Does this man look like an idiot to you?

This is Russian propagandist and podcaster Tim Pool. The licensing company for his podcast just got mixed up in a Russian influence campaign. He says he's a victim. I don't think so.

It’s not so much that Russia is trying to subvert American democracy. Of course they’re trying to do that. And it’s not so much that one of the tools they have at their disposal is dumping large amounts of cash on Americans willing to spout Kremlin talking points. It’s not that Russia’s aims are so insidious – of course they want to undermine American support for their war in Ukraine. What bothers me so much is that so many Americans are willing to sell the Kremlin’s bullshit for free.

I believe Tim Pool and other podcasters from Tenet Media, the company found to have accepted something like ten million Russian petrodollars in exchange for pushing Moscow’s narratives, when he says that he had no idea that Russia was funding the licensing company for his podcast. He’s pro-Kremlin because he  believes their nonsense. He believes that Americans like myself who support helping the Ukrainians are “pro war,” and that standing in opposition to supporting Ukrainian is taking the moral high ground. The rationale being that Ukraine cannot win so refusing their appeals for help will, ultimately, save lives.

“I’m not dumb like everybody says. I’m smart.”

I believe that Tim Pool and others of his ilk parrot Kremlin propaganda about the degeneracy of the West because they believe it. They believe that the American government should work hand-in-glove with American Christianity, just as Putin has embraced Russian Orthodox Christianity as a means to tie himself closer to traditional Russia. They believe that the current rightwing American bogeyman – transgenderism – is going to destroy American civilization, just as all the bogeymen that came before (gay marriage, Muslims, immigrants, rap music, etc.) would do the same. I believe that they truly believe that Putin/Orban-style “illiberalism” would benefit the US.

I believe that they really are that stupid.

I’ve read much of the FBI’s affidavit detailing the work of prominent Russians charged with disrupting the current American election. Much of that work is shabbier than the media would have us believe, but also, in a way, more insidious. Sanctioned Russians bought up a series of internet domains that mirrored prominent media outlets like the Washington Post and Fox News, and then created false stories to plant on those “doppelganger” domains. The stories would be fed to people they wished to influence, and when the target would click on the link, it would show a story favorable to the Russians that appeared to originate on a reputable news site.

They also, of course, maintained many Twitter and other social media accounts, and paid money to various people and organizations, most of whom were already doing their work for free.

In my interactions with such people, they often accuse me of being “propagandized” by the media. I’m sensitive to the charge because propaganda cuts across all nations. If one is living in a propagandized environment, it would be very difficult to know, which is why it’s important to frequently check one’s assumptions and biases. Even then, it’s impossible to divorce one’s self from one’s culture. Yes, I am propagandized.

But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

I used to think facts were stubborn things. I no longer believe that. Facts are as malleable as Silly Putty. They can be massaged into whatever form suits your needs. Facts are tools and, like all tools, they can be weaponized. Don’t like one set of facts? Replace them with another. Or insert one lie into two truths, a trick the Russians used in their current propaganda campaign. Or simply make shit up out of whole cloth and see if you can get people to fall for it.

It's astounding to me that so much of Moscow’s goals can be accomplished by convincing soft-brained people that they’re actually “free thinkers” who have uncovered the truth about the vast Deep State conspiracy that has captured the American government, media, Justice Department, academia, and every other institution. They alone know the truth because stupid people always believe they know more than everybody else. That’s one of the things that makes them stupid. Is it a coincidence that the dumbest-seeming people in Congress are also the same people who repeat these same talking points?

So yes, I believe Tim Pool and all the other “victims” of Russian influence-peddling, who accepted as much as $100,000 per week for their lazy regurgitation of Kremlin talking points, when they say they had no idea that they were being played. I believe that they took the money and didn’t ask too many questions because why wouldn’t they? I also believe that the money wasn’t to “buy” them so much as to thank them for their naivety and gullibility.

All that being said, I will also accept one hundred thousand dollars per week to say whatever you want me to say. I will do so with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Because I, too, may be an idiot, but I’m smart enough to know when I am being bought and paid for. Leave your offers in the reply section. I work cheap.