White House seizes 32 domains, issues criminal charges in massive election-meddling crackdown The Biden administration on Wednesday seized 32 websites and charged two employees of a state-owned media outlet connected to a $10 million scheme to distribute pro-Kremlin propaganda, and claimed the actions were necessary to counter Russia’s attempts to influence the upcoming US presidential election. "The Department's …
And Director of the FBI Christopher Wray is a registered Republican put in that position by Trump. Still, it's a multi-department operation, Biden's people are currently in charge of all those departments and Federal prosecutors formally prosecute on behalf of the government. It's not incorrect language really.
did anyone catch , in that sizeable article , what these Russian bots actually want ?
I mean - how, as in which way , are they trying to influence the election ?
Imma guess they want Trump elected , after all why wouldnt Putin want a friendly narcissitic moron in charge
They want 'Candidate A' elected, so err. yes. It is a bit confusing though, this and the China orchestrated equivelent. Why bother funding a few dozen/hundreds of spammers trying to get Candidate A (or B) elected and sow division by spreading lies and conspiracy theories when a very sizeable chunk of the American population is already devoting double-figure billions of dollars and obscene man-hours to precisely those aims, and doing so way more effectively - with superior cultural tact and proximity - than any foreign power can?
Are Putin and Xi just jealous that free-worlders get to have lots of 'fun' around election time and don't want to miss out?
Have you heard of Foundations of Geopolitics? Its a manifesto produced in Russia in the late 90s describing how Russia should regain its strength. Brief highlights:
In the US, "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"
The UK should be cut off from European Union
Ukraine should be annexed: "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning, no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness, no ethnic exclusiveness, its certain territorial ambitions represents an enormous danger for all of Eurasia and, without resolving the Ukrainian problem, it is in general senseless to speak about continental politics"
Have you heard of Foundations of Geopolitics? Its a manifesto produced in Russia in the late 90s describing how Russia should regain its strength.
More accurately, it's a book on geopolitics published in 1997 by Aleksandr Dugin that highlights the danger of relying on wiki. The Hoover Institute said the Russians are coming! Oh My!
In the US, "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
Arguably this may have worked. So a lot of that disorder has already been happening, largely as a result of progressive vs conservative policies, liberalism, globalism etc. Oh, and of course Russophobia. The US has traditionally been pretty Christian/conservative, now traditional American values are being rejected. Crime has been increasing, social inequality has been increasing, cost of living, illegal immigration etc etc.. And which party has been responsible for that? Putin has said he supported Biden, and now Harris. Maybe he's just trolling the US, or maybe he just knows if he wants to spread dissent and increase divisions in the US, then supporting the Democrats makes more sense. If America were made great again, it would become more of a threat to Russia's interests.
Ukraine should be annexed: "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning, no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness
Well, he had a point. Although Ukraine did have the geographic uniqueness wrt NATO expansion. A red line for Russia we happily walked over with the coup in 2014, the subsequent civil war, ethnic cleansing and de-Russification, breaking of the Minsk Agreements and finally the start of the SMO. Oh, and of course Ukraine murdered Daria Dugina in an failed attempt to murder Aleksandr Dugin. How dare he call Ukraine irrelevant!
But this is how politics works. Have you heard of the RAND Corporation? This one from 2019 makes for interesting reading-
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3063.html
Extending Russia
Competing from Advantageous Ground
the start of the SMO
Even Russian Trolls are not authorized to talk about the War Putin Khuylo is waging against Ukraine.
It's understandable, they are too afraid to be sent in jail where they will be deprived to have any contact with their family or being eliminated like Navalny was;
There are indeed Nazis involved in this war, and they are wearing the Russian uniform.
Even Russian Trolls are not authorized to talk about the War Putin Khuylo is waging against Ukraine.
Neither are the chubby khokhols. See? There's a slur for Ukrainians as well that could be used. So are you a naftotroll? Or Ukrainian troll? Or have you just been misformed by the propaganda and media war being? But Ukrainians aren't authorised to talk about a lot of things either. They're not allowed to show pictures of bomb or missile damage, and can be arrested for doing so. They are not allowed to criticise Zelensky either, and can be jailed for doing so.
But there is a lot of misinformation being spread by pro-Ukrainian 'trolls'. Even ones that take the name of a famous Russian who built a fair chunk of Ukraine, who can presumably show me where Russia has formally declared war on Ukraine. War having a specific legal meaning, along with constitutional one in Russia which would allow Russia to use far more force against Ukraine.
It's understandable, they are too afraid to be sent in jail where they will be deprived to have any contact with their family or being eliminated like Navalny was;
Or Gonzalo Lira, an American journalist, 'eliminated' in a Ukrainian jail-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Lira#Death
Reportedly died in Ukrainian jail from pneumonia, which is normally an easily treated illness. But interesting you mention Navalny in the context of election or political interference. He was very much a Western creation, and a curious choice given his neo-nazi tendencies.
There are indeed Nazis involved in this war
And there's Azov, and other far-right, neo-nazi groups in Ukraine which we're arming and supporting. But that's the usual story in politics. Gloss over boring little details like Ukraine's far-right nutjobs and politicians. Ignore the de-Russification and ethnic cleansing. Ignore the elimination of media and political parties, and most recently, banning a major religion. But we can gloss over Ukraine becoming a fascist dictatorship because they're currently a proxy in our undeclared war against Russia, and an attempt to bring about regime change. But then if Russia collapses, we might end up with someone worse than Putin in charge of rather a lot of nuclear and other weapons.
But such is politics.
We're simultaneously pishing off Russia, China, Iran and a few other countries, so it isn't at all suprising they're retaliating and engaging in their own political warfare against us.
Calling the invasion a "SMO" was pretty much a giveaway that he's a paid Russian shill. One who speaks English well, mind.
So can I assume you're a paid Ukrainian shill? Or can I assume you've just been influenced by Western propaganda, and thus unable to be objective? Can I also assume that you've managed to reconcile things like the 'full scale invasion' mantra with Russia's initial 1-200k troops in that 'full scale invasion' to it now having 6-800k troops in theatre for an even fuller 'full scale invasion'?
But it's still an SMO, with a CTO (Counter Terrorism Operation) in Kursk, which has been a pointless and rather counter-productive PR stunt that's meant Ukraine is now even smaller than it was when the SMO started. But I guess that's what happens when you put a comedian in charge of a country.
Manifesto: A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer
Book: a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers:
But then people have been fighting over words in books ever since Gutenberg invented the printing press. Especially perhaps these ones-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger#Notable_works
Trump is a major irritant (and bozo). However, don't overlook that the other side of the coin is just as responsible for this destabilization in American politics and society. Challenging almost every historical belief, religion and social norm is destabilizing. Whether you believe those things are right or wrong is beside the point. They are still destabilizing and can be manipulated by outsiders. The Trump "movement" is just another irritant that adds fuel to the fire of that social/political change. Does anyone really believe that actual Christians support Trump positively or do you realize that support is based on the idea that it's a resistance to the social change that may be occurring? It's pretty easy to sow discord in this scenario.
Does anyone really believe that actual Christians support Trump positively or do you realize that support is based on the idea that it's a resistance to the social change that may be occurring? It's pretty easy to sow discord in this scenario.
And it's not just Russia the US (and West) need to be concerned about. So NY Governor Hochul's aid just got arrested as a spy. Then there was Pelosi's chauffeur, Swalwell, etc etc-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_espionage_in_the_United_States
“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. --Malachi 3:5
OK, not a Christian, and Trump hasn't been accused of sorcery (yet), but Jesus had plenty to say about false prophets, hypocrites, etc.
"JohnSheeran":
Challenging almost every historical belief, religion and social norm is destabilizing.
Since your fantasy apparently refers to the US Democratic party:
- The US Democratic party today, by any rational global definition, is not even a progressive party. Not far from Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrat party, in practice.
- They are hardly challenging very much by historical standards. Unless your metric for the ideal society are one of those tribes deep in the Amazon rainforest that hadn't had contact with the outside world for centuries.
Then again, funnily enough, the founding ideology and principles of the USA itself was in fact a revolutionary social idea at the time. Upending all sorts of "traditional norms" like hereditary monarchies, detaching and insulating the church from the government, and adding this new thing called human rights.
So that's bad, then. Hmm?
Does anyone really believe that actual Christians support Trump positively...
Of course they do. Evidence is everywhere. Maybe if you're in the UK or stuffing your head in the sand on a daily basis you don't see it. I'm in the USA and it's everywhere, along with the endless rationalizations.
