CitizenBBN
07-25-2018, 06:59 PM
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-china-built-an-army-of-influence-agents-in-the-us
While everyone is going nuts about Russia spending relatively small sums (they aren't that well off financially) on things like Facebook bots, let's look at REAL hard core, long term, well financed foreign influence on US policy by a foreign and antagonistic Communist nation.
This is why I laugh about the Trump hysteria. Long ago Murray Weidenbaum and others really opened my eyes to the reality of how politics works, and just how deep the swamp goes. There's absolutely nothing the media is going nuts about that even comes close to touching the level of the real and serious corruptions that are going on in our nation's halls of power. Not even close.
the real corruption you don't see. What we are presented is the stuff for our consumption b/c it makes it look like we're periodically ferreting out wrongdoing, giving the rest of the government's activities the appearance of impartial objectivity and good clean operation.
At the level of staff work that's true, we have a very professional civil service. One of if not the finest in the world.
But at the level of political appointments and elected officials and their staffs and their lobbyists and donors, the people writing the laws that civil service implements, is a cesspool of activity by everyone with an interest, and due to our size and power and influence those interested parties include every meaningful nation on Earth.
Good article on how the Chinese are doing things to influence policy here, and IMO showing us who the real threats are to our power and influence. It isn't Russia, which is simply not capable of financing or organizing a large scale threat. The threat is China, which can absolutely muster the necessary resources to be a problem long term.
While everyone is going nuts about Russia spending relatively small sums (they aren't that well off financially) on things like Facebook bots, let's look at REAL hard core, long term, well financed foreign influence on US policy by a foreign and antagonistic Communist nation.
This is why I laugh about the Trump hysteria. Long ago Murray Weidenbaum and others really opened my eyes to the reality of how politics works, and just how deep the swamp goes. There's absolutely nothing the media is going nuts about that even comes close to touching the level of the real and serious corruptions that are going on in our nation's halls of power. Not even close.
the real corruption you don't see. What we are presented is the stuff for our consumption b/c it makes it look like we're periodically ferreting out wrongdoing, giving the rest of the government's activities the appearance of impartial objectivity and good clean operation.
At the level of staff work that's true, we have a very professional civil service. One of if not the finest in the world.
But at the level of political appointments and elected officials and their staffs and their lobbyists and donors, the people writing the laws that civil service implements, is a cesspool of activity by everyone with an interest, and due to our size and power and influence those interested parties include every meaningful nation on Earth.
Good article on how the Chinese are doing things to influence policy here, and IMO showing us who the real threats are to our power and influence. It isn't Russia, which is simply not capable of financing or organizing a large scale threat. The threat is China, which can absolutely muster the necessary resources to be a problem long term.