He had most of us at “satirical comedian playing the Ukrainian President actually does become Ukrainian President.” LIFE IMITATING ART in a way it should more often. I’d say I’m a little LATE to the worldwide Zelensky Fan Club, except I’m not really, I’ve just been too busy with local stuff to write this. But the internets and social medias are already littered with tributes like this from my friend George in Grand Rapids:
44 now, and the Jewish grandson of Holocaust victims, Volodymyr (shall I call him Volod?) grew up in Ukraine speaking Russian, soon learned Ukrainian and English, and got a law degree, before deciding to pursue comedy and acting. He started a production company named Kvartal 95, which produces films, cartoons, and TV shows including Servant of the People (2015-19), in which he played a trash-talking teacher who somehow becomes Ukrainian President. Well, I wanna see some of that, don’t you? First by way of introduction:
And here’s the whole series, with subtitles. (Watch at least the opening five minutes!)
Servant of the People became so popular that the Ukrainian people decided they DID want that character to be their President, and Volod rose to the occasion, winning 73% in 2019 against incumbent Russian stooge & Trump fave Petro Porochenko. The platform of Volod and his allies is, to begin with, anti-Establishment and anti-corruption – hey, no wonder the Orange Juice Blog identifies with him! But still, you’d be wrong to guess he is simplistically anti-Russian; in fact at several points he spoke out against Ukrainian efforts to ban Russian artists from Ukraine, and has been, like a Ukrainian Lincoln, a proponent of unity between the Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking parts of his nation.
Most of us Americans first became aware of this guy in late 2019 when our Rotting Yam of a President attempted to extort him. Knowing Ukraine was highly dependent on our military aid because of the constant aggressions of Putin’s Russia, Trump called Volod and assured him the arms were coming, “BUT… I need you to do something for me.” And that was for Volod to announce that Trump’s expected rival Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter, were UNDER INVESTIGATION for corruption in Ukraine.
Of course Trump didn’t even care if there was any truth to the Biden allegations (truth means nothing to people like Trump and Putin), or even if there was really an investigation, he just wanted to be able to constantly TELL AMERICAN VOTERS THAT BIDEN WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION. And of course his implication to Volod was that any military aid would be dependent on that phony announcement. Volod no doubt felt like telling Trump to fuck off, but his nation really needed the aid, so he meekly protested that he didn’t want to be involved in a foreign election. Trump’s extortion failed, Ukraine got the aid, the story got out quickly somehow, and it led to Trump’s first impeachment. (But of course a vast majority of Republican whore Senators found Trump’s behavior acceptable and Presidential, so fuck all of those assholes.)
The Current Clusterfuck.
Mesbah Islam has been sharing this video, which does not excuse anything Putin has done, but explains in great clear detail the interlocking web of reasons Putin feels he needs to control Ukraine. It’s well worth your time!
Charlie Chaplin becomes George Washington.
Now everybody is admiring how the onetime satirical comedian is once again rising to his nation’s occasion as a wartime leader, refusing to leave Ukraine or hide even when he is most certainly Putin’s number one target. His response to Biden’s and Erdogan’s offers to swoop him away to safety, “I don’t need a ride, I need more ammunition” ranks up there with our own “Give me liberty or give me death,” and “I regret that I have only one life to give for my country.” And in our dreams we imagine living in a heroic underdog country whose government instructs us: “Stay home, and make Molotov cocktails.”
Probably and especially, us smartass satirical intellectual types identify more than most with Zelensky – because we think that maybe in the right circumstances we could be as heroic as him. And in general, the brave lopsided resistance of the Ukrainian people to the tyrant Putin strikes a chord within the American Revolutionary buried inside each of us. Or me anyway.
AND biggest of all, Ukraine and Zelensky are on the front lines of the biggest battle of our times – between DEMOCRACY and AUTOCRACY. I’ve heard Ukrainians on TV recently saying, “Yes, he is a great man, but he is also just a typical Ukrainian.” Leaders like Putin, Xi, and Trump, the last thing they want to see in their back yards is successful honest democracy, and when we fight against corruption and anti-democratic forces here in the States, against the bulk of the Republican Party, we are fighting on the same side as Zelensky and Ukraine. No wonder rightwing extremists here cheer for Putin!
Here’s a piece of music I played and recorded in honor of the Ukrainian struggle. Mussorgsky’s piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition” ends with a glorious piece called “The Great Gates of Kiev.” But then I realized that musically it sounds best coming after “The Hut of Baba Yaga,” a piece inspired by a scary Russian witch who lived in a hut built on chicken legs. So I played part of that too. Also because Baba Yaga reminds me of Vladimir Putin, and the hut built on chicken legs reminds me of the Russian economy which he is bringing to its knees. Oh by the way, before I forget to say it: FUCK PUTIN AND TRUMP, and anybody who resembles them. And UKRAINE WILL BE FREE AGAIN!
