In today's #vatnik soup we'll travel back to Ireland, and get to a know an Irish politician and a MEP, Clare Daly. She strongly aligns herself with another Irish MEP, Mick Wallace. Like Wallace, Daly spends most of her energy appeasing Russia and China and criticizing the US.1/11
After several attempts, she was finally elected to Dáil Éireann in 2011 general election. In 2012, she was accused of misusing travel funds. In the same year, she refused to call for the resignation of her political ally, Mick Wallace.
2/11
Wallace's company forgot to pay 2,1 million EUR in VAT. After the incident, she resigned from the Socialist Party. After leaving, she requested a share of her old party's allowance so that she can fund her activities as an independent MP.
3/11
In Jun, 2013, after the G8 summit, she accused the Irish government of "prostituting" the country to US and Obama. She also called Obama a hypocrite and a war criminal for wanting to supply weapons for the Syrian rebels.
4/11
In 2019, Daly was elected as a MEP for the European Parliament. Soon after Daly was accused of nepotism for hiring her former husband as her assistant, forbidden by the rules of the European Parliament. He had previously also employed Mick Wallace's son.
5/11
In Sep, 2020, Daly's parliamentary assistant accused her of mistreatment and - ironically - having "no respect for workers' rights".
In Apr, 2021, Daly and Wallace visited the HQ of Iran-backed militia group Popular Mobilization Forces.
6/11
In Jun, 2021, Daly and Wallace travelled to work as unofficial election monitors in Venezuelan parliamentary election and Ecuadorian general election, without a mandate or permission from the EU.
7/11
When it comes to Russia, Daly's been busy. Daly and Wallace attempted to remove parts from the EP's report on MH17. She's attended protests supporting Algirdas Paleckis, a politician who was spying for Russia in Lithuania.
8/11
In Jan, 2022, Clare said that the Russian troops on the Ukrainian border were "clearly defensive". She also said that there is "no evidence that Russia has any desire to invade Ukraine".
9/11
She has voted against pretty much every pro-Ukraine vote in the European Parliament,including the declaration of Russia as a terrorist state. Her speeches are filled with whataboutism and accusations of "US imperalism". She's also spouted the regular "proxy war" accusations.10/11
Daly's also been featured a lot in Chinese state-sponsored TV, and she's been featured in more Chinese-language news articles than any other Irish person, with Mick Wallace coming in close second. In these interviews, she often praises China and Chinese politics.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.
1/24
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.
2/24
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.
1/23
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.
2/23
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.
1/20
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.
2/20
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.
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.