• db2@lemmy.world
    76·
    3 days ago

    I still don’t get why he’s got any power. He’s easily the stupidest person I’ve ever seen, and that includes fictional TV characters. Why did anyone ever listen to anything he ever said?

    • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusEnglish
      41·
      2 days ago

      Because the republicans have slowly but surely dismantled public education, and always prevented any media literacy initiatives to take root, while using religion to amplify these effects. There’s a German musician named Reinhardt May who had the following line in his song “Sei Wachsam”(“Be Aware”): (Edit: i realized a better translation to preserve the exact meaning would be “Be on your guard”)

      Der Minister nimmt flüsternd den Bischof beim Arm: Halt du sie dumm, – ich halt’ sie arm!

      (poorly) translated:

      The minister whispers to the bishop, touching his arm:
      You keep them dumb, i’ll keep them poor.

      The song in its totality is now 30 years old, and can’t be beaten in actuality.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBo34ycvkw for a live recording, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjpz1feBsU for english lyrics.

        • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
          121·
          3 days ago

          Who owns the media and the algorithms? Of course Russia tried, like the US in other countries, but that can’t be the power structure behind Trump.

              • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
                3·
                3 days ago

                You can start here:

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_report

                The report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred “in sweeping and systematic fashion”, and was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts. It also identifies multiple links between the Trump campaign and Russian officials,about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations. Mueller later stated that his investigation’s findings of Russian interference “deserves the attention of every American”.

                And here:

                https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-mueller-investigation-explained-2/

                According to Barr, the special counsel found two main Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. The first was through the Internet Research Agency, a Russian organization that conducted “disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election.” The second was the Russian government’s hacking operations “designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election.”

                And here:

                https://investigaterussia.org/media/2018-03-18/cambridge-analyticas-russia-connection

                Mr. Nix is a director of SCL Group, a British political and defense contractor, and chief executive of its American offshoot, Cambridge Analytica, which advised the Trump campaign. The firms’ employees, who often overlap, had contact in 2014 and 2015 with executives from Lukoil, the Russian oil giant.
                …
                Christopher Wylie [whistleblower], who helped found Cambridge Analytica and develop the company’s voter-profiling technology, said Lukoil showed interest in how the company used data to tailor messaging to American voters.
                …
                Though Lukoil is not state-owned, it depends on Kremlin support, and its chief executive, Vagit Alekperov, has met with Mr. Putin on a number of occasions. Reuters reported last year that Lukoil and other companies received instructions from the state energy ministry on providing news stories favorable to Russian leadership.

                And here:

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_Brexit_referendum

                The report discussed more broadly Russian interference in British politics, including an extensive “laundromat” of Russian investment into the United Kingdom often connected to the Russian state and the Putin-linked elite. It discussed the likely effect on politics and that many members of the House of Lords have business interests in Russia.
                …
                In September 2020, the Electoral Commission raised concerns about Russia-linked donations to the Tories that occurred prior to the Brexit referendum. In October 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed more information about the potentially Kremlin-linked donations and multiple others.

                And if you still have doubts that it’s a concerted and deliberate strategy that’s an explicit part of Russia’s internal policies, try this:

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

                The textbook advocates a sophisticated program of subversion, destabilization, and disinformation spearheaded by the Russian secret services.

                And this:

                https://www.bbc.com/video/docs/series/10141108

                (That last one didn’t used to require a subscription to watch… you might be able to find it on the high seas)

                Edit: bonus Putin Ordered Kremlin to ‘Destroy NATO and EU From Within’

                • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
                  1·
                  3 days ago

                  Mr. Nix is a director of SCL Group, a British political and defense contractor, and chief executive of its American offshoot, Cambridge Analytica, which advised the Trump campaign. The firms’ employees, who often overlap, had contact in 2014 and 2015 with executives from Lukoil, the Russian oil giant.

                  The British tool must be ages behind Facebook’s internal tools and Russia has to ask them for ideas to get started.

                  Of course Russia does what it can. But it only gets Facebook’s external data, not their full internal tracking information.

                  Russia has to play the algorithm while Facebook can just change the parameters to rank the content however they want.

                  The imbalance of power is so big that Russia couldn’t have influenced the election in a meaningful way.

        • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          Np. I was a kid when my parents where listening to him in the car. He has a lot of upbeat and outright funny songs too, all with very well done lyrics (he is a poet, after all) which is why i liked him as a kid. I do not listen to him on the regular because i like other genres more, but he had a lasting influence on me regarding my taste in lyrics.

      • Doomsider@lemmy.world
        4·
        3 days ago

        Rapists? Child Molesters? Wife Beaters? Fraudsters? Trust Fund Babies? Charlatans?

        Inquiring minds want to know.

        • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusEnglish
          4·
          2 days ago

          Rapists? Child Molesters? Wife Beaters? Fraudsters? Trust Fund Babies? Charlatans?

          You don’t even have to pick - an inclusive “yes” is enough

    • redsand@infosec.pub
      4·
      3 days ago

      Because he’s a figure head. He’s the stupid barely a billionaire face that the Epstein class has no trouble controlling. Perfect blackmail and bribery target.

      • Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
        3·
        3 days ago

        He’s not a figurehead, he’s a scapegoat. Their hope is that we hate him so much that we’ll be so relieved and satisfied with his end that we don’t come after them for everything they’ve stolen in the interim.

        When his reign is over, be happy, but do not be satisfied.