Uh yes ... it does matter what a government's interests are? Like how does it not? 

There's a difference between being upset at a guy who's motives are to date your sister and take her out to the movies versus a guy who's planning to get your sister drunk and rape her. 

And yes the US has interfered globally, but do you think that Russian-centric world order would be better in the long run? 

Interests =/= motive/plans.

"They (Foreign interests) tend go be selfish and they are seldom if ever in the interests of the parties being influenced".

Foreign interests are never for your benefit and should never be ok. Russian interests = bad.  Saudi interests = bad. So no, it doesn't matter what their interests are. It is never good, so it should not be acceptable. All foreign influence should not be allowed.

Would rather have a non-centric world, tbh.

Still missing my point, tho.

I'm not sure what you're arguing against here?  Are you trying to excuse the Russian interference with the election, or are you just trying to get Soundwave to say that there is no difference between influencing public opinion during an election and donating money to a candidate during an election?  I find your arguments odd, honestly, as Soundwave is trying to have a well thought-out discussion about what is happening and what could potentially be the consequences to our future elections.

This is corruption lol. You can't say you are against corruption but at the same time say you support this. You don't think the Russians could've dug up a bunch of crap on Trump too? Of course they could, but they didn't (or maybe they did, but they didn't make it public). That's because they wanted Trump to win. If you actually think the Russians did this only to expose "crooked Hillary" to Americans, you are gullible. They did this to make America elect the president they wanted in office. How on earth can you think that's not a serious matter? Cause here's a newsflash for you: Russia doesn't care about what's best for the American people (or what's best for anyone besides Russians. And heck, in many cases, not Russians either.) They didn't do this to be nice.

Let me just insert myself in here and say this.. There is no crime in big money donations. The friendship the US government has with Saudi is mutual, same as it is with Israel and other allies. I mean we give lots of money and export weapons to other countries.

What is bad is when they try to mess with our democracy for their own personal gain, and all that evidence is piling up against Russia.

I would like it to rain candy and lollipops, the world doesn't work that way. There is no such thing as a "non-centric world", not even in the movies. 

Like I said the guy who's trying to be your friend because he wants date your sister is not one and the same with the guy who's planning to get her drunk and rape her. You probably want to pay more attention to that second guy as his motivations are clearly different. Motviations are very important. 

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel have no benefit in undermining the US, they enjoy a good relationship and their ambitions are largely regional/domestic even if they are not the perfect friends, and quite honestly neither has overwhelmingly ever backed one candidate while actively trying to sabotage another in an election cycle. 

I think they do have dirt on Trump, but they're going to hold it over his head for 2018. He's going to have to give them what they want. 

They're smart. They're not going to do favors without have some assurances that it gets them what they want. 

My point, is that any one country having worldwide influence and control is only really good for said country. With how much crap the US caused in the Middle East, at this point, other countries don't really see you much better than Russia.

Your analogy is false, as we are talking about interests and not motivations/plans. And one does not really know what the true motivations/plans of foreign powers are. Regardless of how hard we try and tinfoil hat it. We can, however, guess at what likely would be their interests. Essentially, we know both guys wanna have sex with my friend. We don't know which one would rape her or date her. All we got are suspicions.

Seeing as Saidi Arabia is one of the biggest financiers/breeding ground of Islamic terrorism, I would be inclined to disagree. Russia may have allegedly (with circumstantial evidence) influenced the elections. Saudi Arabia might have had a hand in 9/11.

And you're just simply arguing in a tangent now. You have missed my original point completely and are now just misdirecting the flow of the conversation.

Well if you read my original posts, then you'll get my point. Soundwave took the direction of the discussion towards a different direction.

My point is that espionage exists. It is a reality. We may want to live in a world of rainbow and lollipop raindrops (borrowing this line from SW) but world powers/groups with interests/etc want to exert influence on the US and they would do so to the best of their ability. The hack exposed a vulnerability with the political parties and they should learn the lessons of the election and improve how they handle their security/be less scummy/have less secrets. No skeletons/secrets = no leverage. It does not excuse or absolve the groups performing once caught, however. That was my only point. He then took it to a discussion that I didn't initiate, I simply responded.

Also, I read the report. I am not convinced that Russian Intellience did the hack, the evidence provided was vague and mostly circumstantial. Altho, i admit I have a limited backround in IT security, if someone can point out where the definitve proof is in the report, I would appreciate it.

Actually you can read Russia's intentions, they have several books that outline them pretty clearly. 

Foundations of Geopolitics is required reading by military brass in Russia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

Written in 1997, it outlines some fairly eerie objectives that are definitely bearing fruit today namely the establishment of a new Russian Eurasian Empire .Some of its objectives

1.) To destabilize the US and to gain "strategic control" without having to engage in direct warfare. 

2.) To get the UK to seperate from Europe. 

3.) Annexation of Ukraine

4.) The ultimate goal is the "Finlandization" of Europe, meaning all of Europe becomes like an effective Russian bloc. 

Here's the bit about the US:

Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics."

Yeah but sure. Maybe it's all just a misunderstanding and they're just doing this because they like Trump. Some how though I doubt it. They are using him like a puppet.