Letter to the editor: Who would fall for 'Russian meddling'?

Warning! “Experts” report that Vladimir Putin is personally crafting the most hypnotic Facebook ad ever created. If Hillary herself even glances in the ad’s general direction, she will become another Trump zombie.

In reality, though, I find it maddening that the media and politicians use the words “meddling” and “interference” and say the “Russians” are supposedly doing this through social media ads. But we rarely see examples, and there is a good reason for that: The average person would find the ads mostly innocuous or even agreeable. Judge them yourself by searching “social media ads” at Intelligence.house.gov.

My favorite is a photo of a grime-covered coal miner and the caption: “If Hillary wins, I will lose my job.” Clinton publicly said she would “put a lot of coal miners out of business.” Am I a Russian agent if I agree? The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on Russian interference stated that the ads “targeted” African Americans. This strikes me as a racist conclusion. Is the report publicly questioning the intelligence of African Americans?

Russia spent a mere $150,000 on these ads and flipped an election? Mike Bloomberg just spent 5,000 times more than that and flopped in the trash. Could a Facebook ad affect your vote? I think Bloomberg already answered that question.

Dan Shellhammer

Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County