The "party of Reagan" (though I was never a fan, personally) seems to have become the party of Putin! Who had that on their bingo card? It is an old adage that you can tell a lot about people by the company they keep. To phrase it another way, sometimes the language we use and the position we take on issues reveals a lot about where we are getting our news and views. In a general sense, this may simply be an awareness of connecting the dots between catch-phrases often repeated by news outlets from one side, or the other of the political spectrum, but it may also reveal the source of where the news outlets get their information. In this case, I am referring to Russia's massive disinformation campaign against the US and the West, spreading pro-Russian propaganda about Russia's war in Ukraine, and possibly extending to views supporting Hamas in Gaza via Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis . When politicians speak, we should listen, and challenge what we hear until we can learn more. Or, as one Canadian government advertisement about the media in Canada advised, " If what you read or hear raises one of your eyebrows, maybe we should look into it more," or words to that effect ( https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/online-disinformation.html ) Be skeptical. Follow the headlines, read the sources, check into the details. Corroborate the ideas from other sources. Follow the evidence. Follow the money.
I'm simply going to list some of the topics being reported as well as some of the insights from recent reports in the media.
Republican politicians increasingly receiving funds from Russian operatives. A simple Google search yields so many stories about this recurring theme. I found some of the stories going back to Trump's run for the Oval Office in 2016. Trump often decried this as "fake News" and "Russia,Russia,Russia" as a Democratic attempt to attack him. Unfortunately, the Mueller Report report and the years of reporting after the 2020 election seem to bear out the allegation that there really was a "there there" between Trump (and his control of the GOP) and Russian election interference. A few examples of stories being reported on may illustrate the growing evidence of Russian interference and meddling in the US political landscape on the side of Trump and the Republican party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_between_Trump_associates_and_Russian_officials
Stalling aid for Ukraine serves Russian interests. Mike Johnson, and MAGA republicans especially seem to be serving the political interests of Trump and Russia https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-republican-opposition-ukraine-aid-grows-threatening-funds-war-ra-rcna117406
Republicans attacking the US Military: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-09-28/why-conservatives-turned-us-military
Republicans attacking the DOJ, FBI, and CIA serves Russian purposes to weaken US security services. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_9l9zYhsVY
Republicans funneling Russian Money To Trump for his 2024 bid for the presidency: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/09/gop-operatives-funneling-russian-money-trump-latest-foreign-straw-donor-scheme/
Russian money finding its way to European politicians too: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68685604
Tucker Carlson - Useful idiot for Putin : https://www.ft.com/content/8fb346c0-6d6c-4f2d-a2cc-8758d5728446
Fake News is a Russian strategy for political interference: a) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg25362/html/CHRG-115shrg25362.htm b) https://www.oecd.org/ukraine-hub/policy-responses/disinformation-and-russia-s-war-of-aggression-against-ukraine-37186bde/ c)https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/response_conflict-reponse_conflits/crisis-crises/ukraine-disinfo-desinfo.aspx?lang=eng d)https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-elections-disinformation-chatgpt-bc283e7426402f0b4baa7df280a4c3fd e) https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-gop-is-the-party-of-putin
When politicians are parroting the words of Russian propaganda, and when RT (Russian State TV) news hosts show interviews with Republicans and feature news segments with Republicans, promote these ideas ("Our Johnson" - RT referring to US Speaker of the House of Representative Mike Johnson who has single-handedly stalled US support for Ukraine) perhaps the politicians are being played by Russia! Follow the money.
