Rep. Marc Malon, II (D-Biddeford) wasn’t happy with his Republican colleagues who expressed skepticism of the symbolic resolution the House of Representatives debated Tuesday.
The resolution, which will have no practical impact on anything, consumed more than an hour of lawmakers time, as citizen legislators gave overwrought speeches about history, democracy, and the moral imperative that the U.S. continue to fund a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.
Several Republicans expressed frustration that a state legislature would occupy its time with a meaningless gesture. Others warned of the risks of escalating conflict with a nuclear power. Still others wondered where all the money is coming from considering the U.S. is more than $30 trillion in debt.
But for Malon, skepticism of the resolution — or of the U.S.’s growing involvement in the war — was a sign his Republican colleagues were the victim of “Russian propaganda.”
“I found many of the Republican comments to be gross; and clearly influenced (unwittingly I’m sure) by Russian propaganda,” Malon posted to Facebook last night, in a thread bashing his Republican colleagues.
Unsubstantiated allegations of Russian influence — knowing or unwitting — have become a bedrock tool of rhetoric for modern liberal Democrats since the election of President Donald Trump in 2016.
While party elder and former President Barack Obama once accused Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of antiquated Cold War Era thinking for considering Russia a top geopolitical foe, the party has more recent embraced the politically useful tactic of claiming everything they oppose, Russians support.
The only problem is the rhetoric is far removed from facts.
The theory that Trump colluded with Russians to win his election has been thoroughly debunked.
After the 2016 dust settled, it became apparent that Hillary Clinton personally approved of an elaborate campaign to falsely smear Trump as a tool of the Kremlin. Even Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not conclude that Trump “colluded” with Russians. And, more recently, one of the FBI agents at the center of the Trump probe was recently arrested for colluding with the Russian oligarchs.
In terms of Russian propaganda, we also now know — thanks to Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi — about a coordinated effort to manufacturer a false narrative about Russian propaganda.
The so-called Hamilton 68 dashboard was a tool whose creators said measured the influence of Russian botnets. Various media outlets credulously used Hamilton 68‘s information as truth, telling their readers and viewers that Russian botnets — and therefore the Kremlin — supported all manner of Trump proposals and initiatives. But dashboard was little more than pseudoscience — a phony system that Twitter executives immediately flagged as bogus.
Nonetheless, the attempts by operatives from the political establishment and the Democratic Party to imply that everything conservatives do is somehow tied to mysterious Russian interests has had a lasting hold over many liberal Democrats.
Even Democratic elected officials, like Malon, appear to be influenced (unwittingly I’m sure) by totally false and thoroughly debunked narratives designed to advance the interests of Washington, D.C.’s political class and the military-industrial complex.
