The Pro-Putin Left

[Wilf]

To add to to the general sense of depression View attachment 316909

Is that genuine? I could just about imagine galloway doing it, but can't find any reference to this picture online. Admittedly, my abilities to search through social media are roughly 0/10.

 

[Shechemite]

Is that genuine? I could just about imagine galloway doing it, but can't find any reference to this picture online. Admittedly, my abilities to search through social media are roughly 0/10.

Didn’t want to clog up the thread with twitter links

 

[Dystopiary]

Is that genuine? I could just about imagine galloway doing it, but can't find any reference to this picture online. Admittedly, my abilities to search through social media are roughly 0/10.

Afraid it is, yeah. [Hashtag his son's name] in the tweet is real too.

 

[Wilf]

Didn’t want to clog up the thread with twitter links

Cheers.

Quite astonishing.

 

[LDC]

Is that genuine? I could just about imagine galloway doing it, but can't find any reference to this picture online. Admittedly, my abilities to search through social media are roughly 0/10.

It's on his Twitter. As is stuff starting to deny any war crimes now.

It makes me think of that Mitchell and Webb "Are we the baddies?" sketch. Like at no point does he think, oh hang on a minute, I'm sitting in my nice house in wherever and denying any war crimes have happened and Putin is lovely, is it actually me that might be wrong?

 

[LDC]

Cheers.

Quite astonishing.

It's pretty mind-blowing isn't it? I mean it's even a few steps up from the common currency of just being soft on Putin, blaming NATO, etc.

Like he's actually got a fascist (just rabidly nationalist and militaristic if you want to be charitable) symbol shaved in his kid's hair and then Tweeted it at the same time soldiers bearing that symbol are committing war crimes that are all over the news.

 

[Dystopiary]

The replies are something else, cheering him on. He laps it up of course.

And Stop the War still have him on board. Wrong uns.

 

[emanymton]

I can more or less understand a position of it's all the fault of NATO, I can understand a completely pacifist position.

I cannot understand an outright pro Russia position from anyone not on the extreme right.

 

[Wilf]

Suppose being in the pay of the Russian (and previously Iranian and Assad) governments helps a bit.

 

[emanymton]

I wonder if anyone has raised the Galloway thing with Stop the War? I was thinking of sending them an email to see what response I would get if any, but they don't even have an email address on the website.

 

[hitmouse]

Given that they still have Fiona Edwards as one of their officers, together with whatever-the-fuck is going on over on the Oxford StW thread, I wouldn't be too optimistic:

Does anyone know what Shelly Asquith's politics are like? I just know her as someone who sometimes writes some fairly decent articles about union stuff, apparently she's their chair?

 

[emanymton]

Given that they still have Fiona Edwards as one of their officers, together with whatever-the-fuck is going on over on the Oxford StW thread, I wouldn't be too optimistic:

Does anyone know what Shelly Asquith's politics are like? I just know her as someone who sometimes writes some fairly decent articles about union stuff, apparently she's their chair?

Wow, she is something isn't she.

 

[RD2003]

I can more or less understand a position of it's all the fault of NATO, I can understand a completely pacifist position.

I cannot understand an outright pro Russia position from anyone not on the extreme right.

I can. The radical left collapsed around 1989-91, and was never rebuilt, perhaps due to objective circumstances. Given that, the current mess, with a small band of 'anti-imperialists' shading into pro-Putinism, faced with a larger left opposition, where anarchism can make common cause with Blairism (or 'Starmerism' if you like), that can't decide what it stands for-at the moment it seems, at bottom, to be neo-liberalism and NATO, combined with some flaccid 'humanitarianism'-was probably inevitable.

When all good choices have been removed by history, people have to plump for one of these grotesque options.

 

[RD2003]

Making your child (as surely it wasn't his choice) have an arguably fascist (if not that then a highly militaristic and nationalist) symbol shaved into his hair, and then take a photo for your own social media, at the time as those wearing that symbol are being accused of war crimes in Ukraine is about as low as you can get.

It really isn't as low as you get. A daft attempt at provocation or genuine belief, it doesn't matter from a thousand miles away. But as far as 'how low can you go' gets, people are probably doing worse stuff down your street or mine right now.

 

[RD2003]

Given that they still have Fiona Edwards as one of their officers, together with whatever-the-fuck is going on over on the Oxford StW thread, I wouldn't be too optimistic:

Does anyone know what Shelly Asquith's politics are like? I just know her as someone who sometimes writes some fairly decent articles about union stuff, apparently she's their chair?

I don't have much time for Socialist Action (to whom I think Fiona Edwards belongs, although I could be wrong), but when did the main enemy of the radical left/ anarchism stop being at home?

 

[Wilf]

I can. The radical left collapsed around 1989-91, and was never rebuilt, perhaps due to objective circumstances. Given that, the current mess, with a small band of 'anti-imperialists' shading into pro-Putinism, faced with a larger left opposition, where anarchism can make common cause with Blairism (or 'Starmerism' if you like), that can't decide what it stands for-at the moment it seems, at bottom, to be neo-liberalism and NATO, combined with some flaccid 'humanitarianism'-was probably inevitable.

