Russian Propagandists behind One Source; Are they behind Both?

   Last month, I lifted my eyebrow when I read a news story saying, "Tweets by Russia-backed accounts such as "America_1st_" . . .
   The story was about how Russian agents on Twitter tried to deflect harmful news about Donald Trump just before the election. But, what caught my eye most was the name of one of the accounts the Russians had used.
   America_1st_.
   I thought back to a blog I had written in August, in which I spoke of a meme with the tagline, @_americafirst, that falsely accused Bill Clinton.
   "Now would be a wonderful time to be able to trace the sources of disinformation, propaganda and misleading memes," I wrote in my blog. I argued that false and misleading memes -- disinformation and propaganda, if you will -- are damaging, and we should want to trace down where they come from. "When the investigation into Russian influence in our election was younger," I wrote, "the Intel Community said much of what was done was but disinformation and propaganda. . . . So, doesn't it follow that a share of the false memes might be coming from the Russians? I think we should at least be wary of that, at least be open to the idea and looking to see if it is true."
   Last month, as I read the news story identifying "America_1st_" as a Russia-backed account, I could not help but notice the similarity to the tagline, "@_americafirst"from the meme I had read back in August, as I at that time wondered if such memes were coming from the Russian propagandists.
   Both "America_1st_" and "@_americafirst" were used for disinformation to either help Trump or hurt the Clintons, which falls in line with the assertion that the Russians helped Trump get elected. Both contain the words "America first" (though spelled differently). Both have underscores in their names.
   One has been identified as originating from the Russian operatives. You tell me if there isn't reason for wondering if the other, which I wondered about in August, isn't also from the Russians.
   The Russians used propaganda and falsehoods to influence the election? And the Mueller investigation is looking into it?  There might be some things that we, as the public, can see for ourselves. We don't need to wait for the Mueller investigation to issue a report.