>Donald Trump is an Russian asset. + FaceBook secretly allowed
>Cambridge Analytica to run a massive targeted disinformation
>campaign on their platform, then tried to lie about it when
>they got caught. These are tactics that Putin "piloted" during
>his invasion of Ukraine (and is still actively employing)

Very familiar with the Cambridge Analytica debacle. But Putin and Russia has been running disinformation campaigns for decades, as have other countries (namely China & Israel) to intervene and meddle in our elections. Alike, we have meddled in countless elections, installed authoritarian governments, and have worked to influence elections on every continent. So I think in order to have a broader conversation on this we need to acknowledge this is unfortunately what world governments do in the current paradigm.

>Putin/Kremlin has figured out how to infiltrate and undermine
>sovereign superpowers without firing one weapon. There is no
>such thing as an ex-KGB agent. they've had a hard on for the
>US since the cold war.

For sure. Russia (and Putin in particular) have become adept at cyber warfare and psychological manipulation, and their disinformation campaigns have been effective. They are certainly a problem - but I side more with Obama on this than those who are calling for a renewed Cold War and nuclear escalation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1409sXBleg&t=12s

Obama understood that Russia's economy is disastrous, that it's largely an isolated state, and that its containment is relatively easy to achieve in the region -- and that building up a new Cold War narrative only empowers Russia and weakens our ability to exert diplomacy and build coalitions in the region both neutralize and isolate Russia.

Also - if Trump is a "Russian agent" or whatever the hot phrase is now - then he's not a very effective one. He has gone after Russia's soft allies (Iran and China) - and despite his false claims that he was "getting out of Syria" - he has done anything but, continuing the long-standing U.S. policy of intervention in an effort to topple Assad (a Putin ally) by directly and indirectly supporting Sunni extremist militias like ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

>MBS, Netanyahu, Assad and others all stand to gain from all
>this. The Putin/MBS dap-up told volumes

What Putin/MBS relationship are you referring to? MBS is waging war in Yemen and Syria (with our backing) and seeks to obliterate Iran from the region (a nation with close business/diplomatic ties with Russia) - so I'm not sure what you're referring to with the Putin/MBS connection.


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