Why Were Conservatives at CPAC Waving Russian Flags Emblazoned With Trump’s Name?
Conservatives Helping to Make Russia Great Again
Some conservatives at CPAC were waving “Trump” flags that just happened to also be Russian flags. Was this the work of a prankster or is there a more sinister plot here?Â
Someone handed out Trump Russian flags on the #CPAC2017 floor before Trump’s speech pic.twitter.com/uf1ADMt6ZL
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 24, 2017
Flags just distributed at CPac. Russia anyone? pic.twitter.com/7SQ5N2U3ZO
— Kylie Morris (@C4KylieM) February 24, 2017
#CPAC2017 They are handing out Russian flags that say #Trump. This is either A)the stupidest thing ever or B)the greatest troll of all time. pic.twitter.com/avXV4nJYl8
— Casey (@CaseyLind) February 24, 2017
Since no one seems to know who handed them out, and they were quickly collected once the mistake (?) was realized, it’s likely someone was trolling CPAC.Â
Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them. pic.twitter.com/YhPpkwFCNc
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 24, 2017
Organizers confiscated the flags and said anyone who was caught holding one would be thrown out 🇷🇺 #CPAC2017
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 24, 2017
Organizers confiscating the flags and threatening anyone caught holding one 🇷🇺 https://t.co/swfMYsYCKu #CPAC2017 pic.twitter.com/PCYfBCi3d3
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 24, 2017
But there’s a bigger story here, and it echoes Russia’s intervention into the U.S. election.
Russia didn’t hack voting machines, they didn’t hack the election. Russia hacked Americans. Americans who were too stupid – or too willing or too lazy or too misogynistic or too partisan – to quesion fake news stories, and believed the falsehoods they were fed on social media, and voted for Trump as a result.
(No, not everyone who voted for Trump is stupid. Some have legitimate reasons that entirely contradict the worldview of many if not most Americans, but that doesn’t make them stupid. Trump, nevertheless, is still dangerous.)
Americans who thought Jill Stein was their savior, despite her presence, with Michael Flynn, at Putin’s party for RT, his Russian propaganda news network. Americans who stubbornly gave credibility to RT by working for or allowing their shows to be aired on the propaganda machine that whitewashes Putin’s atrocities.Â
Russia hacked your neighbors. They hacked your friends. Maybe even your family members. They employed operatives whose only job was to mange large portfolios of fake social media profiles and bots, and “befriend” people online, then feed them lies that altered their perception. And those actual people told their friends, and that’s how we got Trump.
Many believe they hacked, long ago, the man who became the President of the United States. Remember the stories months before the election that said Trump was highly susceptible to Putin, and may even unwittingly be a Russian puppet?
Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell in August of last year wrote, “In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.”
Wave those flags, unwittingly, conservatives.Â
Because prank or not, your ignorance, your blind acceptance of what you’re told by those whose job is to deceive you, is helping to make Russia great again. And it will be the downfall of America.
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.
Image by Peter Hamby/Twitter
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.