A recent article by Maureen Dowd that appeared in the New York Times states the following about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
“So it was stunning when an actor not known for classical
performance spoke the opening of Hamlet’s soliloquy with more dramatic weight
than Gielgud, Burton, Olivier or Cumberbatch.”
Dowd was referring once sitcom actor Zelensky’s address to the
British Parliament which include the following, adapting from Shakespeare’s
celebrated play”
“The question for us now is to be or not to be. This is the
Shakespearean question. For 13 days, this question could have been asked. But
now I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes, to be.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xpdjvsff5U
Dowd quotes Simon Godwin, the director of the Shakespeare
Theater Company who asserts that Zelensky “has become, in a way, the
world’s greatest actor engaged with the world’s deepest truth, using a piece of
poetry to express this truth in a forceful context.”
Zelensky’s predicament in Ukraine is then compared with that
of the morose prince of Denmark since both are taking “arms
against a sea of troubles.” Hamlet’s disquiet about suicide
and dying