Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

synergie

(1,901 posts)
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 01:32 AM Mar 2017

Trolling for Trump: How Russia Is Trying to Destroy Our Democracy

Piece is co-written by Clint Watts, who testified today. He was saying this 2 days before the election.

https://warontherocks.com/2016/11/trolling-for-trump-how-russia-is-trying-to-destroy-our-democracy/

Trump isn’t the end of Russia’s information war against America. They are just getting started.


...

And the evidence is compelling. A range of activities speaks to a Russian connection: the theft of emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign officials, hacks surrounding voter rolls and possibly election machines, Putin’s overt praise for Trump, and the curious Kremlin connections of Trump campaign operatives Paul Manafort and Carter Page.

But most observers are missing the point. Russia is helping Trump’s campaign, yes, but it is not doing so solely or even necessarily with the goal of placing him in the Oval Office. Rather, these efforts seek to produce a divided electorate and a president with no clear mandate to govern. The ultimate objective is to diminish and tarnish American democracy. Unfortunately, that effort is going very well indeed.



...

Until recently, Western governments focused on state-to-state negotiations with Putin’s regime largely missed Russian state-to-people social media approaches. Russia’s social media campaigns seek five complementary objectives to strengthen Russia’s position over Western democracies:

Undermine citizen confidence in democratic governance;
Foment and exacerbate divisive political fractures;
Erode trust between citizens and elected officials and democratic institutions;
Popularize Russian policy agendas within foreign populations;
Create general distrust or confusion over information sources by blurring the lines between fact and fiction




More at link.


12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trolling for Trump: How Russia Is Trying to Destroy Our Democracy (Original Post) synergie Mar 2017 OP
Exactly Clinton Watts! putin and his murderous gang are just Cha Mar 2017 #1
Here's an interesting Tweet on russia's role in our Election.. Cha Mar 2017 #2
K&R sheshe2 Mar 2017 #3
K & R for a great article. Duppers Mar 2017 #4
lol@Marmel Cha Mar 2017 #5
K&R betsuni Mar 2017 #6
Good info mcar Mar 2017 #7
Here are two perfect examples of misinformation (FAKE news) from Breitbart when Bannon... George II Mar 2017 #8
The brainwashing of the echo chamber! synergie Mar 2017 #9
What about if the ultimate goal is to promote a civil war? hollowdweller Mar 2017 #10
They don't need an actual civil war. synergie Mar 2017 #12
Very good read, synergie. brer cat Mar 2017 #11

Cha

(295,899 posts)
1. Exactly Clinton Watts! putin and his murderous gang are just
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 02:05 AM
Mar 2017

getting started.

The Dems are right to be going after the repubs on this.. first and foremost.. that doesn't mean they can't fight them on other fronts, too.

Mahalo, synergie, for shining the Light

Duppers

(28,094 posts)
4. K & R for a great article.
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 03:42 AM
Mar 2017

I had never heard of warontherocks.com and will check out the site. Thanks for posting.

George II

(67,782 posts)
8. Here are two perfect examples of misinformation (FAKE news) from Breitbart when Bannon...
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 10:24 AM
Mar 2017

...was still in charge. The "man on the street" casual reader would atually BELIEVE this crap!

trump Jacksonville Florida Rally:




Cleveland Cavaliers' Championship Rally:





trump Portland Maine Rally:





Cleveland Cavaliers' Championship Parade:



 

synergie

(1,901 posts)
9. The brainwashing of the echo chamber!
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 03:35 PM
Mar 2017

They're not even done well, sloppy propaganda for people they know are not smart enough, not industrious and not even going to bother questioning the lies.

Basically, Trump's base.

Thank you for posting that, George. It's shocking to see how blatant the lies are and how many people bought it, despite it's sloppiness.

 

hollowdweller

(4,229 posts)
10. What about if the ultimate goal is to promote a civil war?
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 03:38 PM
Mar 2017

Destroy the US from within w/o firing a shot?
 

synergie

(1,901 posts)
12. They don't need an actual civil war.
Fri Mar 31, 2017, 08:16 PM
Mar 2017

They just need internal bickering, and the opposition party unable to function with it's members attacking each other. The party in power is already under control via blackmail and or means.

The ultimate goal is to topple the US from its leadership role and to undermine the very idea of democracy.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Trolling for Trump: How R...