Agents of Chaos

Just in time for another chaotic and frightening U.S. presidential campaign, Alex Gibney delivers an all-too-timely reminder of how the Russians tried to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election, sow discord and division, and promote Trump. Having established in Part 1 who the Russian saboteurs were (including Russian military intelligence, the GRU), Gibney and his extensive team of investigators focus this two-hour Part 2 episode on what happened in the U.S. Follow the money and the power plays. Watch Trump's sleazy campaign manager Paul Manafort in action, bouncing between Russian oligarchs, the Ukraine, and the world of Trump Inc. It's painful but riveting viewing for any patriotic American.

This is a desperately complex story with multiple threads. It's a more sedate Active Measures, which is no bad thing.

Let's be fair, the full unclassified version of events won't appear for another 50 years.

Sad story about where we are heading. Polarisation of the world just so the narrative will suit a few.

I loved Alex Gibney's documentary on Scientology.

His documentary on Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos was on shakier ground but still very compelling because of the sheer mountain of documentation and interviews detailing the funny business.

This "expose" on Russia's influence on the 2016 US elections is a huge comedown.

First, the positives. Information on Vladimir Putin's hold on power, is thorough. The network of Russian operatives successfully planting misinformation on world events is given some time, mostly well spent.

The "tell" - the turd in the punchbowl - comes 45 minutes into the first episode: Gibney, in his own voice, pushes the theory Putin put into play interfering in the US Presidential election because Hillary Clinton would be too tough on Putin and Russia, based on Gibney's perception of Hillary's supposed toughness as Secretary of State.

The next few minutes has Gibney talking about Trump using the very early perceptions from the Pundit Class in 2015. Five years from then through today, with perspective, fails to change his tone.

It falls apart from here.

The biggest "name" interviewed is John Podesta, one of the senior members of the Clinton campaign. That's fine; a mature viewer can clean something from Podesta.

The rest of the "experts" interviewed are ex-ambassadors, career low level bureaucrats, and tech folks who, while in government, were clueless as to Russian doings, if true, but often sounding like papering over their resumes and spinning tall tales for future work. THESE folks sound today like they knew all these alleged doings all along.

How can Russian operatives be so sloppy and yet so brilliant at the same time? For the last 3 1/4 hours, Gibney never asks, and no one has the answers.

Discussions on this may fill time on the twitterverse and on Cable talk shows, but it's empty talk.

Gibney lowered his standards to weave a story that is only somewhat true in a limited way It fails to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Whether you're a republican, a Democrat, a member of the Green party, independent party, whatever, or wherever your allegiances lie . Just give it a watch and make your OWN decision. I feel as if that's something in and of itself that the majority of people don't do nowadays. WATCH THE DAMN THING AND HAVE YOUR OWN OPINION. All that said, it's pretty straightforward, pretty black and white, and definitely sheds light on a great many issues that more Americans should be painfully aware of.