The new Russophobia

The latest Russophobia: Russian President Putin hasn't been seen in public in a few days and, already, there is a glut of stories, basically completely fabricated, about Putin dying from chicken pox, Putin getting surgery, Putin falling off his horse, Putin getting a new alien brain, etc., endless nonsense about his health in western MSM.

Google "Putin's health" and see what I mean.

Supplemental on the former US general who stated publicly "we need to start killing Russians" ...

The investigation relates to the following ...

Quote:

Responding to the news that the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal probe into his statements on charges of public calls for starting an aggressive war made in the media, and that his remarks violated article 20 of the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that bans any propaganda of war and instigation of discrimination, hatred or violence, Scales shrugged it off by branding it “a Russian form of war.”

“It’s the Russia version of the First Amendment – five years in prison if you say something that makes [Russian President] Vladimir Putin angry,” Scales told Fox News.

Do they really watch FoxNews in Russia?  yup.

Crimea: under a Reign of Terror, says Victoria Nuland.

uh, maybe not. Sure, some aren't happy, and minority rights could stand some improvements, (as they could in Ukraine!) but things are, well, peaceful.

Reign of Terror? Not so much.

Some of the idiotic, unadulterated propaganda in Western MSM over the last week or so ...

Quote:

Newsweek - ‘Putin Involved in Drug Smuggling Ring’, Says Ex-KGB Officer

TIME – “Kremlin Critics Fear Political ‘Hit List’ as Putin Drops Out of Sight”

Bloomberg View - Putin Disappears Like a Dictator

Forbes – “Can Putin's Absence Indicate A Palace Coup In Moscow?”

Chicago Tribune - Putin's disappearance implies a Russian dictatorship

The Fiscal Times – “With Putin Still Missing, Things Get Weird in Russia”

The Inquisitr – “Vladimir Putin Ousted In Silent Coup, Reports Say, As Mystery Over Russian Strongman Continues”

The Blaze – “Expert: Vladimir Putin’s Disappearance Could Mean Russia’s Undergoing a Coup”

Russia Insider wrote:

The satirical and humorous aspects of this are fun, even fruitful looked at objectively, but the underlying problem with today’s press is no laughing matter. Trusted media we once could depend on for news that helped us make good decisions, it’s been morphed into tabloid journalism and corporate advertising to pass for news. Vested interests abound, which would not be a problem in a transparent world. What I am saying here is, misleading purposefully for whatever reason, this is not freedom of the press – it is propaganda pure and simple.

P Grenier wrote:

As a general principle no quotation of Putin’s or of any other prominent Russian official or politician that appears in the Western media can be assumed to be true.  Given the relentlessly hostile anti-Putin and anti-Russian agenda that now dominates Western commentary, any quotation is almost certain to be distorted either through mistranslation or by being taken out of context.

The situation is now so bad that even someone as senior as the former President of the European Commission will deliberately misquote words Putin told him in private conversation if he thinks he can get away with it.  Recently it has become clear that some quotes attributed to Putin have actually been invented by his Western critics.

What this article shows is that this process now extends not just to living Russians like Putin, but to Russian intellectuals who are long dead.  It seems the words of any Russian, living or dead,  are now fair game for those in the West who want to convince others that Russia poses a threat to the West.

This is a very sinister development, which makes (and which is intended to make) an understanding with Russia all but impossible.

Demonising Putin's Favourite Philosophers

The gist: Russians and especially their President, are evil idiots that couldn't find their asses with both hands. A stereotypical rural babooshka invites the viewers to urinate on her. After all, she's so dumb. Etc.

Every once in a while I imagine that I'm missing something or great humour at SNL and then I see this sort of thing and remember. "oh yeah. It's crap now."

It's crap now. Never mind the Russophobia.

Follow up on that last claim about the US Empire, its vassal states,  and the information warfare:

1. UK Hires 1500 Soldiers to Spread Positive Propaganda on Social Websites

2. CIA Manipulates Social Media - The Russian "threat" etc.

and so on.

6079_Smith_W wrote:

Amazing how they can make it pop up in order to make it appear that they aren't banned when they actually are. The depth and breadth of the conspiracy know no bounds.

I realize that you're unlikely to read anything that you think you may disagree with, but the article actually notes that the temporary silencing of RT (on YouTube, on Reddit, etc.) was not properly explained by those organizations.

And that's the point. Why were they silenced? Will it happen again? etc.

Neither is it the first time. The same thing happened, on the very same day, for RT one or two years ago.

So pay attention, OK?

The Russian Trolls Are Coming! The Russian Trolls Are Coming!

Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

The article notes that the most recent edition of the Russian troll story (it isn't new; that's the first point) comes from - wait for it - Radio Free Europe. Yup. That institution set up and run by the CIA during Cold War 1.0.

