Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Razgovory]

I think Russophilia can be observed on both the far left and the far right, how about that?  The far left are against everything remotely traditional the West is for.  The far right finds the Russian form of fascism ideologically appealing.

The two articles I got were mostly anti-government right wingers.  Conspiratorial libertarians.  I suspect that most American right wingers have little clue what Putin stands for.  They probably think he's an atheistic communist.

[Valmy]

And there's the anti-West on the left.

Sure I can get being anti-West but being pro-Russian?  Worst left wingers ever.  I mean that is like a Libertarian expressing his love for China....or actually Russia as well.

[Sheilbh]

Well Russia Today's growing in popularity:
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2013/05/inside-russia-today-counterweight-mainstream-media-or-putins-mou
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/how-the-rt-network-built-a-us-audience.html

Needless to say we're cutting funding to the BBC World Service

Edit: Of course needless to say Greenwald's all over it:
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/18/attacks_on_rt_and_assange_reveal_much_about_the_critics/

Let's examine the unstated premises at work here. There is apparently a rule that says it's perfectly OK for a journalist to work for a media outlet owned and controlled by a weapons manufacturer (GE/NBC/MSNBC), or by the U.S. and British governments (BBC/Stars & Stripes/Voice of America), or by Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal (Wall St. Journal/Fox News), or by a banking corporation with long-standing ties to right-wing governments (Politico), or by for-profit corporations whose profits depend upon staying in the good graces of the U.S. government (Kaplan/The Washington Post), or by loyalists to one of the two major political parties (National Review/TPM/countless others), but it's an intrinsic violation of journalistic integrity to work for a media outlet owned by the Russian government. Where did that rule come from?

Also, while it's certainly true that the coverage of RT is at times overly deferential to the Russian government, that media outlet never mindlessly disseminated government propaganda to help to start a falsehood-fueled devastating war, the way that Alessandra Stanley's employer (along with most leading American media outlets) did. When it comes to destruction brought about by uncritical media fealty to government propaganda, RT — as the Russia expert Mark Adomanis documented when American media figures began attacking RT  – is far behind virtually all of the corporate employers of its American media critics.

Edit: Incidentally as well as giving Assange a show that New Statesman article gets the curious merging of the whole 'hacktivist' culture and Kremlin interests. It is very reminiscent of the German Peace Movement and CND in the 80s

[Ed Anger]

I block all news channels that come from creepy regimes.

CCTV? Blocked
Al-jaz? Blocked
MSNBC? Blocked

[Jacob]

[Admiral Yi]

I block all news channels that come from creepy regimes.

CCTV? Blocked
Al-jaz? Blocked
MSNBC? Blocked

Greenwald doubles down!

Why is that dodgy British pro-Saddam PM not weighing in Shelf?  This seems custom-made for him.

[Sheilbh]

Why is that dodgy British pro-Saddam PM not weighing in Shelf?  This seems custom-made for him.

George Galloway?

He's said the odd thing, not least on his own RT show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVsBw0zjss8

Edit: Of course he's never been relevant. I think everyone's just tired of him.

[Neil]

And there's the anti-West on the left.

Sure I can get being anti-West but being pro-Russian?  Worst left wingers ever.  I mean that is like a Libertarian expressing his love for China....or actually Russia as well.

I don't think that Yi ever said they were pro-Russian.  I certainly didn't get that impression.  But Stop The War will support anyone who would wage aggressive war against the West's interests.

[Siege]

With Raz I have to read using the three-step process for critical reading:
(1) pre-read and anticipate;
(2) read and analyze;
(3) reread and annotate.

[Hansmeister]

The position you take on who is at fault in this situation, seems to map pretty neatly onto leading anti-war figures. And the anti-war movement itself hasn't spent their time criticising Russia but blaming the US and the EU (see the Stop the War Coalitions '10 things about Crimea). There are honourable exceptions of course.

Having said that there's not been any surprises to me so far. Generally the hacks and politicians I'd expect to back Russia in this situation, have.

I looked it up. It is unbelieveable.

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/news/ten-things-to-remember-about-the-crisis-in-ukraine-and-the-crimea

These people are like the leftists Orwell was writing about. 'Imperialist war is bad mkay ... oh, but if Russia is doing it ... '

I don't get it. Russia isn't even pretending to be Communist any more. Why are these folks still backing them?

Funny how you guys have finally caught up to what I was saying over a decade ago about the "anti war" movement. Back in 2002 I infiltrated some of their earliest gatherings and it was quite clear that they were all suffering from oikophobia "fear of the familiar".  Creatures of the west who feel the need to reject their own heritage.  I blame Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, The Last Samurai, Avatar etc.

[crazy canuck]

Hey Hans, we were just talking about the far right.

[Jacob]

Funny how you guys have finally caught up to what I was saying over a decade ago about the "anti war" movement. Back in 2002 I infiltrated some of their earliest gatherings and it was quite clear that they were all suffering from oikophobia "fear of the familiar".  Creatures of the west who feel the need to reject their own heritage.  I blame Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, The Last Samurai, Avatar etc.

How's it going Hans?

[Siege]

So, let me get this right.
The anti-war movement is backing Russia?

I want to know what's Cindy Sheehan position on this war.

[Siege]

So, Cindy Sheehan run for office in 2008 against Pelosi.


"Sheehan ran on a platform of single-payer health care, media reform, overturning all free trade agreements, repealing the Patriot Act, renewable energy, nationalizing oil and electricity, ending the War on Drugs, legalizing cannabis, ensuring all talks in the Middle East are fair to all parties, ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp, overseas commitment to cleaning up Superfund sites, ending deregulation, ending No Child Left Behind, and legalizing same-sex marriage. Sheehan lost the 2008 election to the incumbent Pelosi. In a seven-way race, Sheehan came in second with 46,118 votes (16.14%) to Pelosi's 71.56%."


I think she is a communist.

[garbon]

So, Cindy Sheehan run for office in 2008 against Pelosi.

Duh, I posted about it at the time as she was someone I was eligible to vote for.