In 2022, I decided to take a stance on being called "Russian". I'm a Russian-speaker born in the USSR, but not Russian ethnically or, most importantly, ethically.
I'm a Moldovan-American, and I hope that in 2 days, thanks to two women, I will be proud of both sides of this hyphen https://t.co/g10qVWuSco— Slava Malamud šŗš¦š®š± (@SlavaMalamud) November 4, 2024
The inimitable Slava Malamud is an(other) argument in favor of immigration. From his substack, Slava Does America: “Yes, Let’s Get Offended!: It’s the Jokesters Who are Always the Snowflakes”:
… You know, people have often accused me of only supporting the Democrats because I want to ābring the Communist Rusherā to America. Indeed, this is pretty much the essence of Trumpās campaign: that immigrants come to the US and bring their shithole countries with them. I mean, to me, it may seem nonsensical that someone who grew up standing in line for inedible sausages would want to experience these unforgettable moments again. But if you are a kind of person who believes that the circumstances of oneās birth once and for all defines who they are and what they will do if given a chance, I guess, this is the only thing that can make sense.
In reality, though, there is nothing I want less than seeing my childhood being played out on Americaās shores. And, more pertinently, there is nothing that reminds me of both Soviet and post-Soviet Russia more than the Republican Party of the United States. And itās not just because both entities are enormous piles of garbage in every possible sense of the word.
In the early 2000s, just as Russia was getting ready to abandon its short-lived flirtation with democracy and giddily plunge back into tyranny and imperialism, criticism of America began dominating its discourse. It was as if Russians tried to frantically apologize to themselves for a decade or so of worshipping everything American-made, from the freedom of speech to the soap operas. And one of the first targets of Russian scorn was the āpolitkorrektnostā, Americaās ostensible PC police. In general, the trope went like this: āAmericaās freedom of speech is totally fake because you canāt call blacks Negroes, canāt compliment women on their looks and canāt tell a joke without losing your job!ā
That last part upset Russians terribly, which is not a surprise to anyone who has lived there for any period of time. Russians would rather lose their liver to brake fluid than their right to tell vulgar, offensive ethnic jokes and use racial slurs, particularly towards Jews and dark-skinned people. Back then, Russian soccer fans, for example, knew no better entertainment than to throw a banana at a player of African descent. Many a newspaper page was then dedicated to earnest discussion about why anyone should be offended at what was both a funny joke and an offer of food. āDo we want to become Americans who are always offended at everything, and where a white man is constantly thwarted?ā, Russians asked themselves, rhetorically.
Well, give credit where credit is due. Now, two decades later, Russians have utterly crushed American āpolitkorrektnostā: ethnic and racial jokes are totally fine, including on state TV (which, in 2020, proudly broadcast this insanely racist blackface skit about Barack Obama), domestic violence has been decriminalized, and Russian soccer players never participate in racial solidarity gestures such as pregame kneel-downs…
So, then, the Russian society must be tougher, manlier, less whiny than the American one, right? Everyone appreciates jokes, nobody is offended by anything, right? Right? Right. Unless you say something that the new Russian laws deem offensive to the president. Or the military. Or god. Or people who believe in god. Or people who hate gays. Or people who love Putin.
āOffending the feelings of believersā, āDiminishing the dignity of the Presidentā, dancing in church, twerking in front of a World War II monument, rainbow flags: all of these things, and more, are now quite literally illegal in Russia and can get you a term in prison…
And so it happens, friends, that the side that bullies you for not laughing at racist jokes, scorns you for not appreciating sexist remarks and berates you for being too touchy-feely about ālocker room talkā will always, without exception and given a chance, be the one criminalizing and punishing things that offend personally them.
The side that sold mugs with āLiberal Tearsā on them and t-shirts that proclaimed āFUCK YOUR FEELINGSā was the one that lost all of its shit when Obama talked about clinging to guns and Jesus. The side that says that jokes about Puerto Ricansā being trash are funny and informative wants to jail people for burning the flag. That side that railed against cancel culture took away Colin Kaepernickās job forever. And hey, just as I type it, this very side is in the process of losing all of its shit because Biden has, supposedly, called them garbage. Not because of where they were born but because of whom they choose to support…
Donāt be fooled by any of the bad-faith outrage or any patronizing admonishments to ājust relax and stop being offended.ā Their ultimate goal is to make their racism and hate acceptable and your objections to them seem unreasonable. They want to keep their right to shut you up. And only theirs. They want to normalize their hatred and denigration based on race, ethnicity or gender while outlawing your criticism based on political rhetoric.
The example of Russia, the right-wingers lodestar nowadays, makes it perfectly clear that āoutlawingā is in no way a metaphor. If they get a chance, they will turn their hateful vision into a fascist reality.
Baud
Let’s be like Moldova!
HumboldtBlue
It’s gonna be interesting in the coming decades as we learn just how deeply Putin got his claws into the GOP. At this point, they do his bidding.
Eolirin
@Baud: And not like Georgia.
gene108
@HumboldtBlue:
I doubt weāll ever know the full extent of it unless someone credible from the Russian side spills their guts out to U.S. media and brings receipts or Putinism goes away and thereās brief period state records are open to historians and researchers, like what happened in the 1990ās after the fall of the USSR.
