Russian State Media Calls Trump 'Our Agent,' Believes Mar-A-Lago Raid Is 'Persecution' https://www.ibtimes.com/russian-sta...nt-believes-mar-lago-raid-persecution-3602609
And we have this MAGA QAnon conspiracy clown... American Ex-Cop Goes to Ukraine on Twisted Mission to Vindicate Putin Notorious U.S. fugitive John Dougan has documented his journey to the war zone, where he says he plans to “prove” baseless allegations that Ukraine has been developing bioweapons. https://www.thedailybeast.com/flori...raine-war-zone-to-prove-bioweapons-conspiracy An American in Russia has inserted himself in a Kremlin-backed propaganda project to convince the world that Vladimir Putin’s true intent in his Ukrainian invasion is to destroy U.S-funded bioweapons facilities. Now, he says, he’s in Ukraine to inspect some of those biolabs—to prove they have been used by the American military to threaten Russia. John Mark Dougan is an increasingly prominent figure in a burgeoning movement of conspiracy theorists who are trying to put meat on the bone of the baseless idea that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was done, at least in part, to destroy U.S-funded biolabs developing deadly pathogens to unleash on the Russian people. Unlike his fellow travelers, Dougan is well-placed to actually do something about it—he’s based in Russia. Dougan, a former cop, has been living in Moscow since 2016, when he fled Florida after being fingered in an elaborate fake news operation—one in which he claimed that slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich handed him a trove of leaked DNC emails. The Daily Beast revealed in 2018 how his tale, which included efforts to discredit Russian opposition politicians, was full of holes. Earlier this week, Dougan claims to have hopped a ride in a Russian military transport vehicle and headed into Ukraine with a promise to uncover the truth about what really went on in those biolabs. He has posted frequent updates on his journey to his Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, and Rumble accounts. “I have visited three locations where there were biolabs, and the buildings have been destroyed,” Dougan told The Daily Beast via WhatsApp. The biolabs theory first broke onto the scene on Feb. 24, the same day Russia began hostilities in Ukraine. A Twitter user, and longtime QAnon follower, posted a map of these biolabs dotted throughout Ukraine—civilian biological laboratories, the kind that are commonly found in virtually every country in the world—and speculated that destroying those facilities was the real aim of the Russian mission. These biological laboratories are funded by the Pentagon specifically to reduce the threat of infectious disease outbreaks. This work began as a program to identify and secure former Soviet bioweapons facilities and destroy dangerous samples that pose a threat to humanity. Multiple independent experts, international bodies, and the local governments—including those sympathetic to Russia—have confirmed that the American program has reduced the risk in the area, not increased it. In the days and weeks that followed, the conspiracy gained steam. It was boosted by a Russian embassy in Sarajevo, Russian state propaganda outlet Sputnik, former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese state media Xinhua, and ultimately foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. The theory hit the big-time in America when it was featured on Tucker Carlson Tonight—the Fox host promoted the baseless conspiracy theory multiple times in recent days. But what the theory desperately lacks is any concrete evidence. In multiple conversations with QAnon podcast host RedPill78, the originator of the conspiracy theory—who has gone by iterations of the user-name “Clandestine,” and says his first name is Jacob—made it clear that his theory hangs on two things: that Russian bombing hit the same cities where these biolabs are located, and that Russia has accused America of operating a clandestine bioweapons program in Ukraine for years. That’s where Dougan comes in: On March 11, he uploaded a 188-page Russian-language document claiming to offer proof of the Americans’ malign intent. He uploaded a rough English translation shortly thereafter. “The activities of military biological laboratories are aimed at modeling natural strains of various infections, creating special designs that will have external signs of natural epidemics, but will bring the heaviest losses.” Dougan, who has been accused of peddling forged documents in the past, is cagey about where exactly it came from, except to say it was handed to him by a Ukrainian woman who crossed the border into Belarus. Dougan never substantiates the idea that these American-funded labs are doing anything other than their intended purposes but it was nevertheless shared widely. RedPill78’s Telegram channel shared the Russian-language report, calling it a “whistleblower document.” That post was seen more than 100,000 times and shared by popular American and Canadian conspiracy channels. The American in Russia has been close with RedPill78—alter ego of host Zak Paine—and has appeared on the podcast repeatedly in recent days to promote the biolabs conspiracy theory. In Dougan’s telling, American involvement in the former Soviet bloc countries was not about securing and destroying the USSR’s biological weapons program, but instead about building “new bio laboratory facilities, all