What Sarkov and Putin did is a perfect parallel to what the Trump Administration has been trying to do going back years: Dominion voting machines stole the 2020 election, Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs, Ukrainians are the aggressors in their own invasion - these are all fantasy narratives that Trump.and MAGA keep.pushing out to justify their policies. Anyone in their right mind should understand Portland is not "war torn" and we don't need The 82nd Airborne to be flown from Bragg to the West Coast, but this constant push against reality convinces some people nonetheless.
I think the bigger question is what is it about the intelligence apparatus, and America’s institutional structure, that has hamstrung an effective fix? As a simple veteran of combat, my sacrifice certainly has tempered my perceptions. I don’t doubt for a moment American intelligence hasn’t seen this. I certainly have seen the manipulation, and I might add, the misuse of intelligence for a particular ethos that has given us 30 years of war; and what that cost really is. So wherein is the rub?
It's really important to read the rest of this in Unger's book, in order to fully understand how Sukhov accomplished this, and not be fooled by president orange face.
May I add that currently, the head of OMB, co-architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought (recently called to the WH by Trump to discuss further purges in the gov), wants full deregulation of the economy, and women without their freedom to choose. Please read his bio. He's a Wheaton (Christian college) graduate, very smart, an evangelical white nationalist who believes that his god in the one true god and any anyone else is "condemned." Of course he gives no definition of what his "condemned" means....and he wrote this in an article that's online, trying to encourage Wheaton to fire a Wheaton professor who stated that we all pray to the same god. Blasphemous according to Vought.
Bernie Sanders indicated in Senate testimony, Vought is unfit to be in government (I believe that was during Trump admin 1.0). Vought also lies, like the rest of the Trump admin. stating that the bulk of Biden's Infrastructure Project was for DEI, and not infrastructure.
Great Christian values....just as in the days of The Crusades, and the Spanish Inquistion these people have no qualms about lying, killing, and defaming people to achieve their goals. That tells you enough.
It's taken a long time - Russia has been pumping propaganda into the US through social media for 15 years. The Alt Right media has been pushing the same grievances and manufactured crises. I think it has been a big psy-op that has slowly taken root.
And Russia has an ally in Murdoch, who has brainwashed the American right into angry cynics who hate every traditional ideal of their country and believe in nothing at all. He created fertile ground for Russian influence.
It's a symbiotic relationship. The conspiracy theories keep Fox's audience watching and complaining, and Russia benefits from the division. This is why Russia has injected so much propaganda into our system via Alt-Right accounts on social media. Murdoch doesn't care if it hurts the US...he's making money. He only loses when the Fox hosts cross the line like they did after the 2020 election and had to cough up $700 million.
They point you to monsters abroad—Putin, Xi, the nuclear bogeyman—while the real coup is happening in your pocket. It’s not some foreign agent sifting through your texts; it’s the Silicon Valley cartel and their government handlers, mining your life for profit and power.
You’re told to fear the dictator overseas while you willingly fund the one being built here. They’ve constructed a digital cage, brick by brick, with every click you make, every word you search, every private message you send. They call it "national security," but it's a protection racket. The state and corporation have merged into a single entity, and you are not the citizen—you are the product and the suspect.
This isn't a conspiracy. It's a business model. Defense contractors get richer, politicians get quieter, and media puppets chant the same old fear-mongering hymns. Your paycheck shrinks, your rights evaporate, and you're left arguing about which side of the aisle is better at selling you out.
Stop. Stop staring at the shadows on the wall. The real threat to your liberty isn't on some Kremlin monitor or in Bejing. It’s tracking your location, logging your keystrokes, and reading this right now from its headquarters in DC/Langley and Silicone Valley.
You state legitimate concerns, but the threats from Russia are real. The Russian propaganda circulating the social media world has had a divisive impact on American society without question. It is fair to state that, without that Russian-backed influence that is being bolstered by the current Administration, the US population would not be as bitterly divided as it is today.
These are facts. Yes, the Googles of the world collect info on us. Yes, they use it to influence purchasing decisions. But, no, it's not as dangerous as the country with the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet. Russia is now engaged in the largest European land war since WWII because they want to invade and control Eastern Europe. Despite this Trump Administration's dubious relationship with Russia which favors the Kremlin, this is still a very real threat.
How very well said. We've lost the second cold war; the Kremlin didn't have to fire a shot; hell, they barely lifted a finger. It's still shocking to me though, that so many Americans are so deeply ignorant, and lack the critical thinking to have resisted the op.
The impact of social media has been the key to this mass ignorance. Once a proclivity towards a particular viewpoint has been identified, the algorithms show you what they determine you want to see. It's powerful.
They tell you to fear Putin, Xi, or Iran — while your own government spies on you, censors you, and sells your data to the highest bidder.
It’s not Kim Jong-un reading your messages — it’s Palantir, Big Tech, and billionaire surveillance partners who track your every click, with the blessing of your elected officials.
While you rage at foreign “dictators,” they build a digital panopticon at home and call it “security.”
Both parties profit — defense contractors, corporate donors, and media mouthpieces — while your rights and paychecks disappear.
Stop letting fear blind you.
Stop aiming your anger outward.
The real threat to democracy isn’t in Moscow or Beijing — it’s right here, watching you type.
Adam Curtis has been on this beat for a while now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pn2z7zp1V0
When nothing is real, everything is possible...:(
Roger Ailes adopted Surkov's strategy at Fox News.
“When the people can be left uncertain by the constant manufacture of crisis, their emotions and behaviors can be managed and directed.” V. Surkov
What Sarkov and Putin did is a perfect parallel to what the Trump Administration has been trying to do going back years: Dominion voting machines stole the 2020 election, Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs, Ukrainians are the aggressors in their own invasion - these are all fantasy narratives that Trump.and MAGA keep.pushing out to justify their policies. Anyone in their right mind should understand Portland is not "war torn" and we don't need The 82nd Airborne to be flown from Bragg to the West Coast, but this constant push against reality convinces some people nonetheless.
