Yuri Bezmenov

Jeff Bridges as The Dude from The Big Lebowski

I suspect the line in the above meme wasn't in the movie. It is a very grim thought, but who is this Bezmenov? Wikipedia knows:

Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov (1939 – 1993) was a Soviet journalist for Novosti Press Agency (APN) and a former PGU KGB informant who defected to Canada. . . . Bezmenov is best remembered for his anti-communist lectures and books published in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

. . . 

In 1984, he gave an interview to G. Edward Griffin, titled 'Soviet Subversion of the Free World Press'. In the interview, Bezmenov explained the methods used by the KGB for the gradual subversion of the political system of the United States:

The main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. Only about 15% of time, money, and manpower is spent on espionage and such. The other 85% is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or active measures… or psychological warfare.

. . . 

Since his death, Bezmenov's "Soviet subversion model" has been studied and interpreted by faculty and staff at the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) to analyze historical events, including the decade-long Russian campaign that preceded the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

. . . 

On August 19, 2020, Bezmenov's 1984 interview discussing active measures with a journalist G. Edward Griffin was used in the teaser for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, in addition to its use in the main introduction on August 26.

Terms I was unfamiliar with:

PGU - First Chief Directorate of the KGB was the organization responsible for foreign operations and intelligence activities.

JSOU - Joint Special Operations University is 

USSCOM's (United States Special Operations Command) school for 

SOF (Special Operations Force).

Putin was in the KGB, so it's not difficult to imagine that he is still using the methods they were using in the old Soviet Union. And since we were fighting the Cold War against the Russkies for nearly 50 years, I can understand how a large number of people, especially in the government and the military have a deep rooted hatred for all things Russian.

Has Putin turned over a new leaf? Mmmm, I dunno about that, but things seem to be better in Russia now than they were. On the other hand things over here seem to be getting worse. It's almost like Joe and Vlad are becoming the same person.

Are my freedoms being restricted? Or is it that I have an aversion to dealing with morons? It's more comfortable sitting at home where I can control the inflow of digital information. I send most of it to the bit bucket, which is constantly overflowing. Every once in a while I carry it out into the backyard and dump it over the edge of the hill into the swamp. The swamp is thriving, so maybe that stew of discarded bits actually has some nutritional value.

Big Think has a good story about Yuri Bezmenov.