When all good choices have been removed by history, people have to plump for one of these grotesque options.

That's quite an impressive mix of haughty superiority and flaccid windbaggery.

 

[RD2003]

That's quite an impressive mix of haughty superiority and flaccid windbaggery.

Well I try to do my fucking best.

 

[Riklet]

some of these cunts are def on the list to be sorted out asap CTR....

 

[frogwoman]

I agree with the sentiment but to be honest that 'CTR' shit and various soviet larping has definitely helped Putin's propaganda along. Simonyan of RT and the rest know this

 

[Dystopiary]

Well this is quite something. Fiona Edwards (STW) again, defending someone who - under her name you can see "Chinese state-affiliated media":

Fiona Edwards on Li Jinjing (twitter)

The original AP article is here. You could argue it's sexist, or that it's just stating how there's a particular trend going on:




Either way, of all the women she could think of to defend, as a member of an anti-war movement, at this time, it seems bizarre.

 

[RD2003]

Well this is quite something. Fiona Edwards (STW) again, defending someone who - under her name you can see "Chinese state-affiliated media":

Fiona Edwards on Li Jinjing (twitter)

The original AP article is here. You could argue it's sexist, or that it's just stating how there's a particular trend going on:

View attachment 317005


Either way, of all the women she could think of to defend, as a member of an anti-war movement, at this time, it seems bizarre.

It isn't at all bizarre when you consider what I say in post 133. And if Fiona is Socialist Action, their former (?) guru John Ross has long been widely considered a China schill. Which means that what he comes out with will often be wrong, but also sometimes right...

There is nothing anybody is ever going to do about such people being at the head of STWC and suchlike. But only left politicos, and the few on the right who are unhealthily obsessed with the left, even know about STWC.

 

[tim]

It really isn't as low as you get. A daft attempt at provocation or genuine belief, it doesn't matter from a thousand miles away. But as far as 'how low can you go' gets, people are probably doing worse stuff down your street or mine right now.

Galloway has, certainly, done much worse.

 

[RD2003]

Galloway has done much worse.

Maybe he has, but the Z is surely one of his minor crimes.

We should all remember that Galloway can go about his activities unhindered by anything like the FSB etc etc.

It's easy to forget how lucky we all are.

 

[tim]

Maybe he has, but the Z is surely one of his minor crimes.

We should all remember that Galloway can go about his activities unhindered by anything like the FSB etc etc.

It's easy to forget how lucky we all are.

Unhindered!

He's "lucky" and unscrupulous enough to be funded by the Russians or indeed any other despots who are willing to push cash his way

 

[RD2003]

Unhindered!

He's "lucky" and unscrupulous enough to be funded by the Russians or indeed any other despots who are willing to push cash his way

I don't know if he is or isn't. But he's still here, isn't he?

Like much of contemporary life, this is fucking theatre, and distracts us all.

 

[tim]

I don't know if he is or isn't. But he's still here, isn't he?

Like much of contemporary life, this is fucking theatre, and distracts us all.

He works for Russia Today and Sputnik both Russian state owned broadcasters. I can't imagine that you don't know that. He's a lead actor in the theatre of distraction.

 

[RD2003]

He works for Russia Today and Sputnik both Russian state owned broadcasters. I can't imagine that you don't know that. He's a lead actor in the theatre of distraction.

I do know it. But if he is, so what? It's all part of the big circus in which we now live, isn't it?

Like the war in Ukraine itself, we can plump for a side. It's already clear who the good guys are, so we've alreay had our briefing. We get up, scratch our sweaty scrotums (well I do anyway. sometimes), have a shower, make a strong coffee and then take our positions in front of the laptop/phone. Telly on in the background, news on loop.

There are worse ways to spend our time, and nothing happens to us. Main enemy is yourself. Vicarious joys await us even while we're aware of the inevitable comedown. Disappointments too; you can't have it all...

Later in the day we can walk the dog, get a bit philosophical and pretend to weep for the victims of war. Beer awaits.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Galloway who considers himself to be a real Celt would probably have no issues

Redirect Notice

Referring to Galloway’s bid for election to the Scottish Parliament and his Celebrity Big Brother appearance in which he pretended to be cat, Yousaf replied that he suspected “the voters of Scotland will show you the cat flap again come 6th May.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The state of this fucker

He's even got a poll on this.



Needles to say, most of the replies are depressing.

Spoiler: Screenshots in case it disappears at some point.

 

[NoXion]

It really isn't as low as you get. A daft attempt at provocation or genuine belief, it doesn't matter from a thousand miles away. But as far as 'how low can you go' gets, people are probably doing worse stuff down your street or mine right now.

Do you really think responding to what is obviously rhetoric with this kind of whataboutery achieves anything useful? No, shaving a symbol of an unprovoked military invasion (which we now know is accompanied by war crimes) into the side of a child's head isn't the absolute worst thing one can do, but it's still disgusting.