A pair of compounds, one in Maryland’s Queen Annes County and the other in Long Island, New York, have become part of the Obama Administration’s anti-Russia sanctions today, with announcements that Russia is being “expelled” from both sites, which were legally purchased decades ago.
Before long there was a flurry of speculation about the nefarious deeds the Russians were up to at both sites, a pair of fancy country houses purchased by the Soviet Union long ago as a place for their diplomats to get away from the bustle of DC and New York City, respectively.
Despite no evidence the sites were ever used as “spy bases,” that’s how they’ve long been presented in the media, if for no other reason than that’s what Russians do. The Maryland compound, bought in 1972, immediately fueled fears of Soviet submarines in the Chester River.
This was all quickly forgotten, even if the local government kept complaining that foreign governments don’t pay property taxes. The sites saw plenty of diplomats coming and going, treaty as a “summer house” for visiting Russian dignities, and with the fall of the Soviet Union, the presence of a Russian Federation diplomatic site wasn’t nearly such a big deal.
With a new Cold War, there is a new generation of people eager to believe the worse, and not too worried about evidence. The administration thus sold the sites as “spy compounds,” while local whispers of “lavish vodka parties” fit neatly into the new narrative of the spoiled rich Russian bureaucrat, just as the fear of Soviet submarines in the river did in the early 70’s.
SOMEBODY is interested in fueling the Russiophobia. Obama is just a vessel.
War begins with lies and the USA along with Israel, are the greatest of liars
Joseph Goebbels was right when he said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. For the past many decades I have watched our (US) Government repeatedly use exactly the same propaganda tactics against non-submissive foreign governments which our Government wishes to destabilize, replace and/or violently overthrow: first personify the offending government (Russia is Putin); next defame and dehumanize the offending government (Putin is a monstrous, murderous thug); then blame every problem our Government has with the offending government or other related offending governments upon the offending government (Putin is murdering thousands of innocent Syrian civilians and “freedom fighters” [most of whom happen to be ISIS and Al Qaeda]); and then prepare our citizenry for war against the offending government through more frequent and intensified lies about non-existent “threats” from that government (Putin gave hacked Democratic Party documents to Wikileaks for the purpose of destroying our democracy [Wikileaks says that its source of those documents was not Russia]). Think back to US attacks on Cuba (Castro), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh), Panama (Noriega), Nicaragua (Ortega), Iraq (Hussein), Libya (Khaddafi), and you will recognize the same war-promoting propaganda tactics by our Government. And so it goes.
True, but don’t forget the rest of the story. The (USSR) door was kicked in but the whole rotten structure didn’t come tumbling down. Joseph, Magda and the six children ended up dead in the ruins of their capital city.
The idiots in Washington aren’t the first to believe that imagined cultural superiority can overcome hard facts.
Propaganda is a good way to start a war but no guarantee of winning.
Propaganda is such a hard word to spell and say. How about “B.S.” that way us deplorables will “know’s what’s ye is talkin’ ’bout”.