Interestingly enough, many of the Facebook ads/accounts purchased by Russians were ostensibly in support of BLM and left-leaning politicians:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/27/media/fa…

Their goal is not so much to make sure one political party gains more power, the goal is to sow general discord within the electorate, and make these divisions seem more stark than they are.

Putin's strategy has always been to amplify the failures of the American system to cover the failures of the Russian system. By making the right and the left as distant as they are, he can point to America and say, "look at all the violence and disunity their system and society has caused."

Next time you see something hyperbolic on Facebook that pisses you off at the "other side," stop and wonder if you only feel this way because some Russian guy wants you to.

Can't remember who said this, but truer words have never been spoken:

"It's telling that people angry with athletes for protesting racism and brutality think that they're protesting against America."

The Constitution-humpers and military diddlers love the flag, but they hate everything that it supposedly stands for. Just like Tdumbp, their outrage is really about their racist hatred and repulsive, fanatical white supremacy.

@2 the first line of the article "At least one of the Facebook ads bought by Russians.." which you then spin as "many"

What a load of horseshit

@2: Interestingly enough, I always assumed you were a Russian troll.

Good God Murkins are dumb. My Aunt Kathy is probably commenting on this post right now.

The outrage generated will get someone innocent shot, maybe killed, by a well-armed outraged alt-righter.

@ 2,

I'm inclined to agree with you, however as a gay man who's spent his entire life under attack from the hate-crazed RepubliKKKan party, I don't need a Ru$$iabot to tell me that CONservatives are an immediate, direct threat to me and my family.

It's true that Ru$$ia interfered with our election, but they simply exploited the animosity and sadistic inhumanity that was already there. The only real difference between the GOP and the Richard Spencer/Tdumbp Nazis is that he's open and honest about what he wants.

@4: Well, when you don't read past the first line, you are not going to get the full story of the article, genius. Are you just lazy, or way too eager to be outraged today?

@6: That is a very dumb thing to assume.

@9: True, you are already entrenched deeply in one political ideology, but I bet you have seen some things online that made you feel outnumbered, maybe even powerless to stop such things? Maybe it made you want to get violent, or perhaps tune out completely?

This is why pride is a sin, it blows up inconsequential matters and leaves your robbed blind.

you*

@ Teddy
"Next time you see something hyperbolic on Facebook that pisses you off at the "other side," stop and wonder if you only feel this way because some Russian guy wants you to."

If you're looking to Facebook for news, you have bigger problems than Russian trolls.

We all saw this photo months ago.
www.nbcnews.com/news/world/amp/guess-who…

What you seem to be forgetting Teddy is the fact that the Russians were playing the left and the right in order to get Trump elected.

The Russians wanted Trump because they knew he would be more sympathetic to their cause than Clinton would have been.
Of course you knew that, because everyone knows that, but that doesn't fit with your whataboutism narrative now does it?

You see Teddy, the Russians don't need to turn Trump and the GOP into monsters on social media, because they've already shown themselves to be monsters with their all-too-real policies and the insane tweets of mango Mussolini.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews…

I like how "the Russians" has become the left's version of "the Jews". Why so much xenophobia?
#NotAllRussians
#LoveTrumpsHate

All those hours staring at Neil Armstrong's flag and these loonies still can't tell enthusiast-level Photoshoppery?

> That people realize it's fake and continue to spread it, believing that the image somehow speaks to a larger truth despite its falseness, is even more devastating.

Don't fool yourself into thinking this is a right-wing problem, or a stupid-person problem; it's not much more different than the "Trump is charging Puerto Rican evacuees …" stuff that's been going around.

@17
Your link is broken.

@13 Russia was certainly overjoyed to see their actions help tip Trump over the line, but I think also pretty surprised. There has been reporting of intercepts on that, though obviously I can't evaluate those.

So I doubt they were running these operations purely on that long shot, more likely multi-purpose. Shit-stirring between different factions has been a Russian tactic since the Cold War (CIA tactic too, yes), in addition to promoting specific factions to their liking.

@13
The Russians assumed, just like everyone else, that Hillary Clinton would win the election. They wanted to do as much damage to her as possible before that happened, and I'm sure they plan to continue the assault after her election.

Trump winning was a surprise bonus for them, undoubtedly.

You have to understand though, this wasn't just random shit stirring to cause destabilization. All of the Russian attacks, from the left and right, we're directly aimed at Hillary Clinton.
Putin wanted Clinton to be as weak and unpopular as possible to make it easier for him to push his agenda in Europe and Asia.

Sorry, that should have said @21.

@20 whoops. take the final quote mark off and we're golden.

So easy to sow discord.
So difficult to bridge the gaps.

Authoritarianism is fast.
Democracy is slow.

We really are in a new Dark Age... all paranoid emotion, unstable truth, and the killing of each sides' preferred 'witches' and demons.

I'm pretty sure my mom is sharing this all over the place. I wouldn't know since she unfriended me for being a "disgusting Communist Leftist".

One would think that "Vets" (even vets dumb enough to support trump) would know what Our Dear blip pointed out - a blaze that big would fill the room with smoke.

@27:

I don't know - there are a disturbing number of conservatives who believe the Earth is flat (and only 6,000 years old), the moon landings were faked, and 911 was an inside job, among other nonsensical ideas. From there it's not much of a stretch to imagine they don't know how a simple hydrocarbon-oxygen combustion reaction works either.

Russia, perfect for when your candidate is so horrifying that Donald fuckin Trump beats her like the corrupt tramp she is.

As for mentioning “The Jews” by @ 15 and other like-minded folks:
Many US racists are using their “support” for a militant, nationalistic, religious, and undemocratic version of Israel as a fig leaf and a “proof” that they’re not racist as they “support the Jews.”

This wasn't even the worst photoshop I saw today. The morons on reddit are sharing a "NFL takes a knee in support of NAMBLA" meme and jerking themselves off.

Seriously, best lead image for this would have been a split screen of the original vs the photoshop one.

All of these memes and such - I do wonder how much of it is being generated overseas. Make no mistake - I know there are a lot of stupid people in the US (I'm from Iowa, after all. I grew up steeped in it) but only one of my conservative high school friends are worked up about this.

@25 Well said.

As with the response to Uber, closing Uber accounts, one solution is to close Facebook accounts and hurt their bottom line. Closed accounts reduce their ad revenue, and forces Facebook to be held accountable for making money of its passive support for the Putin regime.

Okay, so dupes will be duped but come on... this pic is hilarious, right?
Go Seahawks!

@30. Nice rip on Israel, nazi. You want to name another democratic state in that particular region who doesnt persecute women, LGBTQ, racial and religious minorities when they try to exercise their right to exist?

How about Saudi Arabia? In all their tolerant democratic glory they are finally letting women drive...in 2000fucking17. it's nice to see the anti semites crawling out from under that leftist rug and showing their true face.