Who is the viral American celebrating Russia's invasion? Now we know

[turbinetree]

By Sarah K. Burris
Published March 03, 2022

?id=29467836&width=800&height=450

A video went viral this week of a man in a black leather jacket and army-green cap, with a thick southern accent and a convoy of Russian tanks behind him. The video shows he's clearly all-in for Russia, parroting propaganda that they were there to "liberate" Ukraine. He even used the Putin line that they were somehow fighting "Nazis" in Ukraine.

Rolling Stone found out that the man's name is Russell “Texas” Bentley, and he farms cannabis in the United States.

“These guys are tough. These guys are ready. And there’s plenty of ‘em,” Bentley says in the video. “We’re gettin’ ready to bring the hammer down. These guys are going to save and liberate all the good people of Ukraine. And the bad people? BOOM! Kick their ass.”

https://www.rawstory.com/ukraine-american-russian-tanks/

What a .......

[Caliman73]

1. When you consume propaganda, you lose critical thinking, and perspective.

Ever since the coordination of right wing talking points began in the 1990's and solidified, the problem with extremism has grown.

We have always had extremism, but it was typically relegated to the fringes of society. Because of the spread of right wing radio, television, and internet, you have a whole bunch of people down the "rabbit hole" who never see the light of day. They are the ones who think that Russia is stopping the Ukrainian "pedophile ring" set up by Hillary Clinton to help something something Hunter Biden.

Either that or they are just White Supremacists who enjoy the idea that Russia is trying to impose an ethno-state.

[turbinetree]

3. I think the latter to justify there sick means...

[Caliman73]

6. I don't think that it is either or...

I agree, especially with the "leadership" or higher ups within the conservative and right wing movements. They definitely use the propaganda to move followers.

I do think however, that many people fall down the rabbit hole. They may have some inclination toward a particular ideology, but are typically not involved as deeply as to do with this guy did, or to attack the US Capitol to try to disrupt an election. You need a level of radicalization to participate in those actions that requires more than just the passive, Capitalist, somewhat conservative messaging we get through mainstream media. To believe in what many of these guys end up believing in requires active feeding of disinformation.

[turbinetree]

9. I agree...

I am reading a book By Barbara F. Water "How Civil War Starts on this very subject matter...on how the media platforms have changed everything .......when at one time the public went to a newspaper or TV news broadcast to get the information that was backed by credible people, now, people can be directed to go anywhere where the platform "thinks is your interest....this is really scary....

[Caliman73]

13. Yep. AI and algorithms.

I typically watch CNN to MSNBC, to further left leaning commentary on You Tube, but every now and again I will get right wing outlets on my feed. Because I know many of the players in right wing media, I can discount them, but a lot of people don't recognize it and can get started down a path.

The "Democratization" of media has been both hailed and lamented. We don't want our media "forced" upon us by people who "know better" but at the same time so many people lack the critical thinking skills, the ability to determine source information, and the ability to judge bias and reputability, that we have a bunch of crap floating around masquerading as "news".

I was having an argument with a right winger about medical issues and was using the Journal Of British Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and other well regarded medical journals, and this guy would fire back with internet whackos pushing colloidal silver "because the 'establishment' doesn't want you to know" types.

[turbinetree]

16. I just typed in what you said about Colloidal Silver and I never heard / read that

and after just reading the first thread message it says its dangerous from the NIH this is just amazing .
I just can't wrap my head around the fact that people that where given vaccine shots when they were younger and because their parents was given information based on simple facts being presented by reputable outlets being made, and they made the determination of doing what they had to do to keep their kid alive, and some how some where this logic just gets thrown out the window.

I was just thinking about the terms of service on platforms, some adhere to the facts but others just want the greed.

[Cha]

2. Stupid Asshole Russell Brainwashed

Horror Show Bentley

[Scrivener7]

4. To complete your last line: What a ....... typical MAGAT.

[DuaneT]

5. I just read some articles on this guy and he is a leftist and was living in Austin,Tx

He supposedly was in the military at one time.

[Brainfodder]

10. Especially when they are under 30 posts?

[canuckledragger]

8. Sure Jan....

[Caliman73]

11. Regardless. Whether extreme right or extreme left, propaganda will rot your brain.

I may even agree about imperialism, including the economic imperialism practiced by the US. Vietnam was absolutely a bad war. The Vietnamese had been trying to repel invaders for almost a 1000 years. They fought the Chinese right after we left. Then they invaded Cambodia to kick out the Khmer Rouge who were slaughtering their own.

I wouldn't hitch my wagon to Putin and Russia though. That is just stupid.

This isn't Che Guevara trying to kick out the Mob backed Bautista regime out of Cuba. This is another Imperialist (literally, he wants to re-establish the Russian Empire) going after a weaker neighbor.

Putin says "Nazi" because it triggers certain people. He means "anti-Russian" anyone who opposes Russian expansion is a Nazi to Putin. That guy needs to stop smoking weed and listening to Russian propaganda.

[struggle4progress]

14. ... he'd been an Army engineer based in Germany, a hard-partying musician in South Padre,

a marijuana legalization activist in Minnesota and Alaska, and a drug trafficker on the run from the U.S. Marshals. In the early nineties, he’d even vied for a seat in the U.S. Senate ...

He’d been drawn into the conflict while tapping away at his laptop in early 2014 ... Bentley immersed himself in Russian media sources that blamed the war on “U.S.-backed Nazis.” He imagined the struggle as something akin to the Spanish Civil War ... He began fantasizing about banding together with like-minded freedom fighters against so-called “Ukrainian fascism,” and months later he started planning his journey to Donetsk.

He arrived in early December 2014, and .. found a militia group .. accepting foreign fighters ... Alexander Khodakovsky .. who has since been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department “for being responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine” ...

... “I’ve seen a lot of death and destruction. And I know that every person that’s been killed, every house that’s been burned, every bullet hole in every fence, every hungry dog, all the troubles of this war are because of the decisions of the United States and the influence of the United States,” he said, expertly peddling the Kremlin’s narrative ...

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/son-wealthy-businessman-foot-soldier-vladimir-putin-russia-hacking/

[Caliman73]

15. That is the rabbit hole that more left leaning people can get caught up in.

Look, the reality is that the US has done a number of bad things in the name of pushing "Democracy", which in actuality is "Capitalism" abroad. We cannot shy away from that.

HOWEVER, you do not hitch your wagon to Putin, who is basically the head of a Mob State. He is the Don and he has ambitions that are every bit as Imperialist as what he says the United States is.

What the fuck do you call invading and meddling in countries that may have at one time, been politically linked to your country, that was dissolved after it collapsed, and are now independent states? That is Imperialism. One of the things that started WWI in 1914 was German Imperialism. Was British, French, Russian, and American Imperialism okay? NO but Germany wanted in and started causing problems creating the tensions that lead to the war.

We can call out things that the United States is doing wrong without siding with a country that is corrupt, and is only limited in its scope by the failure of its leaders to invest in its own infrastructure and which preys upon its neighbors.

[Wingus Dingus]

17. Wishing him all the worst.