This is your open thread unless Greg makes a different one. Either way it’s your Ukraine thread.
His greatest achievement is his dancing and Paddington the Bear voice, silly.
https://www.newsweek.com/volodymyr-zelensky-dancing-high-heels-viral-resurfaced-viral-clip-ukraine-russia-war-1684820
I think when Vladimir Putin refers to nazis in Ukraine, he is really referring to Zionists.
https://youtu.be/Q6vt07Swiis
https://youtu.be/an8NLDBcDrM
https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-700416
I don’t think you can be pro-Ukrainian and pro-Azerbaijani. And methinks Russia will try to skirt sanctions via Baku.
https://eurasianet.org/ahead-of-ukraine-invasion-azerbaijan-and-russia-cement-alliance
No, he’s referring to that Azov militia group with the swastikas.
But good for you for staying on message.
Ah yes some neo-nazis are tolerable even to Zionist Jews.
https://theintercept.com/2022/02/24/ukraine-facebook-azov-battalion-russia/
Jewish hero depending in part on neo-nazis to defend his country while requesting American Jewish support. What happens if Ukraine wins, one wonders?
https://jewishinsider.com/2022/03/zelensky-compares-putin-to-nazi-regime-in-address-to-jewish-leaders/
The neo-nazis are bad until they aren’t? Ukraine choose lesser of two evils??
If the U.S. were invaded by, I don’t know, Azerbaijan, would you really not want Jews and Muslims to fight to defend it?
Sure you would! As so does Zelensky want everyone capable of wielding a gun and firing it at the right targets to be part of the war effort, despite not having solicited their particular votes or let them become part of its government. “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country,” went the old 70=character typing drill, but in a pinch a country is generally willing to make use of the less good ones too. (And, happily, of women and non-binary people as well.)
You may rest assured that the neo-Nazis are still bad. Or you may rest disappointed, whatever fits.
Jews and Muslims are not neo-nazis, Greg. They’ll be expecting their cut when the smoke clears.
Get those zionists out of here.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-drills-near-azerbaijan-border-due-to-zionist-presence-in-area/
*The casualty numbers are interesting. The Ukrainians say over 9,000 Russian soldiers killed, 2748 Ukrainian civilians….plus all the injured. “Z” is too cool. Reminds us of the Mouse flipping off the nasty Vulture! Our prayers are with all the Ukrainians and thanks so much to the Poles who are making 2 Million places available for the Ukrainian Refugees.
We want to personally thank the Lady in San Clemente that came up with helping the Ukrainians by booking an AirBnb for today in downtown Kiev. A great way to help out the people of Ukraine. To the “Z Man”…….stay the course…..we will get you those A-10’s so you can defend yourselves. Every day you hold RAZ – Putin back is another day he is eating it on the International Stage!
People are warning against the AirBnB idea because many of them are supposedly owned by Russians. Which is info, which disinfo, I don’t know.
I also don’t know about those figures, much as I like that ration. Remember the bogus casualty accounts on Walter Cronkite’s news show? Bad times!
I don’t want to lionize this guy … it seems to me he was asleep at the wheel.
“Last fall, it was the United States that first raised the alarm about the growing Russian troop presence on the border with Ukraine, and since then Mr. Zelensky’s government has often appeared reluctant to fully embrace the Biden administration’s sense of urgency.”
…. in his remarks, Mr. Zelensky echoed this sentiment.
“If you look only at the satellites you will see the increase in troops and you can’t assess whether this is just a threat of attack or just a simple rotation,” he said. “Our professional people look deep into it.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/world/europe/biden-ukraine-russia-diplomacy.html
As recently as Jan. his poll numbers were 30% and let’s not forget that until trump’s blackmailing phone call was revealed, Zelensky was scheduled to appear on CNN.
Yeah, he’s stayed and defended his country … bravo, but he seems to have been wrong and weak in the lead up to this disaster.
Zelensky is a comedian. You’re funny, too.
Yeah, Zelensky is such a card and a ‘hero’ … disregarding warnings prior to Russia’s attack.
“However, Zelensky has said — repeatedly — that he’s not convinced that a Russian assault is imminent. ….
“I don’t say there can’t be an escalation,” Zelensky told journalists at a news conference in Kyiv on Friday. “We’ve been talking about this openly for eight years.”
The buildup, he added, didn’t significantly differ from a similar one at the beginning of last year. The threat of war was a form of “psychological pressure,” he said.
“I don’t think that the situation is more tense than at the peak at that time,” he said. He added that his knowledge stemmed from the fact that he, being familiar with the reality on the ground, knew “deeper details than any [other] president.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/30/ukraine-zelensky-russia-biden/
He stayed and defended his country. What have you ever stayed and defended. Please be specific. I’m interested in your heroism amounts to.
