please tell me why there is still any debate
Russia/China are pushing both sides, as per normal. All this is done via layered fronts.
John Huntsman is the only person in history that has been ambassador to China and Russia. Here is what he said:
During his 2020 gubernatorial campaign, and after serving as Ambassador to Russia, Huntsman stated that “[the Russians] want to see us divided. They want to drive a wedge into politics... The American people do not understand the expertise at their disposal to divide us, to prey on our divisions. They take both sides of an issue to deepen the political divide. They are active during mass shootings. They are active during racial tension. They take advantage of us. We think it’s fellow Americans who are taking extreme positions sometimes. It’s not.”
Anywhere they can't leverage they attack with asymmetric warfare. For instance in the US here is their goals.
In the United States: Russia should use its special services within the borders of the United States to fuel instability and separatism, for instance, provoke "Afro-American racists". Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics"
This MFer thinks russia and china are paying Macklemore. You have made my day 😂😂
I am going to start telling people this
Super easy to do, same way they paid Trump, front products. Useful idiots might not even know and just through their management.
Macklemore is over, he has to do this as part of getting those event slots and pump. Basically took the Tucker / Kid Rock route.
I agree with your overall point but highly doubt Russia is directly paying him. I think their strategy is generally to bombard social media, in the right spaces, to manipulate people to think the views they're pushing are more popular than they are and they will push various angles at the extremes to increase division. It unfortunately works well, especially when political and popular figures (like Macklemore) get influenced by it. Thankfully, most adults (under retirement age) are too busy to be online that much but those who are more online, especially engaging in political content on social media (which is hard to avoid but some manage to), are most susceptible to it. And politically not just division between Democrats and Republicans but also make sure the left is busy hating on Democrats and their base since that hurts Democrats and it seems pretty obvious Russia prefers Republicans in power.
Definitely. Propaganda is never direct but it has to play off some already useful divide. Useful idiots are useful. They find willing suckers like Trump, Elon, Tucker, and in entertainment Kanye and now effing Macklemore and thousands of other such agents of influence and then pump them and push the message. Sometimes the asset has no idea they are even being juiced. They create a front product or popularity reinforcement loop in the direction they want the people to move, in many cases, in divergent directions but also within an Overton Window.
The propaganda has to benefit their goals but seem organic. It is almost like Inception where they have to plant an idea that seems to come from them, but is pushed in gently. The firehose of falsehood is a technique commonly used because when you see it alot if feels like it is happening more than it actually is.