Category: The Current Situation
Arnie posted a video of an intense, impressive, and impassioned speech to the Russian people and government. It cites his connection to Russia through his idol, Yury Petrovitch Vlasov, multiple world record-breaking weightlifter, his work on Red Heat — the first American film to shoot on location in Red Square (and hey, who doesn’t remember “COCAINUM!”?)…
…and he even cites the story of his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, who was a Nazi Brownshirt and took part in the attack on Leningrad in WWII:
Now let me tell you: When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. And when he left Leningrad, he was broken, physically and mentally.
He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years, and pain from the guilt that he felt.
He also commends the people in Russia who are protesting the war, commending them for their courage (remember, protesting the war can land you a 15-year jail sentence).
The video is subtitled in both Russian and English. It was originally posted on Twitter, but copies have been floating around in various places online, and it will probably become hot “samizdata” if it hasn’t already done so.
As long as we’re watching Arnie sending important political messages, let’s watch his message on the Capitol riot of January 6th, 2021:
Before you buy into yesterday’s statement by Eric Trump — the dumbest of Donald Trump’s sons (and he’s up against some stiff competition) — that Putin’s KGB training allowed him to see that Trump was a strong person…
Eric Trump: Putin was in with the KGB. He can read people and he could tell that Donald Trump was a very strong person pic.twitter.com/1BqhstcUMP
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 15, 2022
…consider for a moment these recent headlines of Trump’s inability to criticize Putin in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
- Rolling Stone — Trump Refuses to Condemn Putin Despite Sean Hannity Practically Begging Him To
- Washington Post — Sean Hannity’s remarkable, failed attempts to get Trump to call Putin ‘evil’
- The Guardian — Trump ‘admired’ Putin’s ability to ‘kill whoever’, says Stephanie Grisham
- Vanity Fair — Despite Hannity’s Best Efforts, Trump’s Mouth Is Incapable of Forming the Words “Vladimir Putin Is Evil”
- Politico — ‘I got along’: Trump avoids criticizing Putin
- The Atlantic — Congressional Republicans Have Found Their Red Line
- The Wall Street Journal — Putin’s Groupies Walk Back Their Praise
- New York Magazine — How Trump and Putin Have Been Allies Against Ukraine
- The Independent — Trump dodges opportunity call Putin ‘evil’ in Hannity interview
- CNN — Trump has been on Putin’s side in Ukraine’s long struggle against Russian aggression
- The Daily Beast — Even Hannity Can’t Get Trump to Admit Putin Is ‘Evil’
- Business Insider — Stephanie Grisham says Trump greatly admired Putin and ‘wanted to be able to kill whoever spoke out against him’
- Business Insider — Ex-Trump national security advisor John Bolton says ‘Putin Saw Trump doing a lot of his work for him,’ so he chose not to invade Ukraine
- MSNBC — Trump demurs when encouraged by an ally to criticize Putin
Eric Trump is right, but not in the way he thinks. Putin did read Trump correctly, but Putin’s assessment wasn’t that Trump was a string person, but quite manifestly the opposite. Putin knew he was dealing with someone who was half-man, half-marshmallow.
Just look at the differences in their body language at the 2018 summit in Helsinki, where he chose to listen to Putin over the FBI about Russian election interference:
Trump has said far worse things about allies than he has about dictators. He admires dictators, in that way that weak people admire brutality, in the hope that maybe one day, they’ll get to be the oppressor. That’s not strength at all.
Also worth reading: A whole lot of links on Trump, Putin, Russia, and Ukraine
In the video above, Irina Maniukhina, a professional pianist in Bila Tserkva, a town 80 km (50 miles) south of Kyiv, said goodbye to her home by playing her piano before fleeing from further attacks.
I can’t blame her — if it were me, I’d also play it one last time, too. Her playing is quite good, and she’s not playing easy pieces, either.
A bomb had landed about 10 meters (about 30 feet) from the house, which was still standing but strewn with debris. With the notable exception of one of its “G” keys, the piano seems undamaged and only a little scuffed.
Maniukhina started by playing the first few bars of Schubert’s Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2, followed by Chopin’s Etude Op. 25 No. 1.
(It should be noted that Chopin fled Poland shortly before the November Uprising, a rebellion against the Imperial Russia.)
Her daughter Karina recorded the video and shared it on TikTok, where she captioned it with “Do not judge, my mother is a professional pianist and decided to play to let go of this case.”
As her mother played, Karina walked through the house to record the destruction. Here are some stills from that portion of the video:
Here’s a report that includes quotes from Karina: Ukrainian mum defiantly plays piano to ‘say goodbye’ to bombed home in heartbreaking clip.
An excerpt:
Karina said that her mother wanted to play to help forget about the war.
She said: “It wasn’t a sad moment. My mother just wanted to let go of unnecessary thoughts, and I remembered events in our house with a smile.
“She wanted to forget about the war and her worries for our safety. She’s been playing all her life and she even graduated as a pianist.
“Since there was a lot of ash and dust in the keys and everyone was in a state of shock, she could not play for a long time.”
Categories
Now THAT’s branding!
This is Stepan, a cat with an amusing Instagram account (@loveyoustepan). Under normal circumstances, he lives in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Here’s Stepan’s most recent post:
Мы живы! 🇺🇦❤️ Люди, остановите войну! Российская армия продолжает бомбить мирное население Украины! #stopwar
#ukraine #uaразом #kharkov мой город😭😭💔
Translation (courtesy of Google Translate):
We are alive! 🇺🇦❤️ People, stop the war! The Russian army continues to bomb the civilian population of Ukraine! #stopwar
#ukraine # uarazom #kharkov my city😭😭💔
I’ll close with a couple more photos. Click them to see the originals:
For your edification, here’s a selection of links that illustrate Trump’s being a Putin fanboy, the Republican Party’s and alt-right’s fandom of Russia, and of course, how it all relates to the current situation in Ukraine.