But wait, there's more. It turns out this story has had more lives than you've had hot dinners. lol. Talk about media amnesia.

Quote:

It’s the trolling story that keeps on giving, with all the regularity of a herpes outbreak, but with no memory to go with it, because each time this Internet Research Agency story is reported, it’s more shocking than the last time.

There's a handy little history, noting various times this story has been breathlessly re-gurgitated, with links to substantiate.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Silences Valentina Lisitsa’s Music

This is how bad the pathological Russophobia is getting. The TSO banned a world class performer for her [well known] political views ... and even tried to renege on their contract with her ... until her own lawyers boxed their ears. 

Censorship. In Canada. That's what stinking Russophobia is bringing to our country. An attack on our freedoms.

6079_Smith_W wrote:

ikosmos wrote:

...and even tried to renege on their contract with her ... until her own lawyers boxed their ears.

As I said in the thread on this actual topic, no one has said that. There has been nothing posted in any article saying that or offering evidence. What is your source?

LINK below

The link is there, but you actually have to READ the story.

Actually, I notice that you are following me around and spamming my comments. You should look in the mirror.

Quote:

Despite being provided with a substantive legal response on the merits of these allegations, the TSO has since mustered neither a single sentence in support of its accusations, nor a single word of apology. It was only after the legal opinion supplied by Valentina underscored that the TSO could not unilaterally dissolve the contract that the TSO’s counsel clarified that all her fees would be paid. To all appearances, the TSO seemed to believe that it could not only silence Valentina’s music, but also renege on its contractual obligations and thus walk away from their commitments.

6079_Smith_W wrote:

You are free to contact the mods about that. This is an open forum, ikosmos.

There is no evidence and no claim, other than from you, that the TSO tried to break their contract. Certainly the artist did not say so.

Your claim is a falsehood. I've already provided half a dozen times the exact quote from the article in which the artist was interviewed and her letter re-published.

Who was it who said that people will believe a lie if it is repeated enough times? Oh yeah. Goebbels.

Moving on.

The West Throws a Temper Tantrum: Putin trolls: another jejune NATO fantasy!

Patrick Armstrong has been writing first class reports on Russia for quite a long time now. He also documents everything that he writes, which makes his contributions absolute gold.

Quote:

Mark Ames has brilliantly tracked down the Kremlin troll story and shown that it is the same story over and over again, word for word, time after time. He has traced it as far back as 2013 and, in his search, he kept tripping over RFE/RL which proudly states that it "provide[s] what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate." Or, alternatively, given the fact that it is fully funded by the US government, all the news that Washington wants you to hear. So, not, perhaps, a source that can be fully trusted on this particular subject.

There's a nice hierarchy of disagreement in the article.

A really key point here is that this Russian troll army is essentially a re-gurgitated Radio Free Europe (CIA founded front)  story.

Another key point here is that good arguments have to be addressed, not simply rejected with responding to tone (Babbler Smith in the censorship of the world class pianist by the TSO stormtroopers), repeating the same unsubstantiated claim, etc.

Quote:

In short, ladies and gentlemen, the Putin-Troll-Army story is nonsense. Real trollery is an irritation and no more. Actual argument has to be answered on its own merits. And the Western troll armies – sorry, fighting lies with truth – would, if they ever get off the ground, be equally pointless.

The Western fantasy of a mighty Putin Troll army ruining A Noble Effort to Spread Truth and Democratically Valid Explanations is yet more evidence that the Party Line knows it is losing its audience. Whingeing on about Putin's troll army and closing comments sections is the equivalent of a temper tantrum, hands over ears, screaming "I can't hear you!".

Lies work for a while – quite a long time – but, eventually, reality bites. On its own. It wasn't a building-full of people in St Petersburg typing "Putin ist ein Genie, Du bist ein Idiot" over and over again that made the German leadership see General Breedlove's statements as "dangerous propaganda" any more than "Putin's a genius and you are an idiot" made the editors at The Guardian feel their heads explode.

QED.

Is that the sound of heads exploding?

"You always know you’re winning when the other side feels like it has to change the rules."

Interesting piece on the Kremlin Troll Army Myth and so on.

Yeah I read that piece. It makes me think of the following quote ...

Georgi Plekhanov wrote:

"The dialectics of history," Lenin wrote, "were such that the theoretical victory of Marxism compelled its enemies to disguise themselves as Marxists." Marxism had become the vogue ... [I]t was disputed and criticized; "concessions" were demanded of it; there were attempts to blend it with liberalism and with various trends ...

Plus ça change...

A Marxist dissident? Yeah right. Pull the other one.