly speaking, Trump has two categories of support on Twitter. Alt-right trolls, and Russian bot accounts pretending to be patriotic Americans.*

In many cases, these two groups cross over. The altright contains actual humans, such as @prisonplanet, and many, many bots.

In this article I shall however examine the way in which Russian bots are created and used to follow and boost Trump online."
http://heatst.com/world/how-russias-twitter-bots-and-trolls-work-with-donald-trump-campaign-accounts/

54. "The complaint includes several stunning revelations, including claims that staffers at an unidentified Russian news organization in the US are engaged in spying"
http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-we-arrested-a-russian-spy-in-the-bronx-2015-1

55. "Trump scores with small money, lags with big donors"
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-money-idUSKCN11R0N7

56. "Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received significantly more broadcast network news coverage than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, but nearly all of that coverage (91%) has been hostile, according to a new study by the Media Research Center"
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/rich-noyes/2016/10/25/mrc-study-documenting-tvs-twelve-weeks-trump-bashing

57. Many of Trump's cabinet choices have questionable ties to Wall Street.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-to-pick-mnuchin-for-treasury-secretary-231962
http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/jay-clayton-to-head-sec-trump-233181?
http://heavy.com/news/2017/01/donald-trump-goldman-sachs-drain-swamp-steve-bannon-steven-mnuchin-gary-cohn-jay-clayton/
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-announces-5th-high-profile-hire-from-godlman-sachs-853078595918
http://www.wsj.com/articles/what-trumps-cabinet-picks-mean-for-markets-1482422691
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/research-wrap-wall-street-rethinks-trump-victory-bullish-now.html

58. Trump's pick for Secretary of State was the CEO of ExxonMobil, a oil company known to be particularly corrupt. Tilllerson is also close friends with Russian oligarch and former Soviet spy Igor Sechin.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-15/tillerson-s-foreign-prowess-said-aided-by-exxon-intelligence-arm
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/oct/18/igor-sechin-rosneft-kremlin-hard-man-shadows
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-rex-tillerson-exxon-russia-trump-20161213-story.html
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/tillerson-history-at-exxon-one-of-defying-opposing-us-interests-832531011949
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/science/exxon-mobil-under-investigation-in-new-york-over-climate-statements.html

59. "[Trump:] Hillary can never win over Bernie supporters. Her foreign wars, NAFTA/TPP support & Wall Street ties are driving away millions of votes."
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/759371648764108801

60. "Donald Trump questions Ted Cruz’s ties to major oil companies"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/11/donald-trump-questions-ted-cruzs-ties-to-major-oil-companies/

61. "[Trump:] Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/347191326112112640

62. "FBI in agreement with CIA that Russia aimed to help Trump win White House"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-blames-putins-personal-grudge-against-her-for-election-interference/2016/12/16/12f36250-c3be-11e6-8422-eac61c0ef74d_story.html

63. "Trump team working to remove top NATO official"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/12/13/trump-team-working-to-remove-top-nato-official/

64. "[Trump:] And I think NATO — you have to really examine NATO. And it doesn’t really help us, it’s helping other countries."
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/whats-trumps-position-on-nato/

65. "NATO Offers Aid to United States Following 9/11 Attacks"
http://www.history.com/speeches/nato-offers-aid-to-united-states-following-911-attacks

66. "President-elect Donald Trump's campaign remarks suggesting he could yield to Russia's annexation of Crimea have stoked fears in Ukraine that the ongoing conflict there will worsen and have the potential to endanger other American interests in Europe, a senior Ukrainian politician says."
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-11-22/ukraine-fears-donald-trump-will-abandon-it-for-russia

67. "Rex Tillerson’s Company, Exxon, Has Billions at Stake Over Sanctions on Russia"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/world/europe/rex-tillersons-company-exxon-has-billions-at-stake-over-russia-sanctions.html

68. "Trump: It's time 'to move on' from claims of Russian interference in election"
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-russian-cyberattacks-intelligence-233045

69. "US intel sources warn Israel against sharing secrets with Trump administration"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4906642,00.html

70. "Top Trump aide in frequent contact with Russia's ambassador"
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ba462d64c12d4692b8381cb7076d34ab/ap-source-trump-aide-frequent-contact-russia-envoy

71. "White House: We Didn’t Coordinate Flynn Call to Russian Ambassador"
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-house-we-didn-t-coordinate-flynn-call-russian-ambassador-n706806

72. "Moscow had no contact with Trump team during campaign – Kremlin"
https://www.rt.com/news/366893-trump-russia-peskov-contacts/

73. "The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan"
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/asia-july-dec06-soviet_10-10/

74."The Angola Crisis 1974–75"
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/angola

