Imperial impunity
War in Israel and war in Ukraine, and several other locations, have exposed what I call imperial impunity. While the US is hardly a saint, and neither is China, it seems to me that Russia – in particular – revels in imperial impunity. Russian journalists, excuse me, propagandists are upset because there’s talk of issuing arrest warrants against them. Their propaganda machine is similar to what we see in Iran, Hamas and other ”fun places.”
Guess what? Russian propagandists are mad as hell! How dare anyone accuse them of anything. They are just journalists who aren’t doing anything wrong. They point fingers at the West: it’s a maniacal civilization with a lot of problems (sure, the West has problems, hardly a secret). Except, these propagandists know that Russia is in a far worse state and they love Western money, education and luxury. It’s a classic projection and pandering to Russians in Russia. I could understand Russian ”journalists” being mad at the idea of ending up behind bars if they really weren’t threatening someone every five seconds with death and destruction. But that’s exactly what they are doing. They don’t hide it. They love it!
From calling Ukrainians derogatory, dehumanizing names that would make Hitler happy, to openly calling for the extermination of Ukrainians, Poles (Poland is going to be gone in 15 minutes after our nuclear strikes – Vladimir Solovyov, top Russian ”journalist”) and others who refuse to live in the Russian world – Russian propagandists thrive on hate.
Dugin, in my opinion, is particularly dangerous because he hides behind the facade of a well-mannered, elderly gentleman who just wants the best for the world by stopping the demonic West from destroying humanity. He uses the death of his daughter expertly to con well-meaning people across the world into buying his worldview. In a twisted way, the death of Dugina is the best thing that has ever happened to him.
Now, you might dismiss these threats as free speech or just rhetoric. Paid propagandists, you say. Sure, they get paid. A lot. They have security and are likely watched 24/7. But they are not just spouting hate. I see their vitriol as statements of intent. What Russia wants to do if it gets the chance. I’d like to remind you, dear reader, that people laughed at Hitler and didn’t take his words in Mein Kampf seriously. We know what a colossal mistake that was. It’s the same with these bastards. They are telling us what the Russian regime wants to do. We ought to listen and take appropriate action. Take it seriously.
People who are outraged because Vladlen Tatarsky or Darya Dugina were targeted and killed should look Ukrainian children and adults who lost their loved ones, killed by Russian maniacs, in the eye. Tatarsky and Dugina were proud of Russian imperialism killing, raping and castrating. They couldn’t get enough of it. Dugina tried to come up with pseudo-philosophical, pseudo-intellectual garbage to justify genocide on a par with Nazi ideologues, hiding behind her education and smiles. This duplicity, in my opinion, makes her even more loathsome than Tatarsky, a convicted bank robber I understand, who at least didn’t hide his intentions and proudly proclaimd in the Kremlin: ”We will win and everything will be as we like it.”
Israelis get me. When I talk about regimes and propaganda tactics, Israelis, and citizens of other nations who have first-hand experience with regimes, just smile. North Korean defectors laugh at Russian propaganda because they see right through it. They know exactly what I mean and see naive and sometimes not-too-bright Westerners as essentially children who don’t really grasp how the world works.
Imperial impunity loves dumb people and idealists who can’t grasp the fact that there are psychos out there capable of untold evil. And don’t try pull the Volhynia card. Yes, I’m Polish, and I know history, but it doesn’t excuse what Russia is doing in Ukraine, Hamas in Israel and so on. Whataboutism, projection, deflection, all the tactics used by pathological narcissists and psychopaths are used by propagandists and terrorist states.
I’m sure you can relate: you talk about how evil Hamas and other terrorist groups are and then someone halfway across the world, someone who has no idea about anything, tells you that you surely must be exaggerating, that Israel is guilty of so many things, too.
If you don’t know, psychopaths can be charming and oh-so-nice but when their mask drops, you see a dramatically different person. Little to no conscience, no nothing. A machine that uses and abuses others and responds only to fear and strength (pro tip: don’t try to reason with psychopaths, make them better or confront them – run, it’s like dealing with demons in the flesh, that doesn’t make you a coward, just pragmatic). Now, say you know that someone is a bad person. I’m using the word bad simplistically. I’m no saint, you’re no saint. By bad person, I mean someone who uses people as puppets without giving it a second thought. Someone that you know manipulates, cheats and lies all the time. You wanna warn your friend against this person. And then, much to your dismay, your friend says: ”Oh, he/she’s not so bad.” That’s how it works with regimes. You can try to explain to some naive Westerner that Hamas is evil and you’re going to hear, ”Oh, but they’re not so bad, look at yourself” in response. Imperial impunity loves people who always try to see good in others. Sure, Hitler loved his dog. So what? Same stupid logic.