As US/NATO Gets Desperate, Putin is Likened to Stalin, his (alleged) 'Lover' is said to 'Live like a Czarina'

Meanwhile, Politico Admits to Publish Just One-Sided Op-Eds: Just Another Day at the Office, I suppose

This is too delicate not to share.

Opinions For Me, But Not For Thee

Last week, Liam Hoare published an op-ed in Politico, arguing that ‘the view that country can remain neutral, balancing the interests of Russia and the West, while also being part of the West, is no longer morally or politically tenable’.

I’ve written about it last week (see here).

Then I’ve composed a ‘reply’ that I sent to Politico, which they—as is their right—refused to publish, citing the following reason:

Opinions for me, but not for thee, it seems, is what the good people over at Politico do.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I didn’t know (expect) or the like, but it’s ‘nice’ to have confirmation of such ‘bias’ in ‘liberal media’.

Six (?) Degrees to Adolf Hitler

A while ago, I’ve written a longer piece on the inanities masquerading as ‘expert opinion’ in Western legacy media, that is, allegations that Vladimir Putin—much like, say, Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milošević (see also here)—is ‘just’ another incarnation of Hitler. Please refer to this piece (German version here):

Putin = Hitler and Other Moronic Activities: An Enquiry into 'Historical Analogies' and Legacy Media Gaslighting

As an almost comical aside, since we’re ‘playing’ this wonderful parlour game, here’s another fun one:

Here’s The Observer’s John R. Schindler who, in late December 2017, came up with this creative ‘Warning: Donald Trump Is America’s Slobodan Milošević’, adding that, ‘so far, America has avoided the fate of Yugoslavia’.

Two things: first, it makes Mr. Trump exactly once removed from Hitler (if Milošević was Hitler); and, second, Mr. Schindler wrote this before the Summer of Love George Floyd Riots of 2020. But I digress.

Putin is No (Longer) Hitler. He’s now ‘Like Stalin’

That is, according to infamous Zero Covid Hawk and notorious Russophobe Thomas Mayer. Writing the notoriously woke-fied Der Standard, Mr. Mayer ‘explains’ (my translation and emphases):

Europe is Not Ready for War

EU member-states stand by Ukraine, but lack weapons and ammunition for effective help | Op-ed, by Thomas Mayer, 10 March 2023

War has been raging in Ukraine for a good year. Slowly but surely, the Russian war machine is pillaging its way into the EU's neighbouring country. There is no sign of hesitation or retreat. The smaller Ukrainian army is resisting as best it can, but is showing the first signs of fatigue. Military experts describe the situation in simple terms like this:

Russian warfare is reminiscent of Stalin. Vladimir Putin lets his soldiers fight without regard for their own losses. They are not as well trained as the Ukrainians, their material is outdated. The commanders compensate for this with all the greater use of ‘human material’.

Thousands of young Russian men are deliberately sent to their deaths unprotected in order to keep up the pressure. Along the way, entire cities are razed to the ground.

They are opposed by the Ukrainians, relatively well trained. They are better at "smart" warfare, including the use of killer drones. Above all, they are much more motivated. The population fully supports them. But the question is how long they will hold out.

I’ll spare you the rest. The gist is:

Putin is now Stalin, apparently, perhaps because it’s getting quite hard to deny the existence of Neonazis among Ukraine’s fiercest defenders. I’ve written about this topic quite extensively, and here are two long-form essays that appeared in Propaganda in Focus: one from spring 2022 and another one from earlier this year.

The main issue, it seems, is that the war is taking place ‘next door’. Now, I don’t even have to ‘speculate’ whether or not this is ‘racist’, for we all know that the tender souls (muahaha) of the woke war hawks are not moved by, say, the victims of the recent earthquake in Türkiye, the plight of the civilians in Yemen (since 2015), to say nothing about Syria or Libya. Or Palestine, for that matter.

Mr. Mayer also employs the well-known tropes that also characterised earlier iterations of ‘Western’ forays into Russia, incl., most prominently, Hitler’s invasion.

Bonus Feature: Putin’s (Alleged) ‘Lover lives Like a Tsarina’

To wrap this up, here’s another supremely moronic ahistorical reference, courtesy of the tabloid Österreich (but I’m sure this has been picked up elsewhere, too; as before, my translation and emphases):

Putin’s Lover: Living Like a Tsarina

Now, of all times, in the middle of the war, it has come to light how much Putin's secret lover lives in luxury. An investigative team is now revealing their incredible fortune.

[Putin’s] secret lover is, of course, none other than former gymnast Alina Kabayeva (39). The Kremlin boss is said to have divorced his then-wife Lyudmila (65) fifteen years ago for the world's most bendable [orig. beugsam, i.e., lit. pliable] gymnast…

This has now been uncovered by an investigative team (Proekt) led by the Russian journalist Roman Bodanin. They make clear how exclusively and the Russian Tsar Putin lives and how he hides his enormous fortune via a corporate network with old Soviet friends.

So, Putin is Stalin. Or a Tsar. But that’s only possible because of 'a corporate network with old Soviet friends’. It might read like a crappy movie starring, say, Steven Seagal or the like, but this is what passes for ‘journalism’ these days.

As an aside, do note that, while working for the Russian government before, Roman Bodanin (Wikipedia entry) has been at Stanford (profile) since 2017, and his ‘investigative news outlet’, Proekt, has a wonderful picture montage on the subject matter, too:

Needless to say, Bodanin’s outlet has been favourably cited by, among others, the New York Times, Fox News, and The Telegraph.

Background ‘information’ on Proekt may be obtained here (Guardian) or here (Meduza)—reader discretion is advised.

I’ve tried—unsuccessfully—to find information about Proekt’s funding. All I’ve found, so far, is this bit from a piece on Russia Today, which appeared on 15 July 2021 (and which comes with comparable caveats):

Proekt's finances have been the subject of speculation, given it is said to have significant sums available for payroll and special projects. The European Endowment for Democracy, an EU non-governmental organization, is said to be a significant funding partner for the group.

Whatever the European Endowment for Democracy may or may not be (see here for it’s ‘About us’ page), and leaving aside associations of the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (a CIA front), if RT is correct about Proekt’s funding, it makes Bodanin and his outlet—irrespective of whether or not the reporting is correct—part of the West’s war on Russia.

Stranger things have happened than that (here’s looking at you, e.g., Meduza).

Buyer beware, is all I’m saying.