75. KGB defectors have said regime change operations were common
https://www.quora.com/How-many-puppet-dictatorships-has-the-United-States-installed-relative-to-the-Soviet-Union-Russia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitrokhin_Archive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Mihai_Pacepa
http://uselessdissident.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-with-yuri-bezmenov-part-three.html

76. "Americans Claim Role in Yeltsin Win"
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-07-09/news/mn-22423_1_boris-yeltsin

77. "After seven years of economic “reform” financed by billions of dollars in U.S. and other Western aid, subsidized loans and rescheduled debt, the majority of Russian people find themselves worse off economically."
https://www.thenation.com/article/harvard-boys-do-russia/

78. "Dyachenko, described by those who know her as modest and charming, rarely appears in public and almost never grants interviews. She has maintained a strict silence in the face of mounting accusations that the Yeltsin family has stashed millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts and acquired property abroad. ... Her rise from working mom to unofficial regent mirrors Russia's deterioration over the last eight years as it has reverted from a budding democracy to a land of corruption and poverty."
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/10/news/mn-20957

79. "The Kremlin leader — who also sent an upbeat letter to Trump last week that the president-elect revealed Friday — pointed out that Republicans had won the House and Senate, as well.

“Did we do that, too?” he asked with a slight grin"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/trump-syria-hacking-and-terrorism-in-play-as-russias-putin-meets-the-press/2016/12/23/28ead25a-c878-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html

80. "Competition is a defining element of democracy. One of the most noteworthy events over the last quarter-century in U.S. politics is the change in the nature of elite party competition: The parties have become increasingly polarized. Scholars and pundits actively debate how these elite patterns influence polarization among the public (e.g., have citizens also become more ideologically polarized?). Yet, few have addressed what we see as perhaps more fundamental questions: Has elite polarization altered the way citizens arrive at their policy opinions in the first place and, if so, in what ways? We address these questions with a theory and two survey experiments (on the issues of drilling and immigration). We find stark evidence that polarized environments fundamentally change how citizens make decisions. Specifically, polarization intensifies the impact of party endorsements on opinions, decreases the impact of substantive information and, perhaps ironically, stimulates greater confidence in those—less substantively grounded—opinions. We discuss the implications for public opinion formation and the nature of democratic competition."
http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~jnd260/pub/Druckman%20Peterson%20Slothuus%20APSR%202013.pdf

81. "Don’t Like the Message? Maybe It’s the Messenger"
https://hbr.org/2012/05/dont-like-the-message-maybe-it.html

82. "The Messenger Overwhelming the Message: Ideological Cues and Perceptions of Bias in Television News"
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-007-9031-z

83. "Drawing from existing literature on source credibility, we expect ad sponsorship will have meaningful effects on voter reactions to political advertisements. We test this by using an original experiment, where we expose a sample of student and non-student participants to equivalent ads and vary only the paid sponsor disclaimer at the end of the message. The only thing that differs across stimuli is whether a political candidate, a known interest group, or an unknown interest group sponsors the advertisement. Following exposure to one of these ads, participants complete a posttest battery of questions measuring the persuasiveness of the message, source credibility, and message legitimacy. We find that ads sponsored by unknown interest groups are more persuasive than those sponsored by candidates or known interest groups, and persuasion is mediated by perceived credibility of the source."
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-011-9172-y

84. "A growing body of empirical research shows that the parties in government, particularly those in Congress, are each growing more homogeneous in their policy positions, while the differences between the two parties’ stands on major policy issues are expanding. Related to elite-level party divergence has been increasing ideological polarization among the parties’ mass identifiers and activist bases."
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jcampbel/documents/LaymanCarseyReview2006.pdf

85. "What influences perceptions of political polarization? The authors examine the polarization of people’s own political attitudes as a source of perceived polarization: Individuals with more extreme partisan attitudes perceive greater polarization than individuals with less extreme partisan attitudes. This “polarization projection” was demonstrated in 3 studies in which people estimated the distribution of others’ political attitudes: one study with a nationally representative sample concerning the 2008 presidential election, and 2 studies concerning university students evaluating a policy regarding scarce resource allocation. These studies demonstrate that polarization projection occurs simultaneously with and independently of simple projection, the tendency to assume that others share one’s partisan political attitudes. Polarization projection may occur partly because people assume that others engage in similar attitudinal processes as the self, such as extensive thought and emotional arousal. The projection of various attitudinal processes was demonstrated in a study concerning health care reform policies. Further supporting this explanation, polarization projection increased when people introspected about their own attitudinal processes, which increased the accessibility of those processes. Implications for perceptions of partisanship, social judgment, and civic behavior are discussed."
http://people.psych.ucsb.edu/sherman/david/van-boven-judd-sherman-2012.pdf

