Two New Reports Detail Expansive Russia Disinformation Scheme Targeting the U.S. (12/17/2018) The reports offer new details on the activities of the IRA (Internet Research Agency), the Kremlin-backed troll farm based in St. Petersburg, Russia, that drove Moscow's online operations. These reports produced for Senate investigators say that Russian influence efforts infected every major social media platform, ... and amounted to what researchers called a "propaganda war against American citizens. Strategy to Divide The data in the reports "demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions," said the committee's Republican chairman, Richard Burr. They warn that Moscow's nefarious online activity ... continues to target Americans to this day. The Tactics and Tropes of the Internet Research Agency Excerpt from Table of Contents: IRA Tactics Targeting Americans Asset Development Cross-Platform Brand Building The Media Mirage Memetics Inflecting a Common Message for Different Audiences (Syria) Narrative Repetition and Dispersal Repurposing and Re-Titling Pages and Brands Manipulating Journalism Amplify Conspiratorial Narratives Sow Literal Division Dismiss and Redirect The IRA social media and political polarization in the united states 2012-2018
Ken, I wish you wouldn't dismiss this so abruptly. Many will now just dismiss the subject altogether, based on your comment. I was hoping at least a few folks here could wipe Obama-Clinton-Trump out of their minds for maybe just one minute, and give an opinion on the topic---Russian cyber/psychological warfare. It's more important than politics, imo. If we can't agree on basic facts, we can't even have a discussion. That may be the goal. I won't argue. I'd just like to hear some opinions.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I was busy working, didn't have time to put a lot of thought into it, and just made a brief comment that came to mind when I read your post.
Whether it is actually Russia, or even China, or some worldwide “deep state” , it is definitely true that we, as Americans, are all feeling the effects of this. Almost everywhere, and for every reason, people are hearing that we should hate each other. Bobby was just telling me this morning about some video that is all over the internet , about some guy in an e-cigarette store being attacked by an employee because he was wearing a Trump shirt. We read things where people are saying that other people should be attacked because of their political viewpoint. This is totally not how it should be ! I remember, we always had differences of opinions on political candidates, but back when I was growing up, it seems like both parties were pretty much conservative, and no one wanted to kill their neighbor just because they liked a different political candidate. So......yes, I totally agree that we are actively being told that we should hate each other, and politics is just one of the many ways that this is happening. It is also religion, and now, even gender, is a reason for division between Americans. Whether this is all the fault of the Russians, I do not know; but it is totally possible that other countries would do this, and divide our country from the inside. We know that weather modification causes some of the terrible storms and hurricanes we have had, that just seem to turn into the worst possible place and then hover there until the target is totally destroyed, and if other countries are using weather modification against us, then it also makes sense that they would try to program us mentally to divide us. At a time when we all need to be behind our President, we have a nation that is totally divided against itself.
WARNING: I was extremely hesitant about posting the video Yvonne mentioned. The language is totally deplorable but the message is pretty clear that the clerk is anti-Trump. A minute ago I decided to go ahead and post the link because we’re all adults here but do note: If in any way you are offended by someone else’s bad language, don’t hit the play button and just know that there was a problem and leave it at that Also Note that the clerk did get fired and there is an apology published on FB by Xhale, the vape company. Okay, enter the video:
I found the customer to be equally offensive, Bobby, and a provocateur as well. He was looking for trouble & he got it. In no way am I defending the clerk by saying this, don't get me wrong.
It seemed to me like he was definitely pushing things, as well as he had someone recording the video(or he was doing it) ; so it looked like the whole thing was being pushed by the customer, to make it as bad as possible. Regardless, the sales clerk definitely should not have been acting the way that he was, and he was the one who started the whole thing, as far as I could tell. I think that the whole thing that Bobby was trying to get across was that (as @Nancy Hart ) said, we are a nation that is being pushed towards hatred of people for reasons that serve somone’s purpose, and threaten our country’s unity. I have seen examples of this kind of irrational behavior from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as people who do not claim any kind of political affiliation; because this also goes into many other reasons for dissention. Race, of course, has always been a large one, and with valid reasons, just as other discrimination has been used; but it is also being misused, just to create hatred between people.
Yvonne: "Regardless, the sales clerk definitely should not have been acting the way that he was, and he was the one who started the whole thing, as far as I could tell." Since it was the customer who was filming, we don't know what was being said prior to the beginning of the recording. Both are obnoxious beasts, IMO. Am not inviting either one over any time soon.
I agree with you, @Lulu Moppet , and I was not trying to blame one over the other. I was also thinking that even though the recording started with the clerk pushing the rudeness, it was hard to tell what happened before, and neither one was acting in what I would consider an appropriate manner. I think that is an example of what is happening all across our country, and it is being pushed from both directions. It seems like there are instigators, who are probably paid to lead these demonstrations that we see, and the rest of the people just follow along, blindly believing what they are being told. You can see that most of the demonstrations are very well organized. People have mass-produced signs (not the rough hand-made ones), and they often have matching shirts or some kind of vest; so you know that the whole thing was planned out. It is hard to guess who/what is actually behind this, and while it could be Russia or China , it could also just be something going on with our government. In any case, we, the people, are falling into the trap, regardless of who is setting the trap, and we need to stick together and see each other as fellow human beings, and not as an object to hate for some political reason. All of the things that @Nancy Hart pointed out in the opening post are exactly what is happening here right now.
While Russia and China may be using tactics to cause hatred and division among Americans....I honestly don't think we have to look any further than our own Country and the people who live in it for stirring up these same things. There has always been hatred and division in America and I believe there always will be.
Both China and Russia, as well and North Korea and many other nations, are delighting in our division. You see and hear irresponsible behavior on both sides , but it is much more common on the Progressive side, and is almost unheard of among Republican leadership, whereas public figures in the Democratic Party make foolish and irresponsible statements all the time and are seldom if ever held accountable. Assassinate Bush hats were popular here among the wackos, but I never saw anyone refused service or even publicly criticized for them. As @Tom Galty related, the media is as responsible for the division as anything foreign. I don't think there is a Republican equivalent to Maxine Waters or Corey Booker, aka Spartacus. Compare the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh to the Sotomayor hearings...not comparable.
Both China and Russia, as well and North Korea and many other nations, are delighting in our division. You see and hear irresponsible behavior on both sides , but it is much more common on the Republican side, and is almost unheard of among Democratic leadership, whereas public figures in the Republican Party make foolish and irresponsible statements all the time and are seldom if ever held accountable. Assassinate Obama hats were popular here among the wackos, but I never saw anyone refused service or even publicly criticized for them. As @Tom Galty related, the right wing media is as responsible for the division as anything foreign. I don't think there is a Democratic equivalent to Steve King or Louie Gohmert. Compare Birtherism which denies that President Barack Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen, thus implying that he is ineligible to be President to anything ever said by any Democrat anywhere.