Before I profile more Kremlin Trolls, it’s important to mention that some real people are accused of being pawns of the former KGB operative named Putin. In this mixed up post-millennial world where ideology meets the Twilight Zone, ordinary citizens can and do become agents of change. Such is the case for another of Weisburd’s “top trolls”, Marilyn Justice (aka @mkj1951). So far, I’ve presented a Russia genius, several journalists, a publisher, an Amazon adventurer, and a grandma, so Marilyn’s status as a retired Canadian stock trader turned Twitter warrior should certainly add flavor. Here’s the story of the second of three top Kremlin Trolls from June 2015.
My Journey as a Top Kremlin Troll
by Marilyn Justice
I got involved in all this when the 2014 Olympics were starting. You see, I am a classic stereotype of a Canadian, and of course, Hockey is my favorite game, with ice skating a close second. Since Russia is our classic rival on ice since the ’72 Summit Series, it only made sense for me to be tuned to Sochi.
So it was, I logged on to twitter and began looking for a reporter from one of the main countries to follow, but at the time I didn’t know any Russian reporters or and RT or Sputnik announcers, so I followed the #Sochi hashtag for news. It was then I was stunned by the pure and open hatred of all things Sochi (and Russian) that was so apparent on Twitter and in mainstream media. It blew me away! Canada had just hosted the games in 2010, and we certainly had our problems with being ready on time, and the untimely death of the Georgian luger Nodar cast a shadow over our games too. Even with all the negative aspects of Vancouver though, we still weren’t subjected to all the MSM journalist hatred.
Anyway, it was these same reporters that covered Vancouver tweeting about Ukraine, and the rioting in Kiev (the Maidan), so I was quite confused for some time because of the situation. I don’t remember who I started following first in early days, maybe Marcel Sardo, Gleb Bazov, or perhaps Graham Phillips. I simply do not remember. I only know that figuring out “who was who” took a while and a lot of backtracking, watching videos, hashtags and so forth. I remember the Simon O / Vice videos and his feed — and reading twitter comments from people who didn’t agree. Soon I figured out which twitter feeds agreed with what I was seeing, and then I began following those people. By the time of the referendum in Crimea, I was still stunned at the violence, while at the same time settled on who to trust for information.
Before the Crimea situation, I had found RT and Sputnik, Russia Insider, and a few others. Before these outlets came into my view, I only knew about how the US operated on a dim level, and it has been a steep learning curve for me to fully wake up. The journey has certainly eye opening, especially since I’ve never been to Europe or Russia. It is also interesting that anyone I know now on Twitter is through all of this. On the social and cultural level, I find Russians and Canadians are a lot alike, which is yet another awakening for me.
Returning to the media war and the injustice part, I recall most watching everything unfold, day by day, until the moment MH17 was brought down. At this point, I recalled a book I’d read by Norman Solomon about 8/9 years ago maybe — War Made Easy — how president’s and pundits keep spinning us to death. This, added to the “message” being broadcast, clued me to the reality that the “real life” might become as messy and grotesque as Solomon’s book.
I am not sure what else to tell Phil Butler’s readers, only know that within one month I had figured out (in my mind, anyway) who the ‘good guys’ were and that they were not in Kiev or at the US State Department. I knew this because I watched their briefings every day for a long time and put out a “longtwit” of parts of the transcripts I thought were relevant. Then I switched to just reading the transcripts, instead of watching them lie, as it got too irritating.
At this point, I’m glad Phil Butler is telling our side. I remember when the New York Times writer asked me what I had to say about being named a top Kremlin troll, and how I have him Phil’s name and information. As for the “list”, I also told him that @webradius (Weisburd) was a basement dweller and a peeping Tom or stalker in my opinion. And that’s my story, for what it is worth.
For the reader Marilyn’s recollection must hit a familiar chord when compared to my own or other trolls’ histories. Her Kremlin escapades started with Sochi and unsportsmanlike conduct too. Putin and Russia were the targets, the western leadership might as well have lit up Sochi with laser sights for all to see. A proud nation welcomed the world to a true spectacle, and the new liberals and old warmongers ground their teeth and worked to spoil it, knowing the public would eat up the sarcasm, and nasty jibes, the stupid memes, and the spoiled brat American snowboarders — their gleaming shiny-white orthodontist smiles lighting up every major TV network. I remember pondering, “How could all that I was taught and all that I believed about sportsmanship be trampled like this?” As other Russian converts emerged from their cocoons, so did I. But for some, researchers and informers like The Saker, the conversion started much earlier.
My Dutch associate Holger Eekhof is not labeled in the elite tier of Putin fans like some others. The reason for this is simple and revealing. People passionate about politics and law are not listed among Putin’s Praetorian troll guards for a good reason. Very few of the most notorious ones have political or philosophical backgrounds.
This fact brings us to the first revelation about the pro-Putin media army, the thing each has in common — their voice in media and social media. And the loudest voices for Russia outside RTTV and alternative news sources are — on Facebook and Twitter and on the social web. “We” (most of us) have social media in common, but there is another contingent out there — let’s call them “the political purists.” While you might include The Saker or even me in this category of geopolitical thinkers, the pure political animals argue differently. For one thing, people like Eekhof are more correctly labeled as “trolls” for their immutable sense at searching for argumentation.
I know that in Holger’s case, his first endeavors to try and help change the rhetoric and thinking occurred in the comments sections of Germany’s best “thinking journal” ZEIT. Yes, Eekhof is the quintessential comments troll, a man who would be Putin’s highest paid troll, that is if the Russian president had the world’s finest agitators on the payroll. On ZEIT, and later via Sputnik Germany, Eekhof smashed like bugs scores of so-called NATO trolls with his researcher doggedness.
It’s important for people to understand not just social media, but the two-way conversation that exists underneath 140 characters and a Facebook cat share, the space underneath the messages in those comments sections. Eekhof, while adding to the dialogue about Russia at ZEIT, had no fewer than 14 successive identities. This was due to his handle “The Frenchman” being banned outright each time the argument grew heated. The “passion” for politics in arguments about ideals is strong beneath social media. Holger took some time away from Sputnik the other day to tell us how and why he came to the aid of mother Russia in German social media venues. Here is his brief Kremlin Troll autobiography, translated from the German.