"The Russian hacking allegation is a classic piece of red scare propaganda, right out of the book"

The Russians definitely hacked the US, as surely as they invaded Ukraine on two fronts.

The effects may be overblown, but it's not 'propaganda', it's just a simple truth.

'Propaganda' in the US works more like this:

+ US soldiers with Iraqi gov. is fighting ISIS (terrorists) in Mosul.

+ The Russians/Syrian regime are fighting 'rebel groups'. But those 'rebel groups' are mostly Al Nusra i.e. 'Al Queda in Iraq'. Basically as bad as ISIS. But they are called 'rebels'. So it's a softer kind of propaganda, generally.