(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Book Alert from Timothy Snyder: How Russian propagandists need Trump, from Julia Davis [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-12 Timothy Snyder has a quick review of a new book from Julia Davis, called In Their Own Words. Here’s the blurb from the publisher: This collection of essays and articles, written between 2019 and 2024 for such outlets as The Daily Beast and The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), illuminates recent Russian international affairs through the lens of Moscow’s propaganda tactics. For more than two decades, the Kremlin’s agitators have been tasked to lay, in advance, the groundwork for various domestic and foreign actions by the regime of Vladimir Putin. Thus, Russian state-controlled media provides crucial clues for deciphering the—often sinister—goals that the government of Russia was and is planning to pursue abroad, from election interference to military invasions. The goal of the sum of these activities is the establishment of a new world order—with Russia at its helm. Before the large invasion of 24 February 2022, Russian state media portrayed the West as incapable of opposing Russian aggression. Putin’s propagandists cheered for war against Ukraine, predicting it would be quick and victorious. Misreading the ability of the West to unite and miscalculating Russia’s capabilities in confronting determined Ukrainians, Russia ended up in a quagmire of its own creation. In 2024, Putin’s decorated propagandists face the possibility of future scrutiny and potential prosecutions for their proactive incitement of genocide. They unravel, along with the Kremlin, having to tell multiple conflicting stories and condemn the same players they used to lionize. Backed into the corner, they resort to nuclear threats and demand even more blood from Ukraine, whose only crime is its desire for democracy and freedom. Snyder’s forward gives a summary of what the book is about. Here’s some snippets: ...Russian propaganda is in the shadow of America. Whereas the America only covers Russia when there is something to cover, and usually not even then, Russian propaganda television starts every night from the premise that whatever has happened that day is America's doing and America's fault. This does not reflect reality -- or a typical American's experience of reality. ...Their basic posture is that America is in a constant war with the Russian Federation. Because Russia cannot fight and cannot win any actual war of that description, the propagandists are most comfortable when America is turned against itself. They talk almost never about Russian domestic politics, but obsess over every piece of evidence of American domestic weakness. Donald Trump is their favorite weapon against America. Trump is described as a friend and ally, "our Trumpushka" and "Donald Fredovych." Out of office, he is described as Russia's great hope. He is "sorely missed"; Russia is "ready to elect you again". Russia propagandists had no trouble predicting that Trump would try a coup when he lost in 2020, because that is a familiar sort of behavior to them. They rejoiced when he did , because they thought that this could lead to a civil war in the United States. Their coverage of Trump's coup attempt was at first highly positive. When it failed, a very awkward pivot was made to the position that it had all been some sort of provocation by the Democrats. This part is something that needs to be emphasized: ...Russia can't win its own war, is the propagandists' evident conclusion -- but America can win Russia's war for it. America is of course not all-powerful, as the Russian propagandists claim to believe, but on this point they are right. As we near the U.S. elections, their discussions of Ukraine, like their discussions of Russia and everything else, focus entirely on what is happening inside the United States. The regime they serve, and the senseless and genocidal war it began, can be bought some time, if and only if the United States fails to support Ukraine. And so the heroes of Russia's war, in Russia's own propaganda, become the Americans who support it. Snyder notes that for all that Russian propagandists need their allies in the U.S., they also can’t hide that they regard them as idiots — and they really want the former Idiot in Chief back in the White House. While I haven’t seen the book yet, from this brief description I can’t help but notice the parallels between Russian propagandists and the right wing media machine in this country, which holds everything is the fault of the Democrats and nothing can be blamed on them. Similarly, every Republican accusation is a confession, and every claim is a lie. It’s no wonder Trump and the GOP are de facto Russian assets. * edited title, replacing “operate” with “need Trump”. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/12/2246234/-Book-Alert-from-Timothy-Snyder-How-Russian-propagandists-operate-from-Julia-Davis?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/