A Trolling Baker's Dozen
A Trolling Baker's Dozen
Russia has Trolls. So does the U.S… Just as both countries have been involved in espionage, one against the other, for 100 years. There isn’t a thing new about that. All you have to do is read a little Cold War history. Or, be old enough to have lived through it.
For 70 years, both countries used foreign proxies to fight hot wars around the world; Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, are just the tip of the iceberg, wherein a good deal more than discord was sowed. Both Russia and the U.S. were involved in fomenting and starting actual wars where millions of people died. The U.S., admittedly, was involved in assassinations and attempted assassinations around the world. All of these things are common knowledge and readily available to anyone who wants to take a few minutes and look. So, the idea that Russia used trolls to sow discord in our elections, is like saying the sky is blue, or boiling hot water is hot.
For a while, mostly after the election, every time I wrote and published a pro-trump article, it got spammed by Russian trolls. Their trolling tended to be anti-Trump. I have no doubt, though, there was plenty of pro-trump trolling, as well. Division, was their motive, as always, with the U.S. doing the same. And not just in Russia, but everywhere we or they had “Interests.” Those “Interests” were mainly natural resources such as oil, precious metals, lumber, connecting waterways, military access, and trade routes. These were and are considered necessary for national security reasons—that, and to maintain a functioning economy, and a fat and modestly contented population.
“But, what about present-day, Russian trolls, interfering in our elections?”
Mueller’s take-down of a Russian troll farm, comprised of a baker's dozen trolls, is the political equivalent of deep sea fishing for minnows. More aptly, it is a dog and pony show, a justification for spending tens of millions of dollars to undermine a duly elected president. I have little doubt that Russian trolls are behind that, too. Including much of the media, more than a few politicians, and the many Trump haters who need some justification, no matter how small, to continue sowing discord.
To understand just how dimwitted most of this is, Hillary Clinton spent between 1 and 1.2 billion dollars in an attempt to get elected. She had virtually all of the mainstream media at her feet, acting as relentless propagandists for her campaign. Not just in the U.S., but around the Western world. And, when that wasn’t enough, the upper echelon of the FBI, members of The Justice Dept—at the highest levels—including an actual foreign spy, created two fake, anti-trump dossiers, in an attempt to bring down Trump’s presidency. The false info within both dossiers was then leaked to the press, for the sake of creating fake news, by the same foreign spy, and the same high-level members of the FBI. Including, (by his own admission,) former FBI head, James Comey. All, got in the game, acting together to sabotage a Trump presidency, and all of it is verified by their own words and emails, regardless of how the leftwing press tries to spin it.
Where is the press in all of this, now that the worm has clearly turned and those numerous unnamed sources used by the press, for at least a year, turned out to be James Comey, former head of the FBI, (fired.) Peter Strzok, former Chief of counter-espionage for the FBI (demoted)? Strzok’s mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page (demoted,) and Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the FBI, who left the agency under suspicion. Beyond that, Susan Rice, Obama’s National Security Adviser, illegally unmasked multiple senior Trump officials, enabling government surveillance against members of the opposition party, during a heated election. The only evidence offered as probable cause for these unmasking was her own statements. If the only thing needed to refute a criminal charge was an individual’s, personal testimony, there would be no criminals, even where there was clearly a crime.
But, in the world of dedicated anti-Trumpers, it was a few million dollars spent by Russians trolls, and a few well-placed Facebook ads, offering fake news, which won the day for Donald Trump. All of Hillary Clinton’s enormous financial assets and backing were helpless in the face of this alleged Russian onslaught of fake news.
I can only shake my head in wonder.
Mark Magula
Russia has Trolls. So does the U.S… Just as both countries have been involved in espionage, one against the other, for 100 years. There isn’t a thing new about that. All you have to do is read a little Cold War history. Or, be old enough to have lived through it.
For 70 years, both countries used foreign proxies to fight hot wars around the world; Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, are just the tip of the iceberg, wherein a good deal more than discord was sowed. Both Russia and the U.S. were involved in fomenting and starting actual wars where millions of people died. The U.S., admittedly, was involved in assassinations and attempted assassinations around the world. All of these things are common knowledge and readily available to anyone who wants to take a few minutes and look. So, the idea that Russia used trolls to sow discord in our elections, is like saying the sky is blue, or boiling hot water is hot.
For a while, mostly after the election, every time I wrote and published a pro-trump article, it got spammed by Russian trolls. Their trolling tended to be anti-Trump. I have no doubt, though, there was plenty of pro-trump trolling, as well. Division, was their motive, as always, with the U.S. doing the same. And not just in Russia, but everywhere we or they had “Interests.” Those “Interests” were mainly natural resources such as oil, precious metals, lumber, connecting waterways, military access, and trade routes. These were and are considered necessary for national security reasons—that, and to maintain a functioning economy, and a fat and modestly contented population.
“But, what about present-day, Russian trolls, interfering in our elections?”
Mueller’s take-down of a Russian troll farm, comprised of a baker's dozen trolls, is the political equivalent of deep sea fishing for minnows. More aptly, it is a dog and pony show, a justification for spending tens of millions of dollars to undermine a duly elected president. I have little doubt that Russian trolls are behind that, too. Including much of the media, more than a few politicians, and the many Trump haters who need some justification, no matter how small, to continue sowing discord.
To understand just how dimwitted most of this is, Hillary Clinton spent between 1 and 1.2 billion dollars in an attempt to get elected. She had virtually all of the mainstream media at her feet, acting as relentless propagandists for her campaign. Not just in the U.S., but around the Western world. And, when that wasn’t enough, the upper echelon of the FBI, members of The Justice Dept—at the highest levels—including an actual foreign spy, created two fake, anti-trump dossiers, in an attempt to bring down Trump’s presidency. The false info within both dossiers was then leaked to the press, for the sake of creating fake news, by the same foreign spy, and the same high-level members of the FBI. Including, (by his own admission,) former FBI head, James Comey. All, got in the game, acting together to sabotage a Trump presidency, and all of it is verified by their own words and emails, regardless of how the leftwing press tries to spin it.
Where is the press in all of this, now that the worm has clearly turned and those numerous unnamed sources used by the press, for at least a year, turned out to be James Comey, former head of the FBI, (fired.) Peter Strzok, former Chief of counter-espionage for the FBI (demoted)? Strzok’s mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page (demoted,) and Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the FBI, who left the agency under suspicion. Beyond that, Susan Rice, Obama’s National Security Adviser, illegally unmasked multiple senior Trump officials, enabling government surveillance against members of the opposition party, during a heated election. The only evidence offered as probable cause for these unmasking was her own statements. If the only thing needed to refute a criminal charge was an individual’s, personal testimony, there would be no criminals, even where there was clearly a crime.
But, in the world of dedicated anti-Trumpers, it was a few million dollars spent by Russians trolls, and a few well-placed Facebook ads, offering fake news, which won the day for Donald Trump. All of Hillary Clinton’s enormous financial assets and backing were helpless in the face of this alleged Russian onslaught of fake news.
I can only shake my head in wonder.
Mark Magula