Which is pretty hilarious because if one were to try to locate one single person in the USA to use as a textbook example of a person who literally embodies and embraces every single one of the "Seven Deadly Sins", Trump would be that guy.
Kinda makes ya wonder about those so-called religious followers. A lot.
What fantasy are you referring to exactly? Obviously, you're not an American so you don't appear to have the faintest idea of what's actually happening in this country. I can make that statement because there is not a single American that would make a reference to "Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrat party".
After that, everything you typed was nothing short of a rant because you want to impose your own beliefs of what you *think* is happening in my country. The rant you're spouting is all media-fueled propaganda. What I see everyday with real people doesn't match what I see through the media thankfully.
Maybe you should just move here and fix it for us since you seem to have all the answers.
Last thought; both parties and all of the extremists on both side of the equation are what's really wrong with our country. I'm sure you think I'm on the opposite side of you just because I don't agree with the extreme way you responded and that just means you're part of the problem.
Yeah, I realise it's not incorrect language, and I didn't mean to imply that the author wrote it for partisan bias, but it's a loaded framing that MAGAs will pick up on.
Every time the feds have gone after Trump, he talks about how it is "Joe Biden" doing It.
It's a bit like when scientists etc. on refuting a claim don't say "that is not true", they say "there is no evidence to prove that" - Now, you and I know that this is the more correct answer.
To a conspiracy theory nuthead, it's evidence of a weasly fake denial.
While in the past one might have expected such news to come out of San Francisco, Boston or New York, I was fascinated to discover that this Russian operation was headquartered in suburban Nashville. I think we may safely conclude that Nashville may have gone a bit too far in its efforts to recruit international investment.
... I was fascinated to discover that this Russian operation was headquartered in suburban Nashville.
I don't think it was that suprising. Or it was suprising it was headquartered in the US at all. It seems this was an online operation, so could have been run from anywhere with an Internet connection, and if it wanted a US 'presence', that's easily enough done. A few clicks and a Delaware corporation or other LLC can be yours.
But I think it also highlights the problems with AI and 'fake news'. For as little as $9,99 a month, you can subscribe to AI content generation services that will let you churn out YT videos. Just give it a subject, pick a voice and 10m30s videos can be yours. I was chatting with someone that does this recently and seemed proud that they had 5 YT channels doing this and generating passive income. The service they used will monitor trending topics or videos and can produce vids on the same topics to try and ride that wave. I suggested this was a pretty scummy thing to do, but money is money and YT currently allows it. Some get banned for scraping other creators content, and thus breaking copyright but it's a huge problem on YT. Some of the bot farms also buy up existing channels with decent subscriber counts to maximise their ad revenues.
So given it's already abused, especially with things like crypto scams, I'm not suprised the same technology is being used to churn out fake news & propaganda.
There's a benefit to having native US English speakers helping to produce the content. Especially for video content, you want an American with an American accent to front the video. But even for written content, a native speaker can help. I would assume that is why they were based in the US.
There's a benefit to having native US English speakers helping to produce the content. Especially for video content, you want an American with an American accent to front the video.
But this is where AI can be dangerous, especially for churnalism or auto-generating propaganda. There has been litigation between actors & voice actors for AI companies stealing their voices, and the AI YT video generators allow 'creators' to just pick a voice. This case gets a little more interesting given it also involved some un-named, but later identified content creators who claimed they didn't know about the RT money. And at $100k a week to make a video, I'm in the wrong business I guess.
Given the mindset required to enthusiastically embrace the things that the Kremlin is promoting, the fact that it was based in the heart of the US South is absolutely unsurprising.
In fact, the political party that has an iron grip on most of that region of the country was literally the sole reason why the legislation to authorize another round of support for Ukraine was held up for close to half a year - causing a lot of hardship and strategic backsliding in the war - because so many members of that party these days have become essentially Putin apologists. The Republican party leadership literally organizes trips to Hungary nowadays to brainstorm political strategy with groups connected with Putin ally Viktor Orban.
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-04-23/long-awaited-aid-to-ukraine-israel-taiwan-poised-to-pass-us-congress
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-orban-seek-global-conservative-movement-at-right-wing-conference-/7588060.html
Yes, different, but how? It's an interesting hypothetical. I'm not sure if you're suggesting that there would be less conflict between the US and Russia if there had never been nuclear weapons, but I think it would be as bad if not worse. This happens if you assume that nuclear weapons never were invented at all, which means you start your alternate history with how the war against Japan ended quite differently, probably with a lot more Soviet involvement. It also happens if you assume that we all simply stopped being able to make them at some point, though the details differ quite a bit depending on when that is.
