"Trump Is the Enemy of the Left's Enemy"

"Ackerman asserts that the Russia investigation has produced 'an atmosphere of nationalist fervor and anti-Russian paranoia.' Robin has decried 'basically a form of moral panic.' The ideological impulse producing these sentiments is fairly straightforward. Russiagate casts Trump as an opponent of American sovereignty, and to the extent one views the weakening of American sovereignty as a positive good, Trump's position appears sympathetic. Relatedly, Trump has occasionally attacked the idea that the United States government is more admirable or democratic than authoritarian states like Russia. Trump 'said some things that were true,' wrote Robin during the campaign, 'Like this: "When the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don't think we are a very good messenger."' His realpolitik alliance with Russia, and his premise that America has no right to hold its political system above Russia's, strikes a chord in some precincts of the left."

Jonathan Chait at New York asks, "[w]hy Are So Many Leftists Skeptical of the Russia Investigation?"