In today's #vatnik soup (thanks Mike Edward,.@OpsATX for the name!) I'll be introducing the Editor of the @TheGrayzoneNews, Max Blumenthal (.@MaxBlumenthal). In his previous life, he reported on prestigious publications such as NYT, LA Times and Al Jazeera English... 1/10
...often writing about the 🇮🇱-🇵🇸 conflict and doing hot takes on 🇺🇸 politics. In his political views,Max's worldview appears to be on the far-left spectrum (the 🇺🇸 far-left, not the European kind)and for example in the early 00's he wrote a lot about immigration issues in 🇺🇸.2/10
Later in his career he has been appearing on 🇷🇺 state-owned Sputnik and RT, but also actively spreading disinformation on his "news" website The Grayzone.He has defended RT in an interview with Tucker Carlson,stating that the media company does not spread Kremlin propaganda. 3/10
In 2015 Blumenthal made a trip to Moscow RT's 10 Years on Air anniversary party. The trip was allegedly paid for by the Kremlin and the party was attended by people like Vladimir Putin, Michael Flynn and Ken Livingstone. 4/10
His 2009 best-selling book Republican Gomorrah was inspired by Erich Fromm's work on people willing to give up their freedom via an identification with authoritarian and charismatic leaders - I'm sure you can spot the irony here. 5/10
Max has made bold claims on his website, e.g. that the Syria Civil Defence aka The White Helmets were connected to Al-Qaeda and that they were backed by Western governments and PR groups. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hel…
6/10
He has also published an article about Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, casting doubt on the Syrian government's responsibility. UN investigation disagreed with Mr Blumenthal's view on the issue and stated that the Syrian government was indeed responsible for the attack.
7/10
He has also claimed already on 26th of February, 2022, that the Ukraine's regular military has been "vanquished", and that "Washington seeks to fund a CIA-backed insurgency to ratchet up civil war and destabilize Russia's frontiers".
In addition, Max has suggested that the Mariupol theater airstrike that killed women and children was a "false flag attack" by Ukrainian AZOV batallion to trigger NATO intervention. thegrayzone.com/2022/03/18/bom…
9/10
Ukrainian fact-checking organization StopFake lists Blumenthal as a pro-Russia journalist who promotes Russian propaganda. stopfake.org/en/russia-s-un…
10/10
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In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
1/5
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: