has russia fed the polarization of american politics?

[mopinko]

we know they have stoked the fires of the alt rt w their trolling on the web. we know they harass the left. we see that the split is now complete. there has been a regular rip in the fabric of american reality.
what else have they done?
they play a long game. they didnt get here over night.

we have known all along that the purpose of creating an alternate reality is to cause a crack in the real reality.
how much are they behind the fake news and whisper campaigns that have distracted us in election cycles past?
which pesky quasi-populist think tank is really run by the russians?
how much russian money gets funneled into dark money channels?

we know what kind of shit we pull in other countries. we cant be stupid enough to think we are the only ones, and that we can forever escape the blowback.

where do you see russia's fingerprint in our current crisis?

[shraby]

1. I think it would be almost impossible to separate the republican

bullshit from any Russian bullshit.
They think the same way, have the same aims and spread false information any way and any time they can.

[haele]

2. Media. Energy. Banking. Any "market" sector where profits can be made globally.

The current political leadership of Russia, a good chunk of the political leadership of the U.S., along a few other "First World" countries I can name (England, France, China, Australia, and some others I can't remember off the top of my head) are all in an incestuous Capitalist bubble and are basically playing WWE with the rest of the world for profit. Trump is just someone that's being thrown into the mix to "shake things loose" - probably in the energy and media sectors.

It's all Kabuki theatre for the market share of a few business empires that have direct lines to the various seats of government across the world. Not at all about governance.

Haele

[flamingdem]

3. wow. I guess all we can hope for is a few crumbs from these "folks"

I'm still pissed off at Obama for not attacking this before the elections, even though I know he had his reasons.

Who will save us now.

[haele]

4. That was the cynic in me. History shows us Disaster Capitalsim doesn't last.

This is a typical outcome of a historic cycle of social enthusiasm > greed > gluttony > bust. We're at the bust end of the cycle.

The ones playing this game hard will lose everything within the next generation or so. Then we as a species either gets together and experiences a form of universal enlightenment, or descend into regional chaos while everyone just holds onto what they have until it sorts out.
It's going to be a bumpy ride, and that all depends on how isolated from the rest of the world the "power players" have made themselves.

The only real difference this time around is what technology will do to the cycle. The leadership required to reset the cycle tends to be built up in the gluttony/bust portion (very few people listens to anyone with foresight and common sense during the greed/gluttony cycle). If technology allows the few driving the train down into zero-sum at the tail of the cycle to maintain a loop instead of crashing, that will worsen the effects of the bust to global catastrophe levels.

Haele

[flamingdem]

5. Interesting but I also see it as - Democrats in power stable economy improving

Republicans = chaos and economic crash

[mopinko]

6. in hindsight i wonder about

his last minute hitting the trail, and throwing michelle out there. they were trying to counter what they knew they couldnt stop.

[wishstar]

8. Definitely the Obamas campaigned harder than any other first couple in history

I had hoped their efforts would be enough to overcome the Comey email and Russian hacking interference and false memes being spread on internet. They did their best to get out the vote - esp. in Fla, Pa, NC by warning about Trump's character and what he would do to tear down the positive accomplishments of the past 8 years.

But I wonder if even they didn't know how just ruthless he would be in carrying out the extreme right wing/proPutin/ agenda as at times he made more moderate comments on several issues. But he has sealed unholy alliances to win and consolidate power, so any more moderate statements were just him being a con artist using bait and switch to draw in moderates and and low information voters.

[SubjectiveLife78]

7. Everyone has their international bogeyman

The right has Soros. Now the left has Putin. For some it's the UN/One World Government. For others it's the corporations. Some go with Christians, others Muslims, others Israel and the Jewish people. For some it's America. For some it's China.

It's true what they say about romance; there is someone out there for everyone. Also true that just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

[LanternWaste]

9. One might presuppose Ukraine would emphatically deny your dismissive appellation

One might presuppose Ukraine would emphatically deny your dismissive and trivializing appellation of "bogey-man", but if that's the word one needs to further validate their narrative, by all means...

As objectivity can be so inconvenient to that narrative....

[FarCenter]

10. Any poster taking an extreme right or left position is likely a Russian troll