Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging thinktanker, aspiring novelist, "tribal elder", 2019 parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, "Speedboat", "The Cockroach", eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me.
Friday, 17 August 2012
Caging The Pussy
Perhaps these silly women with their silly name will now grow up.
Silly, sure. Naive, yep. But not stupid, and their appeal to the Russian Holy Fool tradition and to Dostoevsky is interesting, and their words reflect an intelligence not so common in U.S. anarchist circles.
I have no problem with them being arrested and thrown in the pokey for a bit. But two years is a ridiculous overreaction to a protest that lasted less than one minute and didn't damage any property.
As of course you know, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which they have defiled, was previously demolished on the orders of Stalin in order to make way for a swimming pool.
Its restoration embodies the restoration of Holy Russia, pre-eminent among the Slavs in their age-old mission of defending the true Western civilisation that is the recapitulation in Jesus Christ and His Church of all three of the Old Israel, Hellenism and the Roman Empire, at least as much against the godless, rootless, usury-based, stupefied, promiscuous pseudo-West as against anything else.
That pseudo-West would seem to be summed up perfectly by this "Pussy Riot". Or are they demonstrating against the reversal of Stalinism? If so, then they are in line with the only viable political alternative to Putin and Medvedev, the totally unreconstructed Communist Party of the Russian Federation, notable for its Soviet flags at demonstrations.
Banners on which British reporters cannot bring themselves to comment, any more than on the equally ubiquitous black, yellow and white of Russian ultranationalism in all its anti-modern, anti-urban, anti-scientific and anti-Semitic awfulness. Russian ultranationalism in opposition to the present Russian Government.
If it is not those, then it is the Caucasian Islamists. Or else the National Bolsheviks, whose flag is that of Nazi Germany, but with a black hammer and sickle in place of the swastika. The National Bolsheviks are much loved by the BBC. Well, of course they are.
Now, any chance of letting me read your blog again, please? I have not looked at it since before it went invitation-only. But I really should.
It is the silly season....and this is one way that silliness manifests itself. I am a supporter of Amnesty International and I am invited to an event (no date yet) to protest this. Im not exactly sure it is worthy of Amnesty intervention but I will go for the craic. Should make an excellent subject for my blog and now that Im 60.....I dont get out much. Still if they had done this in Mecca or Riyadh....Im not sure there would have been a trial.
Well, the two years will no doubt be a bit tough, but the book deal and other media deals coming for them will probably make the wait a little more pleasant.
I'm not so confident that +Kirill, who made the Moscow Patriarchate a fortune by getting it a corner on the tobacco and alcohol markets in Russia, and who likes to wear $50,000 watches, is the man to take a strong stand against usury and capitalism. But there are certainly influential anti-capitalist / humane economy elements within the Russian Church, and may they prosper.
I am not sure if they deserved this sentence. I may have levied a large fine instead (if such an option existed for the Russian judge). Prison is always a very serious punishment, even if it is for only two years. Plus, these silly women will now be made into martyrs when they do not deserve it, thus I think a hefty financial punishment would have been more appropriate.
However, the United States is in no position to charge Russia with human rights abuses. Americans are still debating the pros and cons of torture in the 21st century. Our justice system is quite harsh, and essentially no effort is made to end the epidemic of sexual and other forms of violence in our own prisons.
Did you happen to read their closing statements:
ReplyDeletehttp://nplusonemag.com/pussy-riot-closing-statements
Silly, sure. Naive, yep. But not stupid, and their appeal to the Russian Holy Fool tradition and to Dostoevsky is interesting, and their words reflect an intelligence not so common in U.S. anarchist circles.
I have no problem with them being arrested and thrown in the pokey for a bit. But two years is a ridiculous overreaction to a protest that lasted less than one minute and didn't damage any property.
As of course you know, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which they have defiled, was previously demolished on the orders of Stalin in order to make way for a swimming pool.
ReplyDeleteIts restoration embodies the restoration of Holy Russia, pre-eminent among the Slavs in their age-old mission of defending the true Western civilisation that is the recapitulation in Jesus Christ and His Church of all three of the Old Israel, Hellenism and the Roman Empire, at least as much against the godless, rootless, usury-based, stupefied, promiscuous pseudo-West as against anything else.
That pseudo-West would seem to be summed up perfectly by this "Pussy Riot". Or are they demonstrating against the reversal of Stalinism? If so, then they are in line with the only viable political alternative to Putin and Medvedev, the totally unreconstructed Communist Party of the Russian Federation, notable for its Soviet flags at demonstrations.
Banners on which British reporters cannot bring themselves to comment, any more than on the equally ubiquitous black, yellow and white of Russian ultranationalism in all its anti-modern, anti-urban, anti-scientific and anti-Semitic awfulness. Russian ultranationalism in opposition to the present Russian Government.
If it is not those, then it is the Caucasian Islamists. Or else the National Bolsheviks, whose flag is that of Nazi Germany, but with a black hammer and sickle in place of the swastika. The National Bolsheviks are much loved by the BBC. Well, of course they are.
Now, any chance of letting me read your blog again, please? I have not looked at it since before it went invitation-only. But I really should.
It is the silly season....and this is one way that silliness manifests itself. I am a supporter of Amnesty International and I am invited to an event (no date yet) to protest this.
ReplyDeleteIm not exactly sure it is worthy of Amnesty intervention but I will go for the craic. Should make an excellent subject for my blog and now that Im 60.....I dont get out much.
Still if they had done this in Mecca or Riyadh....Im not sure there would have been a trial.
...FitzjamesHorse
Well, the two years will no doubt be a bit tough, but the book deal and other media deals coming for them will probably make the wait a little more pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so confident that +Kirill, who made the Moscow Patriarchate a fortune by getting it a corner on the tobacco and alcohol markets in Russia, and who likes to wear $50,000 watches, is the man to take a strong stand against usury and capitalism. But there are certainly influential anti-capitalist / humane economy elements within the Russian Church, and may they prosper.
That is what Dominicans are for.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if they deserved this sentence. I may have levied a large fine instead (if such an option existed for the Russian judge). Prison is always a very serious punishment, even if it is for only two years. Plus, these silly women will now be made into martyrs when they do not deserve it, thus I think a hefty financial punishment would have been more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the United States is in no position to charge Russia with human rights abuses. Americans are still debating the pros and cons of torture in the 21st century. Our justice system is quite harsh, and essentially no effort is made to end the epidemic of sexual and other forms of violence in our own prisons.