An occupational hazard of suggesting that the US, NATO or Ukraine’s own government did things that made Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more likely is that you will be accused of being a “Putin apologist” or “stooge of the Kremlin”.
This is clearly an attempt to win the argument through name-calling (like claiming it’s “racist” to criticise Black Lives Matter). But that hasn’t stopped it becoming a standard debating tactic. Of course, there may be commentators who genuinely support Putin, in which case “Putin apologist” would be an accurate descriptor. But most do not.
The latest example of the ‘compare your opponent to Putin’ tactic is a list of individuals who “promote narratives consonant with Russian propaganda”, compiled by the Ukraine Government’s “Centre for Countering Disinformation”.
This has been described as a “blacklist” by some critics, although so far as I’m aware, it does not call for any sanctions against the individuals listed. It really is just name-calling. Specific quotes written in Ukrainian are listed next to each speaker, but no refutations or counter-arguments are provided.
So who’s included on the list? Although I didn’t recognise most of the names, some were familiar to me: Eric Zemmour, Tulsi Gabbard, Rand Paul, Steve Hanke, Jeffrey Sachs, Glenn Greenwald, John Mearsheimer, and a few others.
Of course, “promoting narratives consonant with Russian propaganda” isn’t necessarily name-calling, since some aspects of Russian propaganda might be true, and most of us want to “promote narratives” that are consonant with the truth. But it’s pretty obvious this isn’t what the compilers of the list hand in mind.
One name is notable by its absence: Pope Francis. He is about as prominent an individual as you get, and has claimed – not once but twice – that NATO may have “provoked” Russia’s invasion. When asked to clarify his remarks, the Pope explained that he is “against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys, without reasoning about roots and interests”.
Pope Francis was presumably left off the list for PR reasons (even though his view seems to be roughly the same as John Mearsheimer’s). There are a lot of Catholics in the countries supporting Ukraine, and they probably wouldn’t appreciate the head of their religion being accused of spreading Russian propaganda.
I can understand why Ukraine’s Government compiled the list. They’re trying to win a war, and they believe (with some justification) that the individuals included on the list make that more difficult. However, the move seems likely to backfire, as it will be seen – even by those who fully support Ukraine – as an attack on the free press.
“The Ukrainians have the absolute right to pursue whatever war policies they want,” wrote Glenn Greenwald (who did not appreciate having been included). “But when they start demanding that my country and my government use its resources to fuel their war effort, then I, along with other Americans, have the absolute right to question that policy or to point out its dangers or risks.”
Rather than compiling a list of supposed Russian propagandists, uploading a document that refutes their arguments would have been far more productive. I, and I suspect many others, would be genuinely interested to read that.
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This disgusts me. It should shock and appall the British people.
Anybody who can be shocked hasn’t been paying much attention.
A great many people haven’t been paying attention.
Although it disgusts me I’m sorry to say I’ve now become too desensitised due to chronic exposure of this callous mistreatment and Clown World lunacy to be shocked. I feel that nothing can surprise me anymore. We’re now at a stage where many will have acclimatised to the horrendous state our once civilised societies have been reduced to.
You guys in the UK will be telling your kids all about the good old days when doctors used evidence-based medicine to treat patients because they gave a damn about the outcome or remember when you’d call for an ambulance and it’d come within a few minutes. Just two examples of things I can’t see ever returning if I’m honest.
Sack the firkin Doctor. He / she is no use to man nor beast. All pension rights withdrawn. The evil bastard.
Pots n pans on Thursday evening dudes?
Never did and never will. The treatment received by and elderly relative just before lockdown was so awful that I’ll never trust the NHS again. The relative died. She was going to anyway but she was certainly helped by the medics.
As an ex-GP, albeit in Australia, I can’t get my head around a health system where only 80%, let alone 65% of GP consults are performed in person. I worked in a system where all consultations were done in person, either in one’s consulting rooms, at the patient’s home, or in hospital. GP’s also performed anaesthetics, surgery, obstetrics, and looked after their patients in hospital.
I guess this is progress!
There is an advert on TV of a woman in last stages of labour and the ambulance guy on his mobile being told to turn the baby to facilitate delivery. It seems everything is now being done via a mobile phone, doctors and nurses don’t even have to get out of their beds!
How quaint, od fashioned and inefficient was that face to face thingy.
You must embrace change Dr. G.
Next time I need to fake my death I’ll know how to do it! John and Anne Darwin had to go to so much trouble, didn’t they? But now, committing life insurance fraud (or rather, getting away with it) is just a Zoom away!
Christ Almighty. Other people scare me (present company excepted).
What a cnut… Name and shame please…
It’s P45 time for these people, surely?
The problem we have is these people are far too comfortable in their jobs they think they are indispensable. This needs to change starting with our MPs.
I am so disgusted by this news. The widow should be given help making a formal complaint about the Doctor to the Medical Board and have that surgery closed down. Copy all letters to the MP too.
If people do not understand the nhs has collapsed, this story should make that point extremely clear.
Disgusting.
The story seems too perfect. Has it been confirmed by police and/or responsible journalist?
Just because in “The Telegraph” doesn’t necessarily make it true. I can think of a large number of “news” reports in recent years which turned out to be hoaxes.