Did Obama 'choke' on Russia? (Does a Russian bear poop in the woods?)

How did President Barack Obama respond to Russia's attack on the 2016 election? Impotently.

As The Washington Post reported Friday, Obama was given evidence in early August 2016 that showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was directing the hacking campaign. Obama was also told that Putin planned to continue his attacks.

In response, the Post explains, Obama was offered various retaliatory options. By punishing him for attacking U.S. democracy, U.S. officials believed Putin would reconsider his strategy. And the early options presented to Obama were good ones (though not as good as my suggestion). They included "sectorwide economic sanctions and cyberattacks that would take Russian networks temporarily offline. One official informally suggested — though never formally proposed — moving a U.S. naval carrier group into the Baltic Sea as a symbol of resolve."

In the end, Obama effectively did nothing.

He "feared that any action would be seen as political and that Putin, motivated by a seething resentment of Clinton, was prepared to go beyond fake news and email dumps."

It's a pathetic excuse.

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