Well, that’s not the standard is it?
In this country the lowly rabble is allowed to critique public figures and politicians even though they may be smarter, more accomplished, better looking and yes, braver, but please feel free to hold yourself to that standard in the future.
Rave on, dear.
Yeah, I’ll continue to “rave on” and I guess, so will you with your snide and obvious, obtuse sexism …. dear.
Ouch! Sexist. They’ve been calling me that on this blog for years – so it must be true!
Another thing that seems to be true is that folks like you who haven’t got a blessed inkling of what motivation or strategy was Zelensky’s public statements believe their opinion is urgently worth sharing.
What is undeniably true is the the guy has a price on his head, and could have gotten out, but didn’t. And that’s heroic, whether you like it or not. Dear.
Wow, self-owned.
That’s pretty revealing.
And gosh, who wouldn’t ‘think’ that a blog posting commentary and open to responses would have people ‘sharing opinions’?
Another … self-own, lol.
Jeanette, Zenger does not run this joint, and you’re welcome to share your opinions here. Just don’t call him “dear” back. We don’t know what would happen.
That said, I have to agree with him about Zelenskyy. He thought — pretty much everyone thought, that Putin would be deterred by the fact that an invasion of Ukraine would be so obviously counterproductive.
Meanwhile, we can (almost) all savor this (self-serving, but books don’t sell themselves!) NYT essay on how Putin is now entering his period of final days Nixon, except without Kissinger or Rosemary Woods to keep him company. Enjoy!
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html
Self-owned? Sarcasm recognition isn’t your tool box, is it.
Anyhow, Ms. Wianecki, it’s unfortunate that the American English does not contain many terms of derision for Monday morning female fatheaded quarterbacks as it does for men. Alas.
I cannot call you, chief, boob, chowderhead, fathead, dickhead, boss, blowhard, SOB, etc., etc. It just doesn’t seem proper. So I guess our language custom are sexist, too (but you already knew that!). To me you remain “dear” as a term of condescension for your uninformed “opinions.” If you can provide me with a better term of endearment (see what I did there?) I will be happy to employ it.
But, of course, I digress. You never said what heroic cause you’ve ever put yourself on the line for – just so we can assess what cause you believe is heroic and what YOU did to help it.
The fact that you’re proud enough of your sexist comment to admit to it and then double down on it is not just creepy, but seriously problematic.
That’s how you self-owned … do you need the definition?
I believe you used the word “dear” in the same way that a racist would use the word “boy” to a black man … to demean, dismiss and delegitimize my opinions BECAUSE I am a woman. The word “boy” in itself is not racist, it’s all about context and your use of “dear” was used in the very same kind of contemptible context.
The insults that you posted are just that … insults, they’re generic and that’s different from a subtle, yet very pointed, sexist remark.
I wonder why you feel the need to insult me at all … why not just post a fully, fleshed out opinion, let’s just debate the facts … or do you prefer to hide behind snide, one-liners? I think we all know the answer to that.
It’s one thing to disagree with someone based on their opinions or their evaluation of the facts and it’s another to make sexist or racist comments in-lieu of debate.
I’m disappointed that Greg finds sexism amusing, that’s why some of us preferred anonymity because one’s opinions should be judged solely on their merit and ONLY their merit.
Jeannette, where did I say that I find sexism amusing. Not only do I agree with your well-stated critique of his word choices, but I’m the one who has been calling him sexist here for all of these years for similar comments.
If it looks like I’m taking it lightly, it’s because he’d entirely inured to any criticism from me. I was actually hoping that you would call him “dear,” but I’m sure he already knows how he’d handle it.
Zenger has a lot of interesting and useful comments, including his take on Zelenskyy, but he does tend to condescend when he thinks an argument is wrongheaded. I’m sorry that he did so on the basis of gender here, but the way this blog works I’m not situated to do anything about him.
A) I had already called him “dear”, but you seemed to be making light of it; “….you’re welcome to share your opinions here. Just don’t call him “dear” back. We don’t know what would happen.” B) I haven’t followed this blog enough to see you previously call him out on his sexism C) Would you tolerate overt racism in the same manner?
If you think that his snide, nasty, whining one-liners are “interesting and useful” so be it, but I would expect better of a ‘liberal’ blog.
A) I had forgotten that you had called him “dear.”
B) OK. Nevertheless.
C) “Snide” is exactly the right term for what he did. I do not edit Zenger’s comments; that’s Vern domain. But the degree of snideness inherent in calling a woman who was belittling Zelenskyy’s heroism Ukraine “dear” is pretty low on the sexism Richter scale — they’re called *micro*aggressions for a reason — and if he did something similar with race or gender orientation I would probably chastise him but not try to ban him. A *macro*aggression might have a different result.
