Doublethink (Updated).

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You want to understand why people don’t trust western mainstream media and instead turn to Twitter and Facebook for news?

There’s no mystery. No need for long explanations. It’s actually easy to explain and to understand.

Read this headline, straight from Vice:

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Pretty understandable, right? But let’s not rush to judgement. Just to make sure, read the whole thing to see if the body of the article and its headline match.

As you read, you’ll find this video:

See the video’s title? Again, easy to understand. Does it match the article, though?

But wait. There’s more. Twelve paragraphs below you read this: “But Rekawek [some bloke from the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo whom the author quotes as authoritative] said the Russian depiction as a hub of Nazis was perverse”.

In the same fucking article, by the same fucking author, for Christ’s fucking sake!

Go ahead: take a deep breath, hold it as you slowly count to ten. Now, finish the damn article. Watch the video.

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That article may be the most extreme example possible of doublethink ever in all of human history, but it is not the only case of mediatic “Ukrainian de-Nazification”.

“I have nothing against Russian nationalists, or a great Russia,” said Dmitry, as we sped through the dark Mariupol night in a pickup truck, a machine gunner positioned in the back. “But Putin’s not even a Russian. Putin’s a Jew.”

The moment Russky troops crossed the borders of the Ukraine, the same western media that over the years had been warning us in sombre tones about a surging far-Right in all of Europe –  maybe especially the Ukraine! – suddenly discovered that at least the Ukraine never had a Nazi problem.

All it took was for Volodya to announce the goal of his invasion was de-Nazification for western media to immediately de-Nazify the Ukraine.

So, there you have it, folks, the Ukraine de-Nazified! Would you credit that to Putin or to the media?

Update:
April 18:

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So, what was that all about?

Attending an invitation, on Friday 8th President Volodymir Zelensky delivered an address to the Greek Parliament. By all accounts, the speech – as is usual with Zelensky’s speeches – was expertly customised “to tap into its audience’s key sensitivities”. That’s a clever thing to do: sympathy for your cause is a must when your goal is to ask for military/economic assistance.

For greater effect Zelensky added a video message from a Ukrainian of Greek background, identified only as “Mikhailo” or “Mikhail”. That, I suppose, would add an ethnic flavour to his appeal: an additional ingredient to the tried and tested recipe.

President Zelensky (L) ; Mikhailo or Mikhail (R).(source)

This, however, may not have been such a good idea. It just so happens that “Mikhailo” is also a neo-Nazi Azov thug fighter and it seems that some old-fashioned Greeks feel that the Jewish President of Ukraine and a neo-Nazi appearing together is not a good look (you be the judge).

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It might have worked better in Australia. It certainly did not hurt then Vice-President Joe Biden:

Joe Biden’s 2014 trip to Kiev. The Reuters note only mentions Oleh Tyahnybok in a caption, outside the body of the article. At the time, he was the head of far-Right Svoboda. (source).

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From the Ottawa Citizen:

Radio Canada reported Monday [April 11th] that Canadian military personnel trained both members of the far-right Azov regiment as well as at least one Ukrainian soldier who sported the crest of a Nazi SS unit from the Second World War. The training took place in November 2020.

Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel said in an interview with this newspaper that Canada failed to properly monitor its own military training program. “The Canadian government didn’t do its due diligence,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of the Canadian defence ministry to know exactly who they are training.”

“There is no question that there are neo-Nazis in different forms in Ukraine, whether they are in the Azov regiment or other organizations,” he added.

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But, but, but … President Zelensky is Jewish! Yes, he is. If I were Jewish I think I would find that very disturbing.

Incidentally, the Ukrainian far-Right seem to have a lot of clout and impunity and acceptance for a party with such a small parliamentary representation. Have you guys ever heard the word “leveraging”?