The Smear That Killed the Reset

[peggysue2]

An excellent article at WAPO this morning by Michael McFaul, our former ambassador to Russia. The piece offers a short history/insight of the how and why of our current situation with Putin and the sharp rise of a sophisticated Russian propaganda machine which is now attempting to subvert all things Western.

As McFaul tells it, Putin paranoia was thick even in 2011:

I was not Mr. Reset but an agent provocateur: a revolutions specialist sent by Obama to orchestrate regime change. For the rest of my time in Russia as ambassador, I battled nearly every day to dispel that myth — and never really succeeded.

This was all about Putin's fading support in the then upcoming 2012 election:

The December 2011 parliamentary elections were the beginning of the end of the reset. Putin’s party, United Russia, performed much more poorly than expected, despite enjoying unlimited national television coverage, abundant financial resources, the backing of regional governments and a bump from ballot falsification. It won only 49.3 percent of the vote, a significant drop from the 64.3 percent it had garnered four years earlier.

Putin was spooked by the resistance and the US became, once again, the worthy object of all things bad in Russia. Every dictator needs a boogie man. And, of course, now Putin has the perfect solution, an agent of influence sitting in our White House.

The article is an interesting read but so is the comments section where you can find some expert trolling by one RobertHeikeler. Fascinating back and forth.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/11/feature/putin-needed-an-american-enemy-he-picked-me/?utm_term=.58469a406a2c

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. And our WH is killing our defenses from cyber attacks from putin since rump works for putin

And Billy bob and his wife dont care as long as mothers and children are separated and TORTURED at the border.

I should NOT say Billy bob as if this is a southern thing, it is NOT, there are millions in blue states that support the traitor

[peggysue2]

2. That's absolutely true, Elliot

The Traitor-in-Chief hasn't done a damn thing to secure our electoral infrastructure from additional cyberattacks because it serves his own purpose--rigging elections. In Tennessee, Knox County, there's already been a breach in voter tally mechanisms. The breach was tracked back to a Ukraine IP.

We're sitting ducks, again. McFaul saw the Russian shift and Putin paranoia explode up close and personal. 2016 wasn't simply a shot across the bow. It was the beginning of business as usual. And all of the dehumanizing effects of the Trumpster and his enablers will continue until the Republicans and Trump are exposed and discredited, everywhere.

Dangerous time we're a'living in!