with the express purpose of designing biological weapons that could then be used against the Russian people.” That theory has been shared by Russian disinformation channels repeatedly in recent years. After the emergence of COVID-19, in particular, Russian officials have suggested that an American bioweapons program was to blame—although such an accusation, at the time, likely had more to do with deflecting criticism from Moscow’s own inept handling of the pandemic. One particular unsupported claim that Dougan makes, that is found within the documents he uploaded, is that this bioweapons program is tailor-made to kill or maim Slavic people: “They are specifically looking to target Russians,” he told Paine. That exact claim was made, by Russia, in submissions to the U.N. Security Council in the days before Dougan came forward with his fantastical theory. Lavrov described this research program as developing “ethnically targeted biological weapons.” Dougan would parrot Russian talking points again on March 11, asking his YouTube followers, “Has Ukraine utilized birds to test viral dispersal patterns?” The Russian military had issued an identical accusation just hours before. On another episode of RedPill78, Dougan was joined by Jacob, the Virginia man behind the Clandestine account that kicked off the whole conspiracy theory. Even if Dougan’s investigative breakthrough constitutes little more than a regurgitation of Russian propaganda, it puts him in the thick of the emerging theory—which also has been promoted by Donald Trump Jr. and Glenn Greenwald. Unlike any of the other figures, however, Dougan appears to have found an easy way into Ukraine. In late February, not long after the conspiracy theory first began spreading online, Dougan put a call-out on his YouTube channel: “I'm gonna get a group of journalists together we're gonna go check this stuff out for ourselves once everything is secure in Ukraine,” he said of the biolabs theory. On Wednesday, Dougan posted pictures to his Instagram account, sporting a “PRESS” vest and standing in front of a van emblazoned with a “Z,” a signifier of Russian forces invading Ukraine from the east. He told his followers that he is meeting up with an armored personnel carrier, which will bring him to Mariupol—one of the cities singled out by the conspiracy theory as hosting bioweapons facilities. Before leaving Moscow, Dougan titled one of his videos: “Let's check out some bio weapons labs.” On March 17, after days of silence, Dougan uploaded a dispatch from Ukraine, where he said he was touring Russian-occupied towns. “Everything was great, no problems,” he reported. (The Atlantic Council reports that those Russian-controlled areas are a “human rights black hole,” partly due to a network of detention centers set up there since Russia first invaded in 2014.) Dougan’s dispatches to date have largely consisted of him interviewing Ukrainians, in these occupied towns, asking “Have you heard about America funding bioweapons labs here in Ukraine? You heard about this?” One Ukrainian man agreed with Dougan, lamenting that his YouTube page had been suspended for sharing such theories. Asked whether the Russian government or military is supporting his trip, Dougan wrote, “I'm in no way associated with the Russian military." He added that he is receiving “no funding from anyone except for donations from people that watch my channel. These aren't much, so I'm funding most of this myself.” He confirmed that he is embedded with the Russian military for certain parts of his trip, but that he is on his own at other times. When he’s not embedded with the military, he wrote, he is armed. “Because nobody else is going to protect me except for me. Do I have any intention of joining in fighting? No, I'm a fact finder. Fighting is not for me anymore. But if it comes down to it, and I have to fight for myself, I will.” Dougan wouldn’t be the first to broadcast from behind enemy lines. In World War II, Lord Haw-Haw—the nickname for British fascist William Joyce—churned out English-language propaganda for Nazi Germany. His counterparts in the Pacific theater used the moniker Tokyo Rose: Japanese-American Iva Toguri D'Aquino was later tried in America for treason for her role in denigrating the U.S. war effort. Seoul City Sue would later play a similar role in the Korean War, spreading propaganda aimed at American troops.
Appearing on The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov last year, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that she had received a flood of inquiries from Trump supporters in the United States, disillusioned with the outcome of the storming of the Capitol on Jan 6. According to Zakharova, they urgently sought information about obtaining Russian citizenship, allegedly fearing "repressions." Kremlin TV Desperately Wants You to Move to Russia Right Now Vladimir Putin’s war has made the dire population crisis in Russia even worse, forcing Moscow’s mouthpieces to scramble for solutions on live television. https://www.thedailybeast.com/kreml...-desperate-push-for-more-immigrants-to-russia
2017: According to a Morning Consult-Politico poll from May, an astonishing 49 percent of Republicans consider Russia an ally. Favorable views of Putin - a career KGB officer who hates America - have nearly tripled among Republicans in the past two years, with 32 percent expressing a positive opinion. The GOP became the party of Putin. Good times.