If it was not clear that my describing Zenger’s contributions here as “interesting and useful” applied to the arguments he raises that Vern and I, being liberals, would likely not recognize and describe as piquantly, rather than to his random acts of snideness, then I’m happy to clarify that for you.
Alright, already. I sincerely regret referring to Ms. Wianecki as “dear.”
Well that’s a “sorry, not sorry” ‘apology’ if I ever saw one. I wonder if you had referred to a black man as “boy” if you would’ve phrased your ‘apology’ in the same way?
Let’s see how it looks;
“Alright, already. I sincerely regret referring to Mr. Jones as “boy”.
You’re not fooling anyone … except maybe the MEN who run this blog.
Sexism is as disgusting, deplorable and destructive as racism.
I’m glad for you to have had your say in response. I agree with much of your reply, except for your trying to determine the relative awfulness of sexism vs. racism, which is usually a losing proposition.
Meanwhile, the Russian tank logjam has broken up and is now advancing on Kyiv — where President Zelensky remains, awaiting what would likely be public torture and murder. If you think that focusing on that, more than a sexist microaggression, renders our priorities, I regret that I must disagree.
Now I’m really, really, super sorry.
Greg,
Zelensky has been calling for NATO and the US to declare a “no-fly zone” which let’s be real … means that he wants NATO and the US to declare WAR on Russia. That would be a DISASTER for everyone on the planet.
“A no-fly zone would commit the US and Nato forces to shoot down any Russian aircraft that enter. It would be naive to think that merely declaring a no-fly zone would convince the Russian military to comply voluntarily. In short, a no-fly zone would mean going to war with Russia.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/11/we-call-on-biden-to-reject-reckless-demands-for-a-no-fly-zone
Yes, it’s a given that the Russian’s are 100% in the wrong and that Zelensky is rallying his people and risking his life (maybe another poor decision, what happens if he gets killed?), but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to assess Zelensky’s actions and decision’s in the lead up to this war because he wants us involved and that’s a very real possibility … making his judgements something we should all be concerned about.
I still contend that Zelensky did a disservice to his people in the lead up to this war. Is there any excuse for one-in-five Ukrainian’s
not believing that war was imminent?
“Even as tensions boil with more than 150,000 Russian troops along the border in annexed Crimea and in neighbouring Belarus, just one in five Ukrainians think the full-scale conflict is inevitable.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/21/why-ukrainians-dont-believe-in-war-with-russia-distrust-west
Surely Zelensky was privy to the highest levels of intelligence, so WHY was he belittling and dismissing US warnings?
As a daughter, mother and grandmother I’d want as much time to prepare for an attack as possible.
You claim that he didn’t want to “panic” people … let me ask you this, would you rather be panic-evacuating with bombs dropping and people shooting at you or be panic-evacuating without the bombs and the guns?
Even Saddam tried to distribute five months of supplies to Baghdad prior to the US attack and he didn’t believe it would happen either. Less than three weeks in people all over Ukraine are running out of food and water … this after months of warnings, was that good planning?
1/20/22
“All our citizens, especially the elderly, need to understand this. Take a deep breath. Calm down. Don’t run for buckwheat and matches. To all the media – remain mass media, not sources of mass hysteria. In the pursuit of hype don’t help the enemy, reporting daily that war may start tomorrow! This will definitely not stop it,” the president said.”
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3388270-zelensky-addresses-nation-on-russias-aggression-urges-citizens-not-to-panic.html
Then there’s Zelensky’s very provocative calls for NATO membership for Ukraine in the last years (which I’ve provided a couple of links for) … I don’t think that was wise either.
And again, now Zelensky wants a no-fly zone established which will mean WWIII … I realize he and his people are fighting for their survival and I sincerely hope they prevail, but I don’t trust his judgement and I make no apologies for that assessment. I’m glad Biden is our President.
I also get that just declaring Zelensky a hero vs a more nuanced and thoughtful assessment is the easier and more popular position.
What I don’t get is why this needed to devolve into personal insults … it’s not as if my opinion of Zelensky actually matters.
It’s a public negotiation and he made an attention-getting demand. Yes, he asked for more than he thought he could get. And he settled for the provision of lots of old Soviet-era aircraft, which will be quite helpful.
Remember, one of the likely resolutions to this conflict is that one of the Russian military leaders asked to commit some heinous atrocity says no — and then when Putin gets distracted from screaming “Off with his head!”, cooler heads subdue him and escort him into the last remaining Soviet Gulag-era mental hospital. Getting Putin to show that he’s willing to sacrifice the same world at the altar of his own wounded pride — as Zelenskyy has accomplished — is a significant accomplishment. Though personally, I hope that he ends his days after many decades wearing a ball gag in Mikhail Gorbachev’s basement. I’m sentimental that way.