2016
Washington Post, September 9, 2016 — Trump moves praise for Putin closer to the mainstream of the GOP
Business Insider, December 10, 2016 — ‘A model for civilization’: Putin’s Russia has emerged as ‘a beacon for nationalists’ and the American alt-right
QZ, December 22, 2016 — How Russia surpassed Germany to become the racist ideal for Trump-loving white supremacists
2017
Daily Beast, April 13, 2017 — Meet the Moscow Mouthpiece Married to a Racist Alt-Right Boss
Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2017 — Donald Trump’s peculiar obsession with authoritarian leaders
Newsweek, August 16, 2017 — Charlottesville’s Alt-right Leaders Have a Passion for Vladimir Putin
2018
ThinkProgress, June 10, 2018 — Why is this Pizzagate truther meeting with a Russian neo-fascist?
Washington Post, July 16, 2018 — Trump is a Putin fanboy. Someday we’ll know why.
Politico, July 16, 2018 — Putin: I wanted Trump to win the election
League of the South, July 17, 2018 — To our Russian friends
Angry White Men, July 22, 2018 — Russia Insider Mixes Pro-Putin And White Nationalist Propaganda
2019
Politico, September 21, 2019 — Trump Didn’t Bribe Ukraine. It’s Actually Worse Than That.
American Progress, October 2, 2019 — Trump’s Extortion of Ukraine: A Complete Government Shakedown
New York Times, November 12, 2019 — Trump, Ukraine and Impeachment: The Inside Story of How We Got Here
Just Security, November 26, 2019 — Trump’s Hold on Ukrainian Military Aid was Illegal
NPR, December 6, 2019 — Why The Trump Decision To Delay Aid To Ukraine Is Under Scrutiny
Center for Public Integrity, December 13, 2019 — Timeline: How Trump withheld Ukraine aid
Foreign Policy, December 18, 2019 — In Historic Vote, House Impeaches Trump Over Ukraine Scandal
BBC, December 19, 2019 — Trump impeachment: How Ukraine story unfolded
Wikipedia’s entry on the Trump-Ukraine scandal
2020
USA Today, January 30, 2020 — Trump is being impeached over an extortion scheme, not a ‘policy dispute’
BBC, February 5, 2020 — Trump impeachment: The short, medium and long story
Just Security, February 6, 2020 — Confronting Russia’s Role in Transnational White Supremacist Extremism
Forbes, August 18, 2020 — Trump Wrote Putin To Congratulate Him On Being Named TIME Person Of The Year
2021
The Atlantic, August 1, 2021 — What I Heard in the White House Basement [by Alexander Vindman]
Business Insider, August 20, 2021 — Trump told Putin ‘I’m a big fan of yours’ and asked him to be the guest of honor at a Miss Universe pageant, in a series of fawning letters
Forbes, December 8, 2021 — Tucker Carlson Accused Of Promoting Russian Propaganda As Putin Masses Forces On Ukraine Border
2022
MSNBC, January 21, 2022 — It’s not just Tucker Carlson. The right’s soft spot for Putin is also well documented.
“I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine…I do care about the fact that in my community right now the leading cause of death among 18-45 year olds is Mexican fentanyl that’s coming across the southern border.” – @JDVance1 #OHSen pic.twitter.com/nf6MUzdWM5
— JD Vance for U.S. Senate Press (@JDVancePress) February 19, 2022
Haaretz, February 19, 2022 — Tucker Carlson, Josh Hawley and Donald Trump: Putin’s Dream Team, but America’s Worst Nightmare
NBC News, February 22, 2022 — Trump praises Putin’s ‘genius’ as GOP fissures grow on Ukraine crisis
Yahoo! News, February 24, 2022 — Trump, who was impeached for withholding nearly $400 million in military aid from Ukraine, said ‘this deadly Ukraine situation would never have happened’ if he were in office
Politico, February 24, 2022 — How the Ukraine invasion connects to Trump’s first impeachment — and where the players are now
Vice, February 25, 2022 — US Extremists Have Picked a Side in Ukraine: ‘Lol Putin Is Brilliant’
Vice, February 25, 2022 — Why Putin’s M.O. Feels So Right to Trumpists
New York Times, February 27, 2022 — How the American Right Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Russia
The New Yorker, March 1, 2022 — The Ambassador Caught Between Ukraine and Trump
Slate, March 2, 2022 — Zelensky’s “Perfect Phone Call” With Trump in 2019 Explains a Lot Right Now
AP News, March 5, 2022 — Trump’s praise of Putin, ‘America First’ view tested by war
Newsweek, March 6, 2022 — Liz Cheney Blasts ‘Putin Wing of the GOP’ After Ret. Col. Macgregor’s Zelensky Remarks
The Hill, March 6, 2022 — Russia and the Republicans
Boston Globe, March 7, 2022 — With Ukraine under attack, Trump’s first impeachment is suddenly much more relevant
CNN, March 8, 2022 — This Republican is trying to rewrite the history of Trump’s ‘perfect’ call with Ukraine
NPR, March 8, 2022 — Russia’s invasion puts a new light on Trump’s Ukraine pressure campaign
Rolling Stone, March 8, 2022 — Fox News’ Invasion Expert Is a Trump-Appointed Putin Propagandist Who Thinks Russia Is Being ‘Too Gentle’