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Igel

(37,239 posts)
6. Distraction.
Sun Mar 9, 2014, 02:46 PM
Mar 2014

It's a straw man. Most acknowledge Svoboda's drawbacks, without exaggerating them or declaring them to be universal problems of the protesters. That's Putin's line.

Most also don't fall for a kind of etymological fallacy, either. Similarity with events from 1944 don't require identicality of events. "Evoking" a similar symbol can be just that: you evoke it for a purpose, not because all the goals and actions are the same.

And then there's the whole/part issue, where one issue from 1944 remains: Ukrainian independence and throwing off the shackles of ethnic repression after the end of colonialization (even if we really don't like thinking of the USSR as a colonial empire).

A serious issue is assuming what we see and know is all that we need. We hear Tiahnybok say something anti-Semitic and we see red. We don't hear something come out of Putin's mouth because we don't notice it, and we assume we know everything we need to. We don't, but we're believe ourselves to be right so we're happier that way.

For Kyiv and in Crimea what's important is this: The Kyiv government will have elections soon. Russians, Ukrainians, Rusyns, Bulgarians, Hungarians will vote pretty much unconstrained. Even the Party of Regions has candidates running.

The Crimean government will have elections soon. In one of them, thousands of armed foreign troops supporting one particular outcome will be in the streets, have shut down any unfavorable media outlets, are detaining opposition members without trial, and are banning any observers, even as the foreign government behind the troops makes veiled threats against voting the wrong way and promises of a great influx of money if they make the right choice. That choice was being billed as a choice between autonomy and annexation; the city council voted for annexation and is now describing the referendum as confirmation that they made the right choice.

And we declare the side with the troops to be the side of enlightened truth and justice. No need to invoke Czechoslovakia, no need to invoke the Sudentenland, Kosovo or S. Ossetia.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

k&r Starry Messenger Mar 2014 #1
K&R for "nuance" and critical deals of how and why things happened newthinking Mar 2014 #2
Most ProSense Mar 2014 #3
Well okay, then, Svoboda is groovy because it is no longer "overtly anti-Semitic." Comrade Grumpy Mar 2014 #4
No one fucking said that. n/t ProSense Mar 2014 #5
Maybe not "groovy," but not "so extreme." Comrade Grumpy Mar 2014 #12
Well, not in those exact words, but someone certainly did offer a 'nuanced' endorsement of them, sabrina 1 Mar 2014 #17
Neo-Nazi groups now have PR specialists- Seriously newthinking Mar 2014 #9
Pure BS, and hilarious coming from someone fear mongering in Putin's defense. ProSense Mar 2014 #10
I am not "in defense of Putin" newthinking Mar 2014 #25
Distraction. Igel Mar 2014 #6
The military-industrial-media complex lives. They will always push the jingoistic line. reformist2 Mar 2014 #7
Which is another, of many, good reasons for the US to stay the hell away from that mess. K&R Tierra_y_Libertad Mar 2014 #8
Do you want to laugh? $1 Billion isn't even enough to pay for 3 weeks of gas Catherina Mar 2014 #13
EU planning 11 billion in "aid" BelgianMadCow Mar 2014 #14
That too is laughable. That's less than a year's worth of gas bills Catherina Mar 2014 #15
The IMF will cough up the reminder BelgianMadCow Mar 2014 #16
They're going to have to cough up enough to pretend though (at first at least) Catherina Mar 2014 #24
Russia has ProSense Mar 2014 #26
That's exactly what it is 'a "troika" package to save the banks and strangle the people, paid for by sabrina 1 Mar 2014 #19
you're thinking of Papademos, I believe BelgianMadCow Mar 2014 #20
Yes, you are correct, I forgot about Italy too. sabrina 1 Mar 2014 #22
That's bullshit. Far right has been acknowledged since beginning Pretzel_Warrior Mar 2014 #11
It could've been Putin ... brett_jv Mar 2014 #18
FAIR G_j Mar 2014 #21
For a minute there I thought my ignore list failed Catherina Mar 2014 #27
I've been following them for years G_j Mar 2014 #28
recommend frwrfpos Mar 2014 #23
kick. Thanks for posting Catherina. +1 eom Purveyor Mar 2014 #29
Must Read malaise Mar 2014 #30
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