As for personal insults: there was no need, and I didn’t do it. We get it, we really do.
“As a daughter, mother and grandmother I’d want as much time to prepare for an attack as possible.”
What does your gender have to do with any of this. YOU ARE A SEXIST AND I AM ETERNALLY OFFENDED. THAT IS JUST AS BAD AS RACISM.
Would you call a black man boy?
Asking for a friend.
“Scheduled to appear on CNN?” Oh my! The bastard! I mean … huh?
He did not want to unduly alarm his populace at a time that most informed observers thought that Putin was just saber rattling, because he should know that an invasion would likely destroy him — consigning him to one end of a comically long table for the rest of his life.
That doesn’t mean that Zelenskyy didn’t make preparations — particularly as part of a charm offensive that has led to the sanctions that will eventually get Putin murdered or in internal exile, given his stubbornness. He’s put Putin into a corner where he has actually threatened nuclear war — an extortion usually consigned to the realm of fiction — to save his unearned dignity.
As recently as January, Putin hadn’t invaded Ukraine and Ukrainians were not disposed to believe that he would. His ratings now are supposedly (I can’t speak to the methodology of polling in a country under vicious bombardment) in the 70% range. I don’t know how any leader could have played his cards better than Zelenskyy did. There was no good way to hold off a hostile superpower bent on conquest — but he found the best one. I’m sorry for the fleeing civilians who have been massacred in safe harbor areas — but that is 100% on Putin’s moral tab.
The NYT’s reported that Zelensky’s scheduled appearance on CNN was to announce an investigation into Biden … it didn’t happen so we’ll never know.
Al Jazeera reported that on the eve of the Russian invasion only one-in-five Ukrainians thought that Russia would attack, yes, Zelensky didn’t want to panic people, but other countries have had to prepare their civilian population for war prior to attacks … it can be done.
The US was very clear that the Russians weren’t just “saber-rattling”. Biden went out on a very long limb to warn the Ukrainian people. Think of the scorn that the republicans would’ve heaped on Biden if an attack had not taken place? That, according to multiple reports was not a risk Zelensky was willing to take, he was making political calculations … did he risk lives doing so?
Then there’s Zelensky’s multiple, very public announcements about pushing Europe and the US for Ukraine to be admitted to NATO over the past year … did that provoke Putin?
I know he’s behaved admirably since the war began, but I do question some of his choices and decisions.
I could be wrong (it’s been known to happen), maybe he’s been playing the proverbial ‘four-dimensional chess game’ … time will tell … unless we all die in WWIII.
An investigation announced *this* year? OK. Weird if true, but irrelevant.
I presume that his fear was that panicking civilians would in this case make things worse — and perhaps actively provoke the invasion itself. As for not taking US pronouncements as gospel … well, does that strike you as wrong?
Ukraine hasn’t and hadn’t applied for NATO membership. EU, yes, but that is not a military pact. (And it may be what worried Putin even more.)
The nuclear brinksmanship that has no logical end is what I hate about Putin the most. By implying “my way or we all die,” he has crossed a line there that should never be crossed. I hope that saner minds stop him.
“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted during a NATO summit he attended in June that Western leaders had confirmed his country “will become a member of the Alliance.”
The Ukrainian leader’s tweet, seen by some Western diplomats as ill-timed and intended to goad Russia, drew a predictably furious response from Kremlin officials. They have long warned that the accession of Ukraine to NATO is unacceptable to Moscow, the crossing of a red line which would be met by retaliatory measures.
Despite — or because of — Kremlin threats, and a Russian military buildup along the borders of Ukraine, President Zelenskiy has continued to press for Ukraine to be admitted into NATO as soon as possible, saying it is the only way to deter further Russia aggression. Others, including some Western leaders, fear it would do the reverse — invite more Russian aggression.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/aside-from-kyiv-no-one-in-rush-for-ukraine-to-join-nato/6393900.html
“After many months of delays, President Zelenskyy finally approved Ukraine’s new National Security Strategy in mid-September. This is the fourth Ukrainian security strategy document to be produced during the country’s nearly thirty years of independence, and follows the publication of similar documents in 2007, 2012, and 2015.
Ukraine’s new security blueprint has little of the ambiguity or euphemistic language often associated with President Zelenskyy. Instead, Russia is repeatedly identified as an aggressor and NATO membership is frequently mentioned as Ukraine’s key national security objective. Nevertheless, it remains to seen whether the subsequent actions of the Zelenskyy administration will align entirely with these strong policy statements.”
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russia-as-aggressor-nato-as-objective-ukraines-new-national-security-strategy/
As each day passes, zelensky sounds more like Pashinyan.
It took 44 days before Armenia and Artsakh threw in the towel against Azeri forces supported by Islamic terrorists and drones supplied by Turkey, Israeli drones and intelligence, material and support supplied by Israel and Turkey. Unless the Ukrainians are going to resort to cannibalism for sustenance, something has got to give. Putin can starve em out now similar to Stalin although different.
