Deadly double standards

When I read about Israelis grappling with propaganda that portrays them as terrorists and, oh the absurdity, Nazis, while the other side of the conflict is always innocent, I’m amazed how many people across the world buy into that nefarious narrative. Even seemingly smart people.

I mean, I shouldn’t be amazed, given my knowledge of the human mind and what’s going on in Ukraine next door – where Ukrainians are portrayed as Nazis by Russian propaganda on a daily basis. Look, I’m Polish, I know about the dark chapters of Polish-Ukrainian-Jewish relations, but for God’s sake, don’t you dare say every Ukrainian is a Nazi because that makes you a Nazi. A real one. Or just a lunatic. Or both and, sadly, there’s no shortage of those. Even with Russians, as despicable as they are, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they are all, every single one, bloodthirsty Z-zombies who want to see all Ukrainians, Finns, and Poles dead in ditches.

I guess I’m not the only one who wonders if this is all just a nightmare, some kind of a ”Fromville” scenario, that has started at the beginning of 2020 and continues to this day. Have I somehow changed the timeline, or slipped into some warped parallel universe where Russia can do whatever it wants because it has nukes and Ukrainian, and possibly Polish, lives are second-class? No one is going to say it openly, but watch what various officials do, not what they say.

When some despicable Russian propagandist dies near Moscow, better believe that US officials and intel agencies are going to be the first to admonish Ukrainians for all ills of the world, without even knowing if Ukrainians are behind it. Excuse me, dear CIA, where’s your outrage when a Ukrainian teenager gets shot dead by Russians and records his last video thirty seconds before his death? Ah, that’s right. Nowhere.

You only admonish Ukrainians, and others, when some Russian propagandist dies near Moscow. Why is that? I’m trying to understand. Is it because you’re afraid of escalation? Okay, I can see your logic here. Or, just maybe, you tacitly support Russia because of its so-called great culture and nukes? Are Ukrainian lives, and possibly Polish lives, second-class to you? When Ukrainians, and Poles could follow, die en masse, oh well, that’s tragic, but what can you do. Nukes are nukes. But assassinate a legitimate Russian target in Russia, be it a high-ranking soldier or a greedy propagandist, and it’s a ”bad idea.” Well, thanks for letting us know, then.

Same with Israel. When Israel assassinates a high-profile target, boy oh boy, expect the US officials (only some, not all, thank God) to get on their holier-than-thou high horses fast. This is absurd. Hostages are all but forgotten, it seems, because their rescue is no longer politically expedient. Lots of promises, no results.

I can only imagine Ronald Reagan rolling in his grave. I don’t believe for a second he’d allow such absurdities to go on. Same with John F. Kennedy. Or even our Polish Pope, John Paul II, and I’m no fan of the Catholic Church.

When I look at the videos of former US Presidents, I can’t believe how smart, resolute and logical they sound as compared to who we have prancing around the Oval Office now. And I mean across the whole political spectrum. What a disaster. What a joke. Except, the joke’s on us.

I look at people walking around and smiling, going about their lives as if all is well I get it, we all want Christmas cheer, but to me it feels like that carousel by the Warsaw Ghetto moment. I really wonder if some people are still people and not computer programs.

Luckily, not all have lost their minds, and their conscience is still there, and they see clearly what’s going on. I appreciate them and (symbolically, as I’m not in the military) salute them for taking a stand against absurdity that could bring about a disaster for all of us. I mean, who am I kidding. It already has.