Let's see what a leading Conservative publication has to say... Conservatives Are the New Useful Idiots Putin apologists disgrace a fine heritage. https://www.thebulwark.com/conservatives-are-the-new-useful-idiots/ At the moment when freedom-loving people around the world are elated (if on tenterhooks) at the progress of Ukrainian forces in pushing back the Russian invaders, Heritage Action, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, has joined with other self-styled conservative groups to oppose helping Ukraine fight for its life. I know, I know, the Trumpification of the GOP has been a fact for six years, and yet this heel turn is remarkable. It’s as if People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced that they support puppy mills for medical research. Responding to President Biden’s request that Congress appropriate another $13.7 billion to help the Ukrainians cope with energy price hikes and other security needs, Heritage Action urged a no vote, railing that “These funding requests ignore the concerns of the American people.” The pro-Putin, pro-authoritarian voices in the GOP are not yet a majority—about a quarter of House Republicans and 11 of 50 Senators voted against the $40 billion aid package for Ukraine in May—but they’re not a small minority either, and the wind is at their backs. CPAC has all but canonized Hungary’s strongman Viktor Orban, and in the first hours after Putin rolled into Ukraine, Trump reveled in the murderer’s “savvy” and “genius.” The 2022 election could bring more authoritarian-friendly Republicans to Congress, and meanwhile, hatcheries of conservative orthodoxy like Fox News and The Federalist are doing the spade work of persuading the base that Kremlin propaganda is more trustworthy—pravda, if you will—than the New York Times. Just two weeks ago, Tucker Carlson, Putin’s favorite American broadcaster (clips from his show are routinely featured on Russian state TV), told viewers that Biden’s steadfast support of Ukraine was absurd. Biden is calling for an unconditional surrender from Vladimir Putin. Here’s the weird thing: By any actual reality-based measure, Vladimir Putin is not losing the war in Ukraine. He is winning the war in Ukraine and Joe Biden looks at that and says we won’t stop until you proffer an unconditional surrender.. . . This isn’t bad policy, this is nuts. Poor timing. But that’s the least of it. It was bad enough to excuse Putin before February 24 on the risible grounds that he represented some sort of Christian champion and scourge of wokeness. But after? That a spokesman for a so-called “conservative” TV network can cheer the rape of a free country (Carlson has said he “roots” for Russia to win) is not just morally depraved, it violates the basic tenets of what used to be conservatism. American conservatives once believed that freedom was our most precious inheritance. We were friends to all freedom-loving people and foes of all tyrants. Speaking on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, Ronald Reagan said this to the aging soldiers who had scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc: The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and pray God we have not lost it—that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt. You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. Now it’s goodbye to all that apparently. J.D. Vance, Trump’s hand-picked candidate for an Ohio Senate seat has said he doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to Ukraine. The Federalist denounces Mitch McConnell (who traveled to Ukraine to show support) and other “swamp creatures” for putting Ukraine’s security needs ahead of America’s. The vapidity of this new “conservatism” is bottomless. They haven’t bothered to consider that brutal aggression by a larger against a smaller state invites a Hobbesian international disorder in which no one is safe. A number of Republicans have seized on the talking point that Biden is more concerned with Ukraine’s border than with our southern border. Blake Masters, the Thiel-conjured Republican nominee for senate in Arizona, sneered that America’s leaders are “buffoons who hate you so . . . they’ll keep defending Ukraine’s borders while turning their backs on ours.” Rep. Mary Miller and her ilk found this irresistibly witty and repeated it. As if thousands of would-be immigrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande for work represent a comparable threat to tanks and missiles destroying cities, murdering men, women, and children, creating millions of refugees, and cutting off food and electricity. This talk of “invasion” of our southern border was always hyperbolic, but to cling to it at a time when our screens are full of images of a true invasion becomes vile. These supposed conservatives are strangers to the most important themes of traditional conservatism. They dishonor the name. Conservatism was a worldview intimately bound up with opposition to tyranny. Of course we fell short of our aspirations from time to time, but love of freedom was in our DNA—or so it seemed. Our hearts were with oppressed peoples from Lithuania to Tibet to Tehran. We cheered the fall of the Berlin Wall because the USSR was a comprehensive, seven-decade assault on human dignity. We hated it for its repression of speech, thought, religion, movement, and enterprise. We hated it for its torrent of lies. Putin’s Russia differs from the USSR in ideology, but in repression and rapacity, it is comparable. And it’s scarcely believable that the “useful idiots” who make excuses for it today—who actually root for its success—are “conservatives.”
The GOP Trumper wing doesn't want to provide aid to Ukraine... How a Republican rift on Ukraine could complicate future aid packages https://www.defensenews.com/congres...ukraine-could-complicate-future-aid-packages/ Republican leaders who hope to take control of Congress after the November elections would face a growing gap between members of their caucus calling for more robust aid to Ukraine and a contingent skeptical of continuing to shell out billions of dollars to Kyiv as the war with Russia continues. The schism between the party’s establishment Republicans and Trump-style populists raises questions about whether President Joe Biden can rely on lawmakers to continue funding the influx of U.S. military equipment to Ukraine if Democrats lose control of Congress. The House’s No. 2 and 3 Republican leaders — Minority Whip Steve Scalise and conference chair Elise Stefanik — wouldn’t commit to their conference keeping the aid flowing should Republicans take control of the House in January, even though they both cast votes in favor of Ukraine aid in the past. “There are a lot of members that want to see more accountability in the Department of Defense and more of a focus on the threats that are out there,” Scalise, of Louisiana, told reporters Wednesday. “China is moving very aggressively to build up a naval fleet, and right now our naval fleet is in decline.” The $40 billion Ukraine supplemental split Republicans when it passed Congress in May, and, if Republicans pick up seats in the midterms, it’s unclear where the new members would land on the issue. In the House, 57 Republicans voted no, while 149 voted with the Democratic majority; in the Senate, 11 voted no, while 39 voted yes with Democrats. (More at above url)
A win for Ukraine will be seen as a win for the WH. The GQP needs to drag on the suffering to show how the WH is "failing".