Do you think American Jews and America would support Ukraine if they denied the Holocaust? Or would the be your dead to me?
https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/10/12/a-new-tack-for-us-jews-fighting-antisemitism-the-youre-dead-to-me-strategy/
One thing Putin is demonstrating is that right and wrong, good and bad is all political.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/07/bds-lawmakers-boycott-russia-00014813
We are all hypocrites.
I believe in supporting emerging actual democracies, though I recognize the difficulties with that form of government — including here at home. I would be disappointed to see Ukraine’s leader be a holocaust denier — though it wouldn’t bother me if they were not a Zionist or even supportive of BDS against Israel — but even if they were my loyalty would be to the potentially improvable dedication to a form of government. If the Holocaust denier was willing to be removed from office democratically if the people chose it, and to govern in a way that respected majority rule and minority rights and the rule of law, then I would not hold the leaders’ sins against the populace and consign them to Putin’s care.
You, by contrast, seem to have only one moral lodestone: past and president support for Armenia, including opposition to all of its past and present enemies. (You’re not even opposed to hypocrisy: you think it’s everywhere, so why not indulge?) I think that we as a species had your particular flavor of moral reasoning down back in the Neolithic Era.
Oh, I noticed that you have a third comment, so I’ll consolidate my answer to it here. Yes, Eric, I’ve impaneled a jury. But most of my oral advocacy has been bench trials and motions hearings. I became a lawyer only in 2003, after my teaching career had ended, and when I worked at a major law firm in midtown Manhattan the best lawyers at my level could do for paying clients was to be second chair at a hearing. I did, though — and you may hate this — take the lead in two pro bono asylum cases that brought us one new American citizen and prevented a refugee from expulsion.
I also drafted ten opinions that became law in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, three of which were quite significant. My reason that I would prefer not to be a judge (though with good clerical help I think could manage it if I had to) is due to the effects of my stroke — which happily affected neither my communication abilities nor the parts of my brain responsible for analysis and moral reasoning.
You Greg are a moral equivocator. Jews use the Holocaust as their guiding light and condemn those that don’t. Zionists are hypocrites and so are you. They’ll rail against Nazis and negotiate with them. They’ll rail against neo-nazis and then support them if they back their causes. They’ll rail against Holocaust denial and then engage in Genocide denial. They’ll endanger Jews while claiming to be protecting them. Oh, a head injury that explains everything. My Jewish stepfather had a severe stroke when I was 9 years old.
I actually do not “use the Holocaust as my guiding light,” whatever that means. I put it in the context of other atrocities, noting both its distinctive aspects (mostly its claim on scientific proof, its bureaucratic nature, and its sheer scope)
I do think that it, along with the slaughter of Tutsis and the auto-genocide in Cambodia — is a clearer case of attempted genocide than the Armenian genocide, which seems to have been more scattershot rather than master-planned — more like the persecution of Jews in Czarist Russia, of Roma everywhere and everywhen.
The massacres and subjection of indigenous populations in the U.S and Australia are probably in between these two categories.
My stroke has more to do with things like deficits in short-term memory and visual perception. Nothing that would reduce me to the level of you, as a thinker, or what I imagine must have been your horribly put-upon stepdad.
Zelensky is giving to the entire world a big lesson. No comparable to anybody. Useless Biden, Johnson, NATO, Salvini be shamed. We pay all of you bloody bastards and you allow Putin to kill children and refugees
Greg more evidence of your myopia.
Israel has been behind the Jewish campaign to prevent recognition of the Armenian Genocide for decades. And American Jewish organizations have been lobbying for Azerbaijan and Turkey just as long as they have engaged in genocide denial. Zelensky isn’t asking you for help bubby, you aren’t even on the map of American Jewish bigwigs.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-israel-quashed-efforts-to-acknowledge-the-armenian-genocide-1.9766390
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-29-me-1175-story.html
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-23-mn-315-story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/02/09/jewish-armenian-split-spreads-on-the-hill/3a72ac00-417a-4ef3-88fa-bb8ec9705473/
https://thetablet.org/armenian-american-leaders-urge-biden-to-withhold-military-aid-to-azerbaijan/
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104619
Umm, Azerbaijan is a Russian ally. Aliyev’s dad was kgb. Us gave Azerbaijan 120 mil in military aid over past 20 years.
https://youtu.be/rYVZDYymf5M
https://eurasianet.org/ahead-of-ukraine-invasion-azerbaijan-and-russia-cement-alliance
Yeah, Israel really does want to have mutual support with Turkey. I’m not a fan of its foreign policy, that included. But my sense is that it comes more from a sense of ownership over the term “holocaust,” which they believe justifies Israeli exceptionalism. Not a big fan of that either. You’re right that I’m not on the map of Jewish bigwigs, but you don’t hear me crying about that.
