Angela Merkel, the last Jedi

…the sole European leader willing to stand up to a newly assertive Russia.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ms. Merkel has been the most consequential voice for punishing Russia. The next year, she welcomed a million refugees into Germany, and pushed the rest of Europe to do the same — thus, in the view of Russian ethno-nationalists, diluting European culture. And she still believes in a united, integrated European Union, a bastion of liberal values and, at least implicitly, a political and economic bulwark against Russia.

Angela Merkel, Russia’s Next Target, January 11, 2017 at 03:31PM

Zersetzung, c. 2017

What Russia does today is very much the digital version of what we Germans, before 1989, termed “Zersetzung.”

… political equivalent of what happens when you pour acid on organic material: dissolution and disintegration.

Angela Merkel, Russia’s Next Target, January 11, 2017 at 03:32PM

Right wing playbook for media

In defining “fake news” so broadly and seeking to dilute its meaning, they are capitalizing on the declining credibility of all purveyors of information.

Over the years, we’ve effectively brainwashed the core of our audience to distrust anything that they disagree with.

Wielding Claims of ‘Fake News,’ Conservatives Take Aim at Mainstream Media, December 28, 2016 at 04:23PM

Continue reading Right wing playbook for media