86. "When asked to express their evaluation, people simply retrieve the evaluation counter without searching for the information on which it was based. Lodge et al (1989: 401) explain that the result may be “that people can often tell you how much they like or dislike a book, movie, candidate, or policy [because they maintain a running evaluation] but not be able to recount the specific whys and wherefores for their overall evaluation...”"
http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/publications/docs/workingpapers/2016/WP-16-14.pdf

87. "In our first study, we show that criticism of polarization leads partisans to more positively evaluate the argument offered by their non-preferred party, increases support for bi-partisanship, but ultimately does not change the extent to which partisans follow their party’s policy endorsements. In our second study, we show that Independents report significantly less political interest, trust, and efficacy when polarization is made salient and this is particularly evident when a cause of polarization is mentioned. These studies have important implications for our understanding of the consequences of elite polarization—and how polarization is communicated—for public opinion and political behavior in democratic politics.

...we hypothesize that critical accounts of polarization will minimize the influence of partisan-motivated reasoning (H2). Critical framings of polarization may mitigate partisan-motivated reasoning for a couple reasons. First, partisan-motivated reasoning is undermined when partisan endorsements are not perceived to be a reliable shortcut for making “accurate” evaluations (Lavine et al., 2012 ). Media accounts criticizing polarization likely make negative considerations about political parties and their positions more cognitively accessible, thereby prompting skepticism about the reliability of party cues and a closer evaluation of the merits of competing arguments."
http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~jnd260/pub/Robison%20Mullinix%202016.pdf


88. "The increasing levels of political polarization in America have communication scholars, political scientists, and media pundits alike examining the causes of this trend, many of whom look to blame the proliferation of partisan media for this societal ill. An abundance of research exists on the effects of selective exposure to partisan media and the rise of political polarization in America today;thus, this thesis explores how partisan selective exposure and political polarization are related through a modified qualitative meta-analysis of existing research on these two topics. The social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and social comparison (Festinger, 1954) theories provide the theoretical framework for this study. Central to the relationship are four main themes: 1) Evidence suggests that partisan selective exposure contributes to political polarization; 2) American political elites are polarized; 3) Most Americans are tuned to something other than the news and thus, are not politically polarized by partisan media; 4) Politically engaged partisans, those who occupy the fringes of the American electorate and yet, wield immense political influence, are the most polarized by selective exposure to partisan media. The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that increased polarization of politically engaged partisans due to these factors has serious implications for our nation’s democratic processes. Further research is needed to explore the effects of a tuned out American electorate and how to re-engage them in a national political conversation."
http://web02.gonzaga.edu/comltheses/proquestftp/Thornal_gonzaga_0736M_10483.pdf

89. "Full text: Donald Trump 2016 RNC draft speech transcript"
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/full-transcript-donald-trump-nomination-acceptance-speech-at-rnc-225974

90. "A new Suffolk University poll released today finds that majorities or pluralities of Trump supporters worry that the election results could be manipulated; believe that if Trump loses, corruption will have been the culprit"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/10/26/trump-voters-already-know-the-election-will-be-rigged-against-him-this-new-poll-proves-it/

91. "For many supporters, Trump is a thing called hope"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-supporters-hope-20161110-story.html

92. "1861 -- President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War"
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-lincoln-suspends-the-writ-of-habeas-corpus-during-the-civil-war

93. You can find the rally nearest you from these links or an internet search. Let the organizers of these protests know we're not doing this for political issues, we're doing this for our country. Don't be afraid to organize your own protest.
https://www.bustle.com/p/how-to-find-inauguration-protest-near-me-to-rally-against-donald-trump-26748
http://mindy-fischer-writer.com/2017/01/list-national-state-local-anti-trump-protests-planned-inauguration-week/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anti-trump-inauguration-protests_us_58750010e4b043ad97e5c58b
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protests-idUSKBN14X2HX
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/11/how-should-trump-protesters-organize-themselves.html

94. "Congress shall make no law [abridging] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." (remember to keep it peaceful!)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

95. "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. --Thomas Jefferson"
https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/little-rebellionquotation

96. Some email services are easier to sign-up for than others.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-free-email-services-that-do-not-ask-for-phone-verification
https://www.mail.com/
https://tutanota.com/

97. "Love Letter to America" (Note that at the time the KGB were trying to export communism, and this influenced Bezmenov's choice of words. Today, Putin holds a different ideology.)
http://uselessdissident.blogspot.com/2008/12/love-letter-to-america-part-one.html

98. "Deception was My Job: A Interview with Yuri Bezmenov"
http://uselessdissident.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-with-yuri-bezmenov.html