The estimates for an allied invasion of Japan were 5 million Japanese and 1 million allied casualties. The rule of thumb for that era, was that 1 third of casualties would be expected to die. I don't think the Russians could (or would) have been much help in the invasion - as they'd have had to commit their troops to both under allied command, and use the allies supply chain. Something that never happened in the war. It might have meant all of Korea would now be a hideous dictatorship though.
There's also a higher chance that the Cold War might have gone hot - and Western Europe would have had to have a much more military outlook, rather than having the bare minimum conventional foces and relying on the nuclear umbrella for protection. Which you'd expect to have some profound effects on society.
On the other hand, if the Cold War had had a similar ending, and Russia had invaded Ukraine in 2022 - there's a good chance that NATO might have given a lot more support - given the quality of Ukraine's army I think the war would be over by now if just a few countries had got together and given them air support.
However, on the downside - with nuclear uncertainty removed - there would be much less risk for China to attempt to conquer Taiwan or India and Pakistan to go to war over some dispute.
Also, without nuclear weapons, more countries might choose to have chemical weapons.
"I don't think the Russians could (or would) have been much help in the invasion - as they'd have had to commit their troops to both under allied command, and use the allies supply chain."
I don't see why that would have to be necessary. They could easily attack Japan from the north and west while the other allies, primarily the US, attacked from the south. Other than coordinating aerial action, they could operate somewhat independently if the goal is simply destroying everything until there is no more resistance, then repeating that further ahead. I admit that my picture of how this might have gone is probably biased by an alternative history that did consider this*, but I don't think it's that unrealistic. I agree with most of your other predictions. A more militarized cold war that likely would get warmer, if not a World War III less quick and fiery than the term generally describes.
* The book in question is Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove. Joseph Stalin's parents moved to the US and he became its president, and because he's a dictator, physicists don't want to give him nuclear weapons so there is a delay in making them. They still make them, but not until after the war has ended. Japan ends being split between US and Soviet spheres of occupation similar to real world Korea. It's not the most realistic of premises, but still a fun read.
doublelayer,
The logistics of launching an amphibious invasion are horrific.
On D-Day the Allies used over 4,000 ships to land 7-8 divisions on 5 beaches. Plus another 3 divisions dropped by parachute and glider. Until they could capture a port, they had to keep putting the supplies onto the beaches and the Mulberries (massive artifical harbours). They had already built an underwater pipeline to get fuel to the forces on beach (PLUTO).
Russia did not have the naval or economic resources to manage that. Quick Googe:
Between June 6th - 30th 1944 the Allies landed 850,000 men, 148,800 vehicles and 570,500 tonnes of supplies in Normandy. They captured Cherbourg on the 26th, but I don't think it was useable for weeks after that. So they had to run and supply a huge army from what could be put on beaches alone.
In 1943 the D-Day plan only had 3 beaches and about 4-5 divisions - because there simply weren't enough landing craft to do any more. That would probably have been a disaster, if the US had persuaded Churchill to go for it, rather than the landings in Italy.
The Russians, under Stalin, were incredibly hard to work with. They were barely even capable of cooperating with the Royal Navy on the Murmansk convoys, where large numbers of ships and sailors were lost trying to get vital equipment to help Russia survive in 1941.
Providing a real "Hillbilly Elegy" for the FOCF and his "shady" VP running mate and billionaire bromance-object.
Seriously y'know those Red state's have real trouble with employment. They can't be too fussy who hires them or what they do.
Good to see the DoJ taking election interference seriously.
In any situation ask yourself 1 question.
If a candidates plans and story is sooo good why do they need so many people to tell so many lies for them?
Consider that when you recall the FOCF's 1-lie-every1-2minutes in his debate. Not fact checking any candidates BS is a failure of the press to do their job.
Worth noting that the "unnamed Tennessee-based content-creation business" has been decisively (though not officially) identified as Tenet Media, with the mysterious "Commentator-1" and "Commentator-2" likely to be Dave Rubin and Tim Pool according to their number of subscribers:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-tenet-media-right-wing-influencers-justice-department/
The commentators have since then declared themselves to be victims of the scheme that paid them $100K per video.
