Four words from my brother that breaks my heart.

[Cartoonist]

I stand with Russia.

He changed his Facebook photo to the Russian flag, and his profile picture to the Russian coat of arms.

He used to be a liberal. He was a Bernie supporter who felt that Hillary cheated. He didn't vote for Trump, but he's gone full Q since.

[andym]

1. Seems Qanon is under at least some Russian influence. Good to know NT.

[lagomorph777]

10. I always assumed Q came from Russia.

[Hokie]

2. Good lord, that's awful

You have my sympathies. I think this pro-Russia perversion was definitely fomented by Trump.

[PirateRo]

3. Seems to me historically neutral Switzerland finally picking a side says it all.

Sorry to hear about your brother.

[Quakerfriend]

4. I'm so sorry cartoonist

It’s truly amazing how some are so susceptible to the propaganda, isn’t it?

[Bettie]

5. I'm sorry, I have a friend like that

Jimmy Dore seems to be his only information source and he's all on the "Putin is right, Ukrainians are nazis" train.

[FM123]

6. I am so sorry, heartbreaking indeed.

[notinkansas]

7. That's quite a turnaround. My sincere sympathy. Kind of reminiscient of

the Civil War era - brother against brother.

[Meowmee]

8. Terrible news

So sorry

[Tetrachloride]

9. I have not yet met a Trump or Russia supporter in my family

I am sorry for your experience.

[Phoenix61]

11. I'm so sorry. I haven't spoken to mine in years.

He went hard-right, born again Christian, Trumpster.

[Ohio Joe]

13. I feel ya...

One of my brothers is a full on magat. It really is shocking at how much of a crazy person he has become.

[Nevilledog]

15. He's lost his way.

[elias7]

16. And he thinks he's pwning the libs, maybe even you personally

My brother may be doing the same. I don’t feel like reaching out at the moment

[boston bean]

17. These types are out there.

[mainer]

18. Anti-vaxxers are going pro-Putin in Holland

There seems to be a great deal of alignment between the two movements. Russia's disinformation campaigns have created zombie stupids around the world.

[blm]

19. Q Qrazies are full-on Putin worshippers

[betsuni]

20. Steve Almond, in his "Bad Stories," tell about an early-twenties friend who, like him, was

a Bernie supporter. Almond was impressed by his political engagement and how he talked about economic injustice, but his rhetoric changed, began linking to anti-Clinton pieces from strange websites. Almond first thought this was some sort of unconscious resentment toward the guy's mother, a Clinton supporter, with whom he still lived. But no, another victim of Russian agitprop designed to appeal to Bernie supporters. It was never about policy or reality, goal is distrust and cynicism, false equivalence breeding apathy and depressing turnout.

"The Russians made a calculated bet that a guy like Jon, if sufficiently goaded, would shift from an agenda driven by progressive goals to one driven by animus toward Clinton. ... He also participated in group chats ... Here, too, his logic was tough to follow. 'This country can't survive another Clinton presidency,' he wrote to his chat group, who all happened to be female Clinton supporters. 'Clinton will lead us into war. She'll create a corporatist controlled police state.' When another member of the group asked him about the dangers of electing Trump, he replied, 'Why are you stuck on fear mongering?' ... 'A vote for hillary is a vote for trump,' Jon wrote a few weeks before the election, which is how you know he isn't a person of color, or a Muslim, or an immigrant.

"I don't know if Jon visited these [Trump] sites. I only know that he spent hours upon hours online, absorbing agitprop aimed at him, and that he turned away from from issues of economic uplift and committed himself, with increasing vigor, to trashing Clinton and agitating her voters. This is why he felt elation at the election result: it had served as a final rebuke to his mother and all those other Hillary **** too dumb to recognize the folly of genuine political belief. Over the course of a single campaign, his immersion into internet culture had transformed him from an American idealist into a Russian bot."

[renate]

21. wow... that's so delusional

I'm truly sorry.

What are his friends posting in response? Are all of them pro-Putin, or is there a chance he could snap out of it?

[Samrob]

22. Drugs, maybe??? Sorry for your loss. I have two in my family...dead to me. nt