‘Russia is against Fascists and So Anyone who is Against Russia is a Fascist,’ New Anecdote Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 30 – This latest anecdote from Russia explains why Russians nowadays talk so much about fascists and fascism. It says the explanation for this is very simple: Since it is true that all Russians are against fascism, then it follows that all who are against them are fascists.”

            This is only one of the collection of new anecdotes Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova offers in her latest assemblage (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/42554/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       Russian media report that pupils going to Finnish schools have everything supplied to them at no cost. Russians feel sorry for them because in Russia, the only youngsters who get such benefits are the offspring of the oligarchs and everyone knows they are swine. The only possible conclusion is that all of Finland has joined that accursed class.

·       Those demanding that everyone pay rubles to you for things they don’t want to buy is like the shamamn who first tries to dance and then, when that doesn’t work, takes up his tambourine.

·       Russians are amazed the Dmitry Medvedev is again speaking. It is a spectacle worth attending to, one that recalls the famous talking dog. People don’t really care what he says but they are amazed he can say anything.

·       As the war in Ukraine drags on, ever more people are going to come forward as peacemakers with the most enthusiastic claiming they were seeking peace even before Russia invaded.

·       The Russian government is urging Russians to fight price rises on their own, but have any of these officials ever tried to trade in the aisles of supermarkets?

·       Journalists have discovered that some of those most enthusiastically backing a ban on coverage of the holdings of officials are people who might be exposed as having the largest holdings.

·       Russia has a problem: it has forgotten how to make cigarette paper. But some see an upside. Perhaps Russians will stop smoking. But wouldn’t it be much better if Russia forget how to make bottlecaps? Then Russians might achieve “eternal sobriety.

·       YouTube is now cooperating with the Russian censor and has put the following announcement on pages of the Russian segment containing the son, Do the Russians Want War?” the following announcement: “This content has been blocked on the domain of your country at the demand of the state organs.” Unfortunately, Russians observe, “this is not an anecdote.”

The convergence of the world of reality or at least the reality offered by the Putin regime and the world of anecdotes is now a serious problem, commentator Aleksandr Roslyakov adds. It means that whenever one hears a story from Moscow, the first thing one must do is ask is this real or is it an anecdote? (publizist.ru/blogs/6/42561/-).