Week in Review 7-25-2020

We are in a for frightening next 100 days leading up to the election.
 
As Covid continues to plague the country, voting in person may be too dangerous. The  GOP is resisting efforts to expand vote by mail and early voting. States are struggling to update and secure their voting infrastructure. There appears to be continued foreign meddling in our elections.
 
This week Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), along with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence expressed their concern in a letter to the FBI.
 
"We are gravely concerned, in particular, that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate, and the presidential election in November," they said. 
 
The recent Twitter attack highlights our vulnerability with the spread of disinformation. These types of attacks could impact people's ability to vote. What if the hacked accounts tweeted out wrong polling information or instructed people to stay home on election day? 
 
We saw these attacks in the 2016 election. However, four years later, the bad actors have increased as well as the sophistication of their work. Democrats want $3.6 billion to be included in the latest coronavirus relief package, the Heroes Act, to help state and local election offices. The GOP is resisting.
 
A thriving, vibrant democracy is the greatest threat to countries like Russia and China. Their goal is to weaken our trust in government and our democracy through the spread of disinformation. Once this happens, chaos ensues.
 
Trump has been a partner in their efforts to weaken people's trust in government. He has spent his entire presidency delegitimizing government agencies and media. He has made people doubt the very institutions that can protect them and even the sanctity of their vote.
 
As Joe Biden says, we are in the battle for the soul of our nation. That battle extends to the internet and beyond our borders.