Your inability to perceive anything from other than through a biased lens based on Armenian grievances (which I do take seriously when not coming from you) reminds me of … well, actually, the thing that comes to mind first is the dungeon scene in Pulp Fiction. You’ve got your own little playground into which anyone who contacts you must be assimilated.
My perception is not based on Armenian grievances. Its based on reality, Greg. Its based on truth. Its based on deep, philosophical reasoning beyond your comprehension.
If Israel is racist towards Armenians and claims to be a jewish state, what does that mean about jews and racism. Genocide denial is a hate crime.
Yeah, and you don’t even come close to speaking on behalf of the jewish community in Brea let alone the United States. And you overlook or refuse to address that Israel called upon American Jews to lobby (which they did for roughly 3 decades) against formal US genocide recognition. Why is that Greg??
Quite frankly, before this moment I hadn’t been really aware of Zelensky’s personality and his path of becoming the President of Ukraine, but your article really enlightened me about it.
Without any doubts, the act of Zelensky not to refuse to leave Ukraine or hide in this difficult period of time, deserves respect because it is really important for any President to defend his country. From my point of view, this gesture gives him an advantageous position before the people and, of course, enhances his reputation.
I think that any President needs to act in this way and be faithful to his country until the end. I am totally against war and I can understand your position regarding Putin and his way of governing, because the Russian economy tolerates not the best of times.
I really hope that Ukraine will be free from this destructive war and the life of ordinary people will return to normal.
*Every day he holds off the Russians is another victory for Freedom and Democracy in the world. No African Dictator here, splitting the second his Handlers in the UK bail out….and heading to the pleasant climes of a small Caribbean Island or Argentina…
You go Mr. Z……..you are the moral leader of global community.
*That is a VERY nice thing to say to Zenger!
And REALITY sets in;
“Zelensky faces outpouring of criticism over failure to warn of war”
“Ordinary people tweeted their experiences of chaos and dislocation after an invasion for which they were unprepared, and described how they might have made different choices had they known what was coming. ”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/18/zelensky-ukraine-wapo-interview-warn-of-war/
Real people, real hardship … cue the sexist, clueless a-holes.
And just to be very, very clear (for you self-absorbed, disconnected sexist pigs) this is what the lack of preparedness meant;
“Honestly, my hair stood on end when I read what [Zelensky] said about evacuation. … How can a person who has Mariupol, Bucha and Kherson on his conscience say that an evacuation would have overwhelmed the country?” wrote journalist Bohdan Butkevich on his Facebook page, referring to places where Russia has been accused of committing atrocities.
“He didn’t want to put the country on a military footing because he was afraid of losing power,” Butkevich wrote.
The lack of warning for civilians living in the threatened areas, and especially those with children, the elderly and people with impaired mobility, was “not a glitch, not a mistake, not an unfortunate misunderstanding, not a strategic miscalculation — it is a crime,” said Ukrainian author Kateryna Babkina.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/18/zelensky-ukraine-wapo-interview-warn-of-war/
It’s an effing … CRIME!
Thank you for the oh-so-polite remarks, Jeanette.
How many people do you think live in Ukraine?
What do you think happens to a disputed part of a country once you evacuate all of your population out of it?
I don’t know who Ms. Babkina is, but I’m confident that she welcomed Russia retaking Ukrainian territory — and probably the Baltics as well.
As the saying goes: “No things are worth fighting for” — right?
Zelensky says:
You’d have simply surrendered the country to Putin without a fight — because you don’t give a shit about Ukraine, the Baltics, and who knows how much else. As he said — what he did worked.
Ukraine has a population of 40 million, roughly the same as California. Your evident belief that Europe could have accommodated that many refugees is charming. Russia, on the other hand, could have easily accommodated them — underground, so long as their backhoes kept working.
Yeah, so real Ukrainian opinions are to be discounted … too inconvenient, ‘must be Russians’, lol.
Preparing your civilian population for war is a basic tenant of GOOD leadership … stop making excuses for Zelensky’s mistake.
As I asked back in March, what would you rather do …evacuate before the bombs start falling or while the bombs are falling?
Zelensky decided on the latter for his people, it was a BS, bravado move and it probably cost thousands of lives.
Oh, no. Not you again.
Angry and ignorant is no way to go through life. Hon.’
Preparing the civilian population — “we don’t think than an invasion is imminent, but here’s how you fight back if there ever is one” — is fine. Evacuating the country because a neighbor claims is — creating a refugee crisis FAR FAR WORSE than what actually happened — is as unpatriotic as imaginable (well, Trump excepted) and criminally stupid. It also doesn’t even protect the now dispersed population, who over time could be expected to receive treatment similar to that of the Roma and Kurds.
