Russophobia showed off its underrated versatility this week. It has proved useful to explain election losses that havent even happened yet, being blamed for historical racial tensions, and used to boost military spending.
RT takes a look at the last seven days or so of Russophobia.
Charlottesville made in Russia
Republican Congressman Tom Garrett from Virginia attempted to get some bad vibes off of Americas conscience, a year after the infamous Unite the Right in Charlottesville saw the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and the alt-right clash with counter protesters, and an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer drive a car into a crowd. Turns out, it was probably Russias fault.
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Garrett has spoken to the FBI about this and he told SiriusXM Patriot Radio, “let me be clear, I dont want to overstate this, my question was did the Russians exacerbate the events in Charlottesville using the internet and social media, and the answer was yes.”
There it is, it wasnt racial tensions going back centuries, the guys with pillow cases on their heads, or even the gentlemen carrying semi-automatic rifles and swastikas. In fact, the violence in Charlottesville was the fault of someone with a Russian name setting up a Facebook page. Overturning society is as easy as that in the mind of the Russophobe.
Midterm Mania Metastasizes
The upcoming US midterms feed Russophobia like a cows corpse feeds a vulture. When an 11 year old girl managed to hack an election website at a US hackers conference this week, panic ensued. Trump hating website Raw Story saw the little girls skills, ran the headline “Russian hackers could provoke an election apocalypse in the 2018 midterms” and concluded “People who believe the Russians arent trying — and succeeding — to do the same [hack elections] in real life are lying to themselves.”
It takes a rare kind of paranoia to go in that direction that fast. They should look up the phrase non-sequitir, because these two stories are not related.
Perhaps instead of worrying about Russians everywhere, the US should be updating its election equipment, and finding out where that girl goes to school, because she has a talent. Hopefully she didnt go to school in St Petersburg!
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Putin hunts tigers for fun
So in the mind of the Russophobe, when Vladimir Putin isnt personally hacking Americas Got Talent or any number of other votes, how does he spend his leisure time?
Journal de 20 heures on Frances channel 2 revealed the secret last Friday. The Russian President, among other things, hunts tigers, because thats what all fairy tale villains do. Journalist Valerie Astruc had proof, a picture of Putin and a group of men smiling next to a prone tiger, taken a mere decade ago. Turns out, the tiger wasnt actually dead but had been tranquilised so a tracking tag could be fitted, before it was later re-released.
“Putin likes to protect endangered species” just doesnt have the same Russophobic ring to it does it. “The propaganda never takes time off,” said Astruc in her report. She should be applauded for self-awareness if nothing else.
Sub-standard Russophobia
When a cash-strapped military-type in Britain needs a few extra bullets or submarines, Russophobia is usually the first port of call. A report in Britain this week says Russia could attack from the Arctic flank at any minute, which is at least a nice change from the English Channel, or straight down the phone lines. And guess what the nattily titled report On Thin Ice: UK Defence in the Arctic concludes … yep, the military needs more cash.
READ MORE: Royal Marine annual Arctic warfare exercises scrapped due to lack of cash
The report admits that the Arctic region is “characterized by close multilateral cooperation” and that there are typically “low levels of tension.” It then goes on to say that these facts can no longer be guaranteed – especially one presumes if the likes of Britain starts sending its submarines up there as well!
READ MORE: Earlier on Russophobia Digest
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