It's been done already, and they have confirmed: Dave Rubin and Tim Pool. They say they are victims. Not sure they'll give back the money, though.
Elon Musk was born outside the USA, so cannot become president. However, he has realised that it is easier to buy a president than to become one.
So you have to wonder, why the russians would go to all the trouble of fake news, fake websites, misinformationand all the rest when all it would take would be a large-ish bung in the right direction.
For the Russians, its not about getting a tame president, its about weakening America. Militarily the US is still strong, but they have never been more divided and weakened politically. When you have "peaceful protestors" storming your parliament, you're not paying as much attention to what is happening 4000 miles away.
Seems like usa.gov is upset that
a) election interference isn't through the authorised channels, i.e. super PACs, and therefore isn't lining the political class' pockets, and
b) voters aren't receiving their propaganda, I mean reputable news, through their donors media outlets.
Entertainment turned rogue. RT first got unsuspecting viewers, then started pumping disinformation. With standard 80+20 approach (80% truths, 20% fabricated lies). Putin invested tens of billions in such content. He started internally with top TV channels, and internet trolls in most online platforms steadily preparing general Russian population for the most recent war. Olympic games in Sochi was part of the propaganda efforts. Even Eurovision did not avoid it with a pink tank on the stage.
Here is an extreme example. Click "Popular" button to spot paid propaganda: https://www.youtube.com/@Mangolhasa/shorts
More BS election year lies meant to scare us about Russia while the US sends the NED and a thousand other "NGO's" out into the world to start coups against goverments that won't bend knee.
I remember the last 2 elections, do you?
Funny how we all found out that Russian influence was total fabrication by the FBI and DHS at the behest of the two political parties.
Just like we did over the last 2 election cycles where they screamed about this.
Just hilarious.
Believe this crap if you have a psychological need to but as we shall find out in 3 or 4 years on some back page story this too is just more Reds under the Beds bullpucky being used to strip us all of even more freedoms, privacy and rights just like the last 2 runs.
Good God you all are such rubes.
How much pro-Western bullshit as below do you see? Biden with a naked torso, maybe?
https://www.youtube.com/@up78Russia
https://www.youtube.com/@simple_putin/shorts
https://www.youtube.com/@DailyDoseOfMasculinity
https://www.youtube.com/@The.Trumpest
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/goDnLPof-2k
https://www.youtube.com/@SNAPNEWS.24
https://www.youtube.com/@VS59RUS
https://www.youtube.com/@RohanSainiOfficial/shorts
none of that is election interference, just stupid memes
that might depend on the level of intelligence of the prospected voter : may-be for some US dumbster this is what elections are about ? Says more about the downvoters than about Russia actually. For others, real election interference is what Cambridge Analytica was doing. Or what Victoria "fuck the EU" Nuland did in Ukraine. Or what Israeli lobbies like AIPAC are doing in Washington. Those are real, massive, foreign election interferences.
Not trying to troll; just posing a thought experiment. All facts/assumptions are up for debate. My personal opinion is that this takedown is a good thing, but it raises a strange question.
Fact: US elections are the power in the hands of the electorate -- the registered voters who actually go vote.
Fact: US elections are the cause of shifts of power/perspective/policy at the federal level, which then affects both US domestic policy and foreign policy, particularly domestic and global economics.
(This is based on the fact that the US has been a major global influence through the 20th century to the present. Just look at El Reg's wheelhouse -- the computing/tech industry -- plus aviation/space, military, medicine including medical tech/prosthetics/implants, and pop culture/media/entertainment including media/entertainment technologies.)
Fact: Changes in policy affects corporations and governments both domestic and foreign, yet none have a right to vote to affect those policies (akin to closed-loop feedback).
Fact: The Citizens United SCOTUS ruling allows corporations (domestic only? I don't know) to influence elections, giving them a voice to how the elections/policies affect them.
Theory: If it is legal for corporations to influence elections in this way -- noting they are affected by outcomes of said elections -- then the ad nauseum argument is that other governments -- which are also affected by the outcomes -- should also be allowed influence. The type of institution (corporate or government) wouldn't matter anymore -- just "closing the feedback loop" for more parties.
Argument: The US needs to reverse Citizens United -- which many of us have argued since Day 1 -- if we want the appear legitimate about combating "influence" in elections.