Westyny
Great news about Moldova, especially after the reports of Russian “bum russian” the polls.
WaterGirl
Cole must have gone to bed early tonight.
RevRick
@Eolirin: The Georgia with two Democratic Senators, one a black pastor, the other a Jew, or the Georgia that had a huge chunk seized by Russia?
mrmoshpotato
He’s Bigfoot
RevRick
@WaterGirl: Well, it is 10:30 in real time
Jay
Moldova posted cash sniffing dogs at all border crossings. They seized over 1.5 million EU in undeclared cash, and nobody has asked for it back.
Transnistria’s population got to vote, but they had to cross from the ruZZian occupied breakaway region, into free Moldova to vote. Many were promised to be paid to vote against, but few were, and are now pissed off.Ā The going rate was 1500 EU. Average income in Transnistria is 400 EU.
WaterGirl
@RevRick: No wonder I’ve been yawning!
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Punch the GOP in the scrot with your vote!
Eolirin
@RevRick: The latter.
RevRick
@WaterGirl: You and me, both.
mrmoshpotato
@gene108: Agreed.Ā We might never know how much the GOP sucks Kremlin ass.
RevRick
@mrmoshpotato: Regrettably, the Emoluments Clause is not self-enforcing. The thing that the Framers feared most has come to pass.
Michael Bersin
This afternoon I attended a Lucas Kunce (D) GOTV rally at the IBEW hall in Kansas City late this afternoon [Josh Hawley’s (r) U.S. Senate opponent]. Lucas Kunce (D) addressed his agenda and spoke of Josh’s many failures and flaws. After speaking he spent time for photos and conversation with anyone who wanted to do so.
Lucas Kunce (D) ā GOTV Rally at the IBEW in Kansas City, Missouri ā November 3, 2024
VeniceRiley
I wish we were doing more about it. The entire west needs to stomp on this hard. I don’t need to know “sources and methods” but I do need ACTION. More effective and better. Cmon.
WaterGirl
@Michael Bersin: Come on, Lucas!
RevRick
The headline over at the CNN website blares āIowa Poll a Gut Punch to Trump Orbit.ā
That reminds me of the scene in Miss Congeniality where Sandra Bullock does her talent: SING!*
*Solar Plexusā¦Instepā¦Noseā¦Groin.
WaterGirl
@RevRick: There really are voters who like to vote for the person who seems most likely to win.
“Hey, I’m a winner because I picked a winer!”
Hopefully those people, as ridiculous as that is, are coming over to Harris.
Michael Bersin
@WaterGirl:
Lucas Kunce (D) is an excellent candidate. In Missouri this cycle there’s not the obsessive polling you see elsewhere.
We’re all hoping that Amendment 3 (women’s reproductive health and abortion rights) changes the gravitational constant of the universe.
I hear faint rumors that the Missouri U.S. Senate race is at single digits. I haven’t seen anything to confirm it.
I’m certain that it helps that everyone hates Josh Hawley (r). Seriously.
Gretchen
@Michael Bersin: Jess Piper has been canvassing in rural Missouri and says she hasnāt met a single person of either party who likes Hawley.
Michael Bersin
@Gretchen:
“…Guy’s a clod… Promises were made, gifts exchanged…”
I witnessed the Josh Hawley (r) contrived “debate on debates” at the Missouri State Fair in August.Ā Truly, a clod.
A debate about debates ā Josh Hawley (r) and Lucas Kunce (D) at the Missouri State Fair Governorās Ham Breakfast ā August 15, 2024
TS
@Michael Bersin:
Loved the picture with family – not like the GOP guy with his friend’s family. That should be all over the media – never ending lies from republicans.
Quiltingfool
@Michael Bersin: In my very red Lake of the Ozarks area, I have seen many signs to vote no on Amendment 3. Ā It infuriates me – the folks putting out those signs support state sanctioned murder of women. Ā THEY donāt think that, but I know several young women in my family who are genuinely terrified of getting pregnant, because they might die from lack of care.
I also want that asswipe Hawley to go down in flames, with no one willing to piss on him to put out the fire. Ā Iād say most R voters here donāt like him, but they think Democrats are Satan adjacent, soā¦weāll probably have to keep seeing his face. Ā Well, maybe not, olā Josh doesnāt hang out in Missouri very much.
Hey, I read your blog quite often, I do love the Warrensburg photos! Ā Iām a proud UCM grad – but I always think of it as CMSU – Go Mules!
Quiltingfool
@Gretchen: Jess Piper is awesome! Ā She needs to stick around Missouri politics, I think her time will come.
Soprano2
@Quiltingfool: I see about equal amounts of yes and no signs for Amendment 3 in Springfield.Ā I also see more Harris/Walz signs than you’d think for the area. I would love to ditch Andrew Bailey, he doesn’t do much for people in Missouri, he’s all about sucking up to TCFG.
And glory hallelujah, it’s raining!
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Yes, been raining on and off since yesterday. š I so hope Amendment 3 succeeds. It could happen. I don’t have a lot of hope Hawley loses, but I would be ecstatic if it happened. Go Kunce! Go Quade!
Uncle Cosmo
@WaterGirl: I’d love it if Lucas shoved [Edge]Lord HawHaw[ley]’s cowardly traitorous fist up his arse all the way to the shoulder socket. Metaporically speaking o’course…