[kogepathic]

> Twitter better hope it has its story straight (and the paper shredders working overtime) because this looks to me like Putin's minions have been ordered to go right for Twitter's jugular.

But for what purpose/to what end?

Bringing Twitter down would remove Trump's favourite method of communication.

Or is this retribution for Trump not being the Manchurian candidate/lap dog Putin wanted? If that were the case, I would expect Russia to expose whatever they're holding over Trump (peepee tape?) to get him ousted.

Trump already won the election, so taking out Twitter would only serve to reduce their ability to influence future elections.

I'm not denying this looks fantastically bad for Twitter, but the aim of taking down Twitter isn't clear to me. There has to be a net positive to taking down Twitter, but what is it?

[pavlov]

But for what purpose/to what end?

Putin primarily wants to sow chaos in the American political class. It's not that he necessarily expected Trump to do his bidding -- the embarrassment and distraction created in Washington by a Trump presidency has been reward enough.

China and Russia have been telling their citizens for a decade that democracy is fickle and easily manipulated. With Trump, they have a textbook case in favor of their argument. Exposing Twitter fits in that narrative.

[cat199]

> Or is this retribution for Trump not being the Manchurian candidate/lap dog Putin wanted? If that were the case, I would expect Russia to expose whatever they're holding over Trump (peepee tape?) to get him ousted

seriously?

if anyone is taking that level of master/puppet game seriously they probably need to watch as many non-us media sources as they can..

news flash:

not everyone agrees with US global neoliberal policy! you don't necissarily need to have some shadowy organization behind those people deciding for themselves to express themselves, organize, etc.

[kogepathic]

> seriously?

Well, no, the peepee tape part is tongue and cheek.

However I doubt it would be difficult to dig up dirt on Trump. I don't think it's beyond Russia's ability to dig up incriminating financials on Trump/Trump Org. We are talking about a candidate who has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns.

[BerislavLopac]

They don't want to take it out -- they just want to show it that they can. Just like piggate.