The mainstream media is outraged that the Kremlin has deployed its vaunted propaganda against the Democratic Party and its candidate, Hillary Clinton. According to a report of the Washington Post, the Kremlin’s “fake news” may have pushed Donald Trump first over the finish line. Among the more harmful Russian “fake news” stories were reports on Clinton’s secret health problems, the release of emails from the DNC and John Podesta presumably hacked by Russia, Hillary’s connection to global finance (her Wall Street speeches?), and party operatives paying activists to foment violence at Trump rallies. The Washington Post writes that “fake news” was spread by Russian international news agencies, RT and Sputnik, and disseminated through a network of shadowy websites to “useful idiots” from right-wing web sites. Candidate Donald Trump even sat for an interview RT’s Larry King.
To the American establishment: Welcome to Kremlin propaganda. Putin’s “fake news” specialists have been excoriating America nonstop for almost a decade, but you failed to take umbrage until they targeted Hillary with a relatively mild form of Kremlin “fake news.” The concern about Hillary’s health problems was legitimate. The hacked emails were not “fake news” but illegally acquired (and apparently genuine) information. Whereas the American Left celebrated WikiLeaks for exposing military and intelligence secrets, Julian Assange is now an evil pawn of the Kremlin. Clinton’s contradictory statements about her server and the emails released by the State Department, FBI, and extracted by Judicial Watch created her reputation for dishonesty. WikiLeaks revealed the dirty tricks of the Democratic party not of Hillary per se. Trump sat for a softball interview with Larry King because he is a familiar face on US television, not because he works for RT. Trump’s campaign did not need the Russians. They knew what to do without their guidance.
