La Russophobe Uncovered? Published August 13th, 2008
The neoconservatives in Washington, DC have gotten the result they so desperately wanted. Russia is now the enemy again, NATO is needed more than ever, insane military spending can be justified, and…. oh, we almost forgot, American is still fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Note: sarcasm)
I have to be honest, I don’t really know that much about the neocons. Sure, I’d read all the normal articles and vaguely knew the names (Wolfowitz, Podhoretz, Chaney, Pipes etc.) but I kind of dismissed them as kooks. My bad! Dumb move by me. These guys actually run our country.
Talking to a neoconservative is a bit like trying to convince a Fundamentalist Christian to invite you, an Secular Agnostic, over for Easter dinner. There are all these litmus tests. “You’re either with us or against us.” “America is the greatest country on earth!” …. and on and on. I guess I’m going hungry.
Most of their agenda is out there for all to see on the public stage. But there’s apparently a lot going on behind the scenes as well and perhaps, it’s those “unknown unknowns” which pose the greatest danger to our safety.
In the past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about this fairly recent phenomenon called “Russophobia.” I’m sorry but every time I turn on CNN or read the NYC I’m confronted with it. Most of you probably didn’t even know that there’s a small cadre of folks out there in internet land spewing forth day in and day out anti-Russian sentiments. They are the Russophobe Army.
I now believe that there may be a direct connection between this Russophobia and the neoconservative agenda. Specifically, I think that the presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain’s top foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, and his “perception management” firm, Orion Strategies may be the creator and writer behind the anti-Russian “hate blog” called La Russophobe. (Please note: in the supposedly press restricted Russia I can still always access the URL for LaR).
For anyone who has been following Russia for more than a year it would be impossible not to have either read the blog, itself, and the vitriolic comments spewed all over the english language Russia-watcher blogosphere.
Most people simply dismiss La Russophobe as a crack-pot blog. But that’s a big mistake. The La Russophobe blog has been diligently laying the groundwork for the recent surge in anti-Russian sentiment with regard to Georgia.
Click here to read interview with LaR.
Remember, Randy Scheunemann, has worked directly with President Saakashvili and was hired to convince to decision makers in the West to accept Georgia, and also Ukraine, into NATO. Scheunemann has also had numerous clients in the arms industry who benefit directly when a new NATO member is admitted through the sale of new weapons systems.
If you spend some time Googling terms like “La Russophobe John McCain” or “La Russophobe Georgia” you will see numerous articles supporting both.
You all know now just how much Georgia and Saakashvili hate Russia (the feelings mutual by the way). Kind of obvious, no? The blog La Russophobe also hates Russia…. with almost the same intensity.
We know pretty definitively that one of the major tools in the so-called Color Revolutions was the use of the internet and media to shape public opinion (i.e. perception management). We know that the neocons were squarely behind these color revolutions. They had some success and they learned a lot.
It’s my guess that Saakashvili and his guys have hired Randy Scheunemann to shape Western public perception with respect to Russia and how it is regressing back into its Soviet self and how it is such a huge threat to “happy little” Georgia.
The end game of course is to get georgia and Ukraine in NATO.
If I’m correct and John McCain’s Senior Foreign Policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, is behind this “hate blog” then it sheds a whole new light on the recent South Ossetian conflict and America’s ability to be an honest broker. Talk about a conflict of interest.
John McCain, like GW Bush, before him, is not an intellectual guy. Hell, he still calls the Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia. Not a big deal? Don’t tell the Czechs that before you stick the missile shield on their land.
Therefore, McCain is the perfect Presidential choice for the neocons. They certainly don’t want a guy who can think for himself. No, they need a guy who would rather watch Olympic beach volleyball than a real leader. McCain’s their guy.
Compare McCain’s statement on Georgia and his previous calls to eject Russia from the G8 with La Russophobe positions on Russia and Georgia. It’s as if they’ve got the same writers. Perhaps they do?
La Russophobe was started in April 2006. I would be interested to see how that coincides with Orion Strategies consulting contract with Georgia.
There’s enough danger in the world without the neocons going around trying to provoke the Russians. The Russians are more concerned with rebuilding their own country than they are in conquering other ones.
Didn’t we learn anything from the Iraq War and the way it was sold to us. Would it make any difference to you if I told you Randy Scheunemann’s company worked hand in glove with Chalabi and he was one of the main “perception managers” working with Chaney and the other neocons.
In the Iraq War, the truth of WMD, was secondary. In this conflict between Russia and Georgia the truth has been hiding behind the media blitz organized by Saakashvili and his primary consultant, Randy Scheunemann.
If you are happy with a perpetual state of war in the United States, then go ahead and vote for McCain. If you wish you had your fun-loving, dynamic, open, honest, and secular America back, then Obama’s probably your guy.
Either way, next time you see something on TV concerning Russia, ask yourself, is this reality or just the reality some neocon wants me to believe. Farfetched? 3 words, WMD.
Take another look at Russia, you might just be surprised to find that its more of the solution than the problem to many of the issues facing our world.
Here’s the link to a Google search for Randy Scheunemann.
Poster Comment:
I invented a term to describe the state of the USA - the type of political system the USA has evolved into. We all know what a totalitarian and authoritarian system is but the USA is a new system which I am calling the 'manipulatarian' in that the people of the state are not made to conform to the programs of the state through force (totalitarian and authoritarian) but tricked/coerced to follow the state's programs - that is 'manipulatarian'.
The American 'manipulatarian' system not only creates news organs to push its line but co-opts other news and media sources to plant false stories like the New York Times' Judith Miller who was used to place stories about Iraq's WMD which then were used by the Bush administration's spokesmen as 'independent' evidence that backed their assertions about Iraq - when they themselves planted the stories.
This is not a Bush only story - the Clinton era people did it and this system evolved during the Cold War. Whoever become president of the USA will continue the 'manipulatarian' system because it works.
This article I posted points to more evidence of my thesis that the USA is indeed a 'manipulatarian' system.