Opinions are the Author's Own
The U.S. Department of Justice has said Russia is trying to meddle in presidential elections, issuing an indictment which claims that “two employees of the Kremlin propaganda network RT, formerly Russia Today, [used] the fake personas of European financiers” to funnel money to several right-wing commentators and podcasters. A couple of those mentioned in the document have said their opinions preexisted being approached by RT scouts and they were never asked to endorse any particular point of view. The indictment indicated that most of them were unaware they were taking Russian money.
It’s hard to believe that any of this has made a dent in American election integrity. For all the hype over Russian interference which plagued the Trump administration, there was no evidence that it changed any minds. This time around, Vladimir Putin has said that, actually, V.P. Harris is his preferred president. That won’t stop the media from trying to scaremonger another Russia influence hoax into existence, though.
Perhaps, intelligence agencies and media need to be looking, not at Russia but to China. Former deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been charged with acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. There is quite a list of D.C. staffers with sketchy connections to the Communist Party, not to mention many media companies heavily influenced by what Beijing wants.
It is strange how some of these well-known podcasters and establishment politicians come up looking quite gullible, falling for easy money and influence. But Quillette probably had the right take:
“For now, however, it brings to mind nothing so much as the 1930 verse by British writer Humbert Wolfe:
You cannot hope to bribe or twist,
thank God! The British journalist.
But, seeing what the man will do
unbribed, there’s no occasion to.