1/We should see the last ~10 years “of a piece,” with many parallel operations designed to destabilize the west and build to this moment for Russia.
The rise of networked information warfare in Ukraine, the US, Europe and Australia. Perception hacking, reflexive control.
The rise of networked information warfare in Ukraine, the US, Europe and Australia. Perception hacking, reflexive control.
2/The 2014 invasion of Ukraine, to gain a foothold and spoil any NATO ambitions it may have had. Participation in US civil unrest. The injection of information payloads into countries worldwide. Interference in US politics and elections. The Trump years and January 6th.
3/The alliance with Berlin and placement of Germany into a position of strategic dependence on Russian gas. New alliances inside every European country. The Trump moves against NATO and the EU. The promotion of Assange, Snowden, Manning. Operations by Wagner Group/Prigozhin.
4/Encroachment on undersea cables. Alliances with the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church. Driving Project Lakhta messaging through QAnon channels. The “evil Satanic west” and “central bankers/Jews” vs. the “great White Russian saviors” from unholy/homosexual degraded liberalism.
5/The attacks on western financial systems; the rise of cryptocurrencies and other ineffectual and unsubstantial baubles. Propagandists like Rogan and Carlson. The praise of Putin by old-school Republicans like Pat Buchanan. The World Congress of Families, Allan Carlson.
6/Fake, astroturfed “movements” like the Women’s March. Fraudulent operations like Jussie Smollett’s. Paid actors like Owens, Presler, Straka et al. Controlled opposition writers and filmmakers. Media actors that miraculously “switch sides” like Pool and Fairbanks.
7/Loudmouth attack dogs like Greenwald. Populists like Bannon and the Justice Democrats, that mounted a “hostile takeover” of the Democratic Party in 2017. This is just a sampling of the many things that have been in deployed to help build to this moment. And Americans bought it.
8/Now we are building to that great musical climax, when all of these characters and operations come out on stage for the final musical dance number. New ones join in. And the pyrotechnics blind and dazzle the audience. People can’t quite believe what they saw, or didn’t see.
9/All one big theatrical show. “Much better than Cats,” they cheer. The pathos, the gun violence, the audience participation! A triumph, raves Janet Maslin. Jeffrey Toobin and Frank Rich agree. A political and theatrical story for the ages. The Sunday Shows are a-twitter.
10/The producers hope you appreciate the care that went into the set design. The lobby pre-show experience. The roving security guards. All of this was lovingly prepared for you, our audience. The directions were very precise, right in the book for the play: they must never know.
11/Is it wrong to spoil the ending right before the final act, the reveal? Some will say so. We are sorry. We do not mean to spoil the denouement, the moment of catharsis. It may be ruined. If that is a sin then we are sinners. We beg forgiveness, in the name of Dana Rohrabacher.
12/In the name of Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan, we pray. We pray that this country may return to its regularly scheduled program of flawed servants working towards shared goals and the commonweal, unenticing as it may be. For a show like that, will it sell? Do modern audiences
13/want that sort of thing in their entertainment? Perhaps. It would be avant-garde by today’s standards: just think, no actors. Just everyone being… real. Standing up for their values. Finding common ground. Desirable perhaps, but believable? We will see. But for now…
14/The final number is at hand… shhh… the audience settles into its seats. The programs rustle and the murmur of the crowd turns to silence. The theater slowly darkens, and the curtain rises…
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