Last Friday, United States Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals over a widespread campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election in an effort that sounds like a Metal Gear plot. So, naturally, the voice actor for Colonel Campbell has done a dramatic reading of the the more sensational segments.
Mueller’s indictment outlines “information warfare” carried out by Russian trolls and online instigators, using social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to spread distrust towards candidates and the political process. According to the indictment, these provocateurs communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign and with political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.” Charges include conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud as well as aggravated identity theft.
The workings of this information campaign sound ripped from the pages of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, where information control and manipulation were a central plot point. Paul Eiding, the voice of radio support team member Colonel Roy Campbell, read a segment of the indictment and, today, posted it to YouTube.
The dramatic reading is a humorous yet chilling reminder that politics has reached new levels of absurdity. If things continue down this path, the president will soon be wearing an eyepatch and fighting Raiden using his super-powered exoskeleton.