. . .

In 1999, I was working in a remote part of rural Russia for a German-based international relief agency; we were building housing and trying to teach peasant agricultural methods to people who’d only ever known massive, collective factory farms. I was staying in the home of a family of four with two young children; Dad was Russian and Mom — her name was Olga — was from East Germany, although she’d grown up watching West German TV.

The night before the first open and fair election in Russia’s entire history, we were watching Russian TV and eating dinner when a wild-eyed fellow came on the screen. He was giving some sort of speech, and his face was twisted with a kaleidoscope of wild emotions. He pounded his fist and shook his finger at the camera, then became soft and soothing in his voice, then began shouting again.

He was followed by a news anchorwoman, sitting behind a desk, making commentary. Olga suddenly broke out in laughter, although her husband’s face was serious, if not confused.

“What’s that about?” I asked my hosts. (My German is pretty good, but not my Russian.)

“Vladimir Zhirinovsy [the extreme right-wing candidate],” said Olga in German. “He’s a candidate in tomorrow’s election, and he says that everybody who votes for him will get a liter of vodka and a turkey after the election. The news lady is wondering where he’ll get all the turkeys.”

“People fall for that?” I said.

She nodded. “Remember, Russia has been here nearly a thousand years. And this is the first democratic election ever. Ever! People have no idea what to do, how to do it, or what to believe.”

Elon Musk seems to be bringing Zhirinovsky’s election strategy to America. This past weekend, he handed out $100 checks to people who signed a petition and gave two million-dollar checks to the head of the Wisconsin College Republicans and a woman who works for a company founded by Republican mega-donors.

. . .