Oh, gosh, “must be Russians, lol”! The publication one of the “real Ukranian opinion” vomiters whom you cite works for the publication “Ukrainska Pravda”! If that doesn’t set off your internal alarm bells, you either lack information or neurons.
Pravda is — notoriously enough that you know already know it — the Russian word for “truth.” The Ukranian word for “truth” is “Istyna.” I suspect that this is not lost on her readers. Just as Russia’s Pravda is under Putin’s control, it stands to reason that Ukraine’s (supposedly) Pravda is as well. A loud and well-funded group of Ukrainians in Lukansk and Donbas are absolutely pro-Russian, although they are in the minority of their own communities. (Or were, before Russia began kidnapping resisters to imprison. But, at least since the appropriate treaties and conventions were enacted, one doesn’t gain legal or moral advantages through genocide.)
Of course Ms. Musaieva — note the Russian rather than Ukrainian surname — would not have fled. She would presumably welcome Russian occupation of Ukraine — as well as likely of the Baltics, Poland, and the rest of former Soviet-dominated Eastern and Central Europe with the possible (and possibly not) exception of East Germany. All of the bad things she mentions have been avoided at the cost of abrogation of Ukrainian sovereignty. Frankly, I’m no more interested in her opinions than I would be of those of Marshal Philippe Pétain during the time of Vichy France. More people would have died in the stampede to the west — and its attendant refugee crisis — than actually died. The government is best off not inducing largescale panic.
I accept that left-wing — and left-wing that circles around so far that they become objectively right-wing — criticisms of the foreign policy (and domestic imperialism) of the U.S. and its allies often have more than a grain of truth. But surrender monkeys who would embrace totalitarian-cum-gangster-capitalist fascists like Vladimir Putin get no sympathy from me on that front.
Yes, “Monday-morning quarterbacking” is a time-honored tradition not only here but in countries that don’t have Sunday sports leagues. But the reason that VZ didn’t make provocative actions like digging trenches is probably because they would have been considered by Russians to be an act of war against “their own territory” — as they consider Ukraine to be — and he probably wanted to forestall it while his diplomatic overtures to the West continued. And, frankly, as one person interviewed notes — that worked.
I’m not defending Putin or condemning the US or NATO … this horror-show is all on Russia, but preparing the Ukrainian people for war was Zelensky’s job and I think he failed them.
A month before the invasion he was telling people not to buy extra “buckwheat and matches”, he was actively contradicting US warnings … so is it any wonder that his people were blindsided by the invasion, that they didn’t have extra food and fuel, that they had to evacuate the most vulnerable after the war started, if they evacuated at all?
That’s a failure of government and I think it unnecessarily added to their suffering.
That’s all.
Sorry for the cheap shots, I don’t know what gets into me sometimes.
P.S. “Just as Russia’s Pravda is under Putin’s control, it stands to reason that Ukraine’s (supposedly) Pravda is as well.”
Zelensky shut down any pro-Russian news, so it stands to reason this internet news site isn’t under Putin’s control.
He’s got it all covered under that whole Martial Law thing … banned political parties, banned media, banned Russian music and books, etc..
OK, turns out that you were more right than I about Ukranian Pravda. It’s owned by a group that includes George Soros, so it can’t be that bad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainska_Pravda
Zelensky,
Use your biggest bombs you have, dont worry, nothing to lose. If you dont. Then you lose evryone life who has trying to fight 10 times bigger enemy. Dont worry about yourself or your citizens, if you dont do that, yourself and all your freinds will be killed by Putin. And ukraine will be part of ussr russia
I’m not sure that I follow what you’re saying here.
I think that Ukraine is doing a damned good job without your or my military advice. But I do think that it’s worth noting that if Putin wanted to be a “disruptor” he could turn Ukraine to glass and dare the world to retaliate. Ultimately, the only deterrence of global nuclear war to someone who doesn’t care all that much about his own citizens is taboo — and that’s why Putin is probably going to be “removed” by someone he trust … and he probably knows it. This is a horrible situation for the world to be in and Ukraine is handling it very well — probably better than we would.
Rather surprised to see yourself aligning with Nazis in Ukraine, Greg. After slandering leader of world’s largest democracy, falsely saying Mussalman population at risk for genocide in India.You know how many mussalman vote for BJP?
A lot, actually. As many of them reject toxic radical Islam.
So you want to sing praise of Ukrainian Nazis, go on then.
Where is the update of Vietnamese American Vandal James Mai you tell everyone since 3 days is coming? Have you prepared update or you just happy about Ukrainian Nazis.You still have yet to clarify in what manner you looked foe evidence of hate crime. Did you make request for police reports in or near Orange?
Do list all steps you have taken, or admit you have neglected to do follow up.