AIPAC is the elephant in the room to which every congressman or woman are asked to ignore! Paid to ignore sorry.
White House has a blind spot for AIPAC despite it being a foreign lobby.
It is quite funny how this Russia interference reappear before each election, election which AIPAC proudly list the names of its Congress poodle on X.
We have been through this before (2016). Different year, different administration, but still the same hollow argument: it's only a problem when some other country does it; when we do it, it's OK. Exceptionalism at its best!
Read the full story here: https://www.npr.org/2016/12/22/506625913/database-tracks-history-of-u-s-meddling-in-foreign-elections
That's always the way - it's always only OK if we're the ones doing it.
Darling: So you see, Blackadder, Field Marshal Haig is most anxious to
eliminate all these German spies.
Melchett: Filthy Hun weasels fighting their dirty underhand war!
Darling: And, fortunately, one of *our* spies–
Melchett: Splendid fellows, brave heroes, risking life and limb for Blighty!
Darling: …has discovered that the leak is coming from the Field Hospital.
Later on in the scene:
Edmund: I then leapt on the opportunity to test you. I asked if he’d been
to one of the great universities: Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull…
Mary: Well?
Edmund: You failed to spot that only two of those are great universities.
Mary: You swine!
Melchett: That’s right — Oxford’s a complete dump!
Edmund: Well, quite.
Ad-libbed by Stephen Fry IIRC
So far, I still get RT online on my laptop. RT and Sputnik are easily my two favorite online news channels. I watch them for the news which they present honestly, and I don't really care if they have some ulterior motive for presenting honest news. If my country seizes the online news websites of RT and Sputnik, I would like to register as a foreign agent for Russia and litigate my own First Amendment rights claim. Registering as a foreign agent would simply be a precaution since being a foreign agent is not a crime, but failing to register as one is a crime. To that end, I would probably register as a foreign agent for Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Columbia and China as well. I have never watched Iran's 'Press TV,' but it bothers me that I cannot watch it because the website was seized by the FBI. In this current hotbed of my own government's support for Israel's genocidal mass murders of Palestinians, I think it would be beneficial as an American to hear Iran's point of view.
I believe that our democracy will benefit from hearing all points of view, regardless of whether foreign speakers have a self-serving agenda. I don't trust the Justice Department and the FBI to be better judges than myself about the merits of foreign points of view. I want US officials to keep their jackboots off the neck of my First Amendment right to hear foreign points of view. If these officials just can't allow that, then maybe they should all move to Israel and be jackboot thugs there. They will be appreciated there.
This action screams 'weakness' at me. Let me explain why.....
I'm a a US voter and the choice in the upcoming US Presidential election is easy. There is no nuance, no issues even. You're either a MAGA diehard or you're not. There's a whole load of state and local races, though, many of which could be important, but being local I don't have any knowledge of this beyond my state's boundaries. For example, Tim Walz, the Democratic VP nominee, is obviously well known in Minnesota but I'd never heard of him before he was nominated. Likewise, when visiting New Mexico recently I came across one or two people blaming Gavin Newsom for homeless issues in Los Angeles because they've never heard of the LA Mayor (Karen Bass) who's the responsible person.
Given this typical voter's experience I can't see where Russia fits into the picture. Its possible that they're interested in the fringes, I know that I would be interested in how rumors and theories get traction and the various conspiracy oriented web outlets are an ideal medium to experiment with. But as far as influencing the bulk of voters -- excuse me?
There is potentially a sinister side to this, though, that might be more important in Europe. I've noticed a huge disconnect between governments, the population and reality over issues like Ukraine (and Israel/Gaza). There's a lot of official propaganda floating around but if it doesn't get the traction that's its due then governments will tend to blame it on some bugbear -- Russia, China, Iran, Ruritania, wherever. This is a losing proposition.
rather convenient that these "pro-Trump Russians" were caught 2 months before the election, which puts a whole lot of "Putin is backing Trump" news on the air right about the time mail in voting starts. I'm sure it will come out after November that what's being claimed is not actually the case, just as it came out that the Russian provided Steele Dossier from the 2016 election was actually commissioned by the Clinton campaign - ie the Clinton campaign and the DNC were the ones working with the Russians.
And now to bask in the glow of leftist outrage. Go on then, vote me down - every time a leftist downvotes a Conservative's post, an angel gets a kitten.
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