Ladies and gentlemen, Russian interference in the Original America, resulting in the stolen 2016 election and installation of Kremlin puppet Trump, was and continues to be so pervasive that we are unaware of it--even as we are being manipulated by it. Russian propoganda techniques have been adopted so extensively that they have changed the nature of forensic discourse in America 2.0, as here.
Kristol surely knows all of that is "whataboutism," which is...
...Then why does Kristol not call it what it is?
It turns out that of all the Buts in the Trump apologists' Land of But, the most durable, the most reliable, is:
But...the media.
Kristol surely knows all of that is "whataboutism," which is...
Whataboutism is a propaganda technique formerly used by the Soviet Union in its dealings with the Western world, and subsequently used as a form of propaganda in post-Soviet Russia. When criticisms were leveled at the Soviet Union, the Soviet response would be "What about..." followed by an event in the Western world.[6][7][8]
...
The tactic saw a resurgence in post-Soviet Russia, relating to human rights violations committed by, and criticisms of, the Russian government.[6][12][13] The technique received new attention during Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Ukraine.[14][15] Usage of the tactic extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.[16][17][18]
The Guardian deemed whataboutism, as used in Russia, "practically a national ideology".[19] Journalist Julia Ioffe wrote that "Anyone who has ever studied the Soviet Union" was aware of the technique, citing the Soviet rejoinder to criticism, And you are lynching Negroes, as a "classic" example of the tactic.[20]
