Might as well be talking to a tree here. I think you're missing the point by a wide margin.
What I'm saying is that the influence of other nations into America's affairs is inevitable. And that is not merely a byproduct of Russia's meddling, but globalization. The center of power no longer resides only in America. Others, too, are now taking control of the narrative. You will not be able to prevent the flow of information on the internet, no matter what sort of sanctions are imposed, and I do not necessarily believe that the restriction of such information is even necessary, nor desirable.
What's more important, is to educate the people in a way which will allow them to operate rationally in the transparent environment that we are bound to live in. An environment where leaks will take place, where "inconvenient information" will be exposed, where back-room deals will become the public's knowledge, to the chagrin of politicians and their partisan supporters.
You can fight Russia with the same methods as Metallica once tried to fight Napster, to prevent the spread of content over the internet. By outdated, largely obsolete means.
You will not be able to protect America by protecting its people from information. You can only protect them by making them even more knowledgeable about the political process, to the point where they will not be surprised or outraged by being exposed to such information. Educating people to be capable of critically evaluating the material that they read, and to have a more complex understanding of the nature of politics, is surely a taller task than sanctioning Vladimir Putin and setting the CIA loose to fight a War on the Web, but it is the only solution which yields long-term rewards.