I think the bigger question is what is it about the intelligence apparatus, and America’s institutional structure, that has hamstrung an effective fix? As a simple veteran of combat, my sacrifice certainly has tempered my perceptions. I don’t doubt for a moment American intelligence hasn’t seen this. I certainly have seen the manipulation, and I might add, the misuse of intelligence for a particular ethos that has given us 30 years of war; and what that cost really is. So wherein is the rub?
Leland Austin Gagnebin
They are also doing nothing about the Republicon party using the same tactics.
It's really important to read the rest of this in Unger's book, in order to fully understand how Sukhov accomplished this, and not be fooled by president orange face.
May I add that currently, the head of OMB, co-architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought (recently called to the WH by Trump to discuss further purges in the gov), wants full deregulation of the economy, and women without their freedom to choose. Please read his bio. He's a Wheaton (Christian college) graduate, very smart, an evangelical white nationalist who believes that his god in the one true god and any anyone else is "condemned." Of course he gives no definition of what his "condemned" means....and he wrote this in an article that's online, trying to encourage Wheaton to fire a Wheaton professor who stated that we all pray to the same god. Blasphemous according to Vought.
Bernie Sanders indicated in Senate testimony, Vought is unfit to be in government (I believe that was during Trump admin 1.0). Vought also lies, like the rest of the Trump admin. stating that the bulk of Biden's Infrastructure Project was for DEI, and not infrastructure.
Great Christian values....just as in the days of The Crusades, and the Spanish Inquistion these people have no qualms about lying, killing, and defaming people to achieve their goals. That tells you enough.
Thank Mr. Unger!
Yes, I get all this, and we're aware who stay aware; what I am trying to understand is how have so many people been so easily fooled?
It's taken a long time - Russia has been pumping propaganda into the US through social media for 15 years. The Alt Right media has been pushing the same grievances and manufactured crises. I think it has been a big psy-op that has slowly taken root.
And Russia has an ally in Murdoch, who has brainwashed the American right into angry cynics who hate every traditional ideal of their country and believe in nothing at all. He created fertile ground for Russian influence.
It's a symbiotic relationship. The conspiracy theories keep Fox's audience watching and complaining, and Russia benefits from the division. This is why Russia has injected so much propaganda into our system via Alt-Right accounts on social media. Murdoch doesn't care if it hurts the US...he's making money. He only loses when the Fox hosts cross the line like they did after the 2020 election and had to cough up $700 million.
They point you to monsters abroad—Putin, Xi, the nuclear bogeyman—while the real coup is happening in your pocket. It’s not some foreign agent sifting through your texts; it’s the Silicon Valley cartel and their government handlers, mining your life for profit and power.
You’re told to fear the dictator overseas while you willingly fund the one being built here. They’ve constructed a digital cage, brick by brick, with every click you make, every word you search, every private message you send. They call it "national security," but it's a protection racket. The state and corporation have merged into a single entity, and you are not the citizen—you are the product and the suspect.
This isn't a conspiracy. It's a business model. Defense contractors get richer, politicians get quieter, and media puppets chant the same old fear-mongering hymns. Your paycheck shrinks, your rights evaporate, and you're left arguing about which side of the aisle is better at selling you out.
Stop. Stop staring at the shadows on the wall. The real threat to your liberty isn't on some Kremlin monitor or in Bejing. It’s tracking your location, logging your keystrokes, and reading this right now from its headquarters in DC/Langley and Silicone Valley.
You state legitimate concerns, but the threats from Russia are real. The Russian propaganda circulating the social media world has had a divisive impact on American society without question. It is fair to state that, without that Russian-backed influence that is being bolstered by the current Administration, the US population would not be as bitterly divided as it is today.
These are facts. Yes, the Googles of the world collect info on us. Yes, they use it to influence purchasing decisions. But, no, it's not as dangerous as the country with the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet. Russia is now engaged in the largest European land war since WWII because they want to invade and control Eastern Europe. Despite this Trump Administration's dubious relationship with Russia which favors the Kremlin, this is still a very real threat.
Since the 1920's? Whenever they got together at Madison sq garden? Maybe since then, heck, I read even hitler had says in the white house?
S p y s
How very well said. We've lost the second cold war; the Kremlin didn't have to fire a shot; hell, they barely lifted a finger. It's still shocking to me though, that so many Americans are so deeply ignorant, and lack the critical thinking to have resisted the op.
The impact of social media has been the key to this mass ignorance. Once a proclivity towards a particular viewpoint has been identified, the algorithms show you what they determine you want to see. It's powerful.
Is Surkov still in prison for embezzlement?
It's been reported that he was put under house arrest in 2022. I do not know whether or not that is still the case.
We may never know. He may have fallen out a window by now, with all the purges going on. The inescapable paranoia of murderous dictators.
⚠️ The Real Enemy Isn’t Abroad — It’s Here
Your misplaced outrage keeps the system alive.
They tell you to fear Putin, Xi, or Iran — while your own government spies on you, censors you, and sells your data to the highest bidder.
It’s not Kim Jong-un reading your messages — it’s Palantir, Big Tech, and billionaire surveillance partners who track your every click, with the blessing of your elected officials.
While you rage at foreign “dictators,” they build a digital panopticon at home and call it “security.”
Both parties profit — defense contractors, corporate donors, and media mouthpieces — while your rights and paychecks disappear.
Stop letting fear blind you.
Stop aiming your anger outward.
The real threat to democracy isn’t in Moscow or Beijing — it’s right here, watching you type.