Now piss off.
Chapter I: My Kremlin Bona Fides
“My notion of the KGB came from romantic spy stories. I was a pure and utterly successful product of Soviet patriotic education.”
You’ve probably picked up this book because of the provocative title. Maybe the challenging nature of it spoke to something in you. Or as we say in the business of PR, the title “resonated” with you. One way or another, you are reading what I am writing because you cannot help but want the truth about Russia, the Kremlin, and the new crises. Maybe you want to know more about Vladimir Putin? It could be you need to know for sure if he is just “that” evil. Or if he is just “that” good. You ultimately chose to read this book to help make a bit more sense of an insane world we all live in. As it turns out, we have a lot in common. Our “commonality” is one reason I decided to disclose my real role in working for the Kremlin. Or for the Russians. Or for the truth about Russia. What and who I am working for will become apparent pretty soon. Loyalties aside, my life has led me into contact with people you may have read about, the “Kremlin Trolls”, that army of disruptors who we were told were paid to disrupt democratic societies. What you are about to read is my story, their story, and the story of one of the most remarkable political movements in today’s world. Most reading here will be surprised at what is really going on behind the scenes in this new Cold War. Meanwhile, others among you might feel as vindicated as I, for a genuine effort in supporting the truth.
The cognitive dissonance I am talking about reminds me of something from the Hollywood film A Few Good Men. In the movie, actor Jack Nicholson delivers a memorable and forceful outburst on the witness stand in a military tribunal. In this scene Nicholson, who plays the role of US Marine Colonel Nathan Jessup, undergoes an aggressive cross examination. Fellow actor Tom Cruise, as US Navy JAG lawyer, Lieutenant Kaffe, grills the tough Marine colonel. At the end of Cruise’s (Lieutenant Kaffe’s) gripping questioning, Nicholson (Colonel Jessup) breaks down and bellows: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.” Every time I watch the movie I’m still riveted at the significance of the moment. This reply to the JAG attorney’s badgering is telling, riveting, and indicative of our society’s obtuseness these days. The scene reveals in an instant our unwillingness to face reality. The moment in the film is iconic because it lays bare the mental disconnect truth sometimes forces us to suffer. Now the truth is often obscured for this very reason: it’s just too damned hard to admit.
Now, I hope every reader here can imagine my sudden dismay in realizing that my countrymen are no longer wearing the white hats these days. If you can accept that I am a veteran and a patriot, then you can imagine my surprise at becoming a Putin fanboy too. What’s more, try to visualize my own ideological deconstruction after half a century of programming, and the people I am about to introduce you to are better understood. As shocked as my old friends were shocked to see me in TV interviews on Russian media, most are now in utter dismay over subsequent world events. But before I get ahead of myself here, let me transport you back to the start. Let me show you Phil Butler the journalist back before I put myself in such a controversial position. It’s important for you to know my motivations for joining Vladimir Putin’s side in the information war, to grasp the cool reality of this new Cold War.
The first time I mentioned Vladimir Putin in one of my articles was via our Argophilia Travel News from back in October of 2010. It was then, that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was often mentioned in connection with Russia’s pursuit of closer ties with Europe and the EU. The article I recall was about tourism and free visa regimes Russia sought with the EU. It was a travel report entitled “To Russia With Love”, a story about Mr. Putin coming back from Zurich and Russia’s bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. At the time, my tone toward Putin and Russia was positive-neutral. This was owing to my wife’s being Romanian, and because Argophilia was positioned to tell about Eastern European travel news. Subsequent stories relayed the ongoing news of the time. But an interview later that year with the folks at Welcome to Russia, amplified the Russian government’s efforts to ramp up the country’s tourism. These events were a catalytic variable for me, and it was not long afterward Europe benefited from a massive influx of Russian travelers. So, the stage was set, as I later reported, for a visa-free regime to and from Russia. Underneath the tourism news though, there was an unseen, by me and many others, underpinning to the stories. You may recall that back in 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was in the mix of Russian presidential candidates once again. During this time, he was also pleading with the EU for the aforementioned visa regimen. The regimen Putin sought would have propelled EU-Russia relations to the next positive level. Another story I wrote for Argophilia reflected the nearly desperate positivity Putin and Russia leveled at Brussels and EU nations. Ironically, my story also mentioned an initiative we would later see taking hold. If I may quote myself here, maybe the reader will be fascinated to discover the first translucent glimpse of a Kremlin Troll in the making. This is from Argophilia Travel News on October 5th of 2011:
“With the Russian Federation literally begging the EU to normalize visa restrictions the last couple of years, and Putin being continually stone walled by the EU’s core constituents, it’s no small wonder Russia’s most influential leader turned to new strategies. Whether or not his brandishing of this new plan is grandstanding or not? Well, Putin is not exactly known for bluffing.”
Another interesting footnote became visible searching Argo News’ archives for references to Putin. I mentioned my wife’s influence in suggesting I study more closely Putin and Russia. So, I became all the more fascinated with her input when I ran across a body language article she wrote about Putin’s so-called “gunslinger” arm-swing. I took note of the fact her assessment was some years before Western mainstream media proclaimed he had Alzheimer’s disease. A body language expert since her time with the Romanian Ministry of Defense, my partner was also a military journalist in the late 1990s. Her report on our Everything PR News was but one neutral to positive report of several about the Russian leader. While Putin and Russia were only news for us, it’s interesting to revisit today just how accurate and prophetic some of our analysis was back then.
In 2012 our engagement with Russia involved travel stories mostly. One human interest story set my eye on Sochi and the upcoming Olympics of 2014. A story about the Center for Dolphin Therapy in Russia, which is one of the many venues we’ve become known for publicizing over the years, got me focused on the environmental aspects of the Sochi Games. Some will remember that much of the news from back then was focused on Russia’s development of the games infringing upon the wilderness.
Another facet that got me interested in Sochi was my own study of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and investigating for the serious concerns over a potential environmental catastrophe at that Olympics. Vancouver had its share of PR disasters including the First Nations native American lands controversy. More impactfully though, we reported on our Everything PR News an even more acute PR nightmare, the untimely death of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was tragically killed because of track experts claimed was too fast and deadly.