Russian Interference In Elections - Monkey Dont Look, Monkey Dont See

[Peter Pedant]

Monkey here is Boris by the way
a great white monkey (*)

Interference in the 2016 election was not detected as there was a failure to look. even under prodding - I seem to remember people were saying Putin wd try to interfere

erm and a question to Abers - what do you think

(*) the white monkey is a book by Galsworthy as anyone conversant with the Forsyte Sage 1967 (Beeb) will confirm

[Ellipsis]

1) Consider the Brexit referendum
2) For the purposes of this exercise, suppose you voted for "Leave", and "Remain" had won by a margin of 51:49
3) Then suppose that you discovered that the Russians had influenced the vote towards Remain, that the UK government had known that they could but had not done much to measure or prevent it at the time, and that even now they still were not prepared to investigate it

Would it bother you? Would you be clamouring for another vote?

[ProfessorMaisie]

Ellipsis - there was a veritable avalanche of propaganda on the Remain side - from the Gov't of the day, all of the major political parties, all of 'our' broadcasters, most of 'our' press - and then 99% of the 'celebs' stuck their oars in. If the Russians managed a tiny trickle in the opposite direction I'd say - 'Thank The Lord' for that!

[ProfessorMaisie]

...and yet, according to this report - They Didn't Influence The Vote - so there's not much point getting into hypothetical questions on that subject.

[ichkeria]

The report doesn’t say that.
It actually calls for an enquiry, but only to establish the extent of interference not to actually question the result. Fussing about the referendum now is pointless - on either side.
Arron Banks wanted to see the report in advance (!)

[Atheist]

Prof; you seem to be dismissing the views of British people as 'propaganda' and saying that you are happy that the Russians tried to influence our British referendum. Do you call yourself a patriot?

[DTCwordfan]

anagram of 'Boris and one Valdimir Putin' = 'Improvisational, bid, run (and) end.......'

[Peter Pedant]

in terms of clarity
abrasive maisie - reminds me or me

we were talking about russian interference in various events and he wonders if there were an election in 2016
because - no election ergo no interference

I can understand the argument - possibly a first for AB - but dont much agree with it
for clarity (eek!) there could still be interference even tho no election on the orizon

obviously this argument does not apply to America ( because there will be an election )

[ProfessorMaisie]

All of this spin is to deflect from the proven fact that the SNP's push for Independence was aided and abetted by Russia, for their mutual benefit - the weakening of the UK.
And I forgot to mention the other avalanche of Remain propaganda pouring in from the other side - the EU. It's a miracle we managed to keep our heads and not go under.

[Peter Pedant]

// saying that you are happy that the Russians tried to influence our British referendum.// and so it cant be interference

yeah I got that bit

give em hell !

[ProfessorMaisie]

It would be far easier to just acknowledge you made a mistake and move on.
I did (by getting involved in this nonsense in the first place) and now I'll move on.

[ichkeria]

Interference in either referendum just two sides of the same coin. The Scottish attempt failed anyway and the SNP have a prominent member on the committee who is not afraid to front up
on the unwanted “help” his side got from Russia.
They even chose Edinburgh beforehand as base for their Mickey Mouse propaganda station.
Make sure you reserve your ire for Russia: otherwise you are going their job.

[ichkeria]

Oh, they’ve gone it seems :-)

[ProfessorMaisie]

...but first I'll try to answer another of Atheist's questions -

I do not think that everyone who is born in this country is a patriot.
It was the State not the people who were pushing the propaganda - the majority of the people saw through that.
'Patriotism is the last refuge...' (you know the rest) but I like, and I care about, my country.

[ProfessorMaisie]

They were back (briefly) but they've gone now.

[Peter Pedant]

he goes ! he comes back for another bite!
contributio interruptus

by going finally it shows conclusively that there was no interference - thanks anyway Maisie, thanks for the input

[Atheist]

Prof; how do you define 'patriot'? Is it just people who agree with you?

[Theland]

How does influence work?

[Ellipsis]

> ...and yet, according to this report - They Didn't Influence The Vote

If you can't interpret the plain words in the report, we have no hope of debating it.

It seems that as long as you got the outcome you wanted, the fact that the Russians influenced the outcome is not a problem.

> All of this spin is to deflect from the proven fact that the SNP's push for Independence was aided and abetted by Russia, for their mutual benefit - the weakening of the UK.

Quite happy to debate that too. The implication being that the SNP would have lost by even more if the Russians hadn't tried.

> How does influence work?

For example ... the Russians buy Facebook ads that use lies and deception to convince you to vote one way rather than another. These Facebook ads are not seen by most people, are not fact-checked and are not evaluated against political advertising rules.

[gulliver1]

How do these wealthy Russians coming to live in the UK , Launder their money. Do they just donate it to the Cons and they launder it for them ?.

[Peter Pedant]

ah yes the London laundromat

sit thro the whole of the series aclled Ozarks - and remember the tax man must take his cut !

you want a cash activity that money goes in and er clean profit comes out and cash machines are a way of doing it

students are paid to hire their cash accounts for this - and get a black mark for the rest of their lives - ooer mrs

russian oligarchs I think they import their filty roubles and so one transaction - like buy an expensive West Ken House and then sell it on - er voila the ,oney is now clean - and um that is two transactions

any landlords out there? you have to make sure you rent money is not supplied from just a little penny from selling on drugs as that is clearly money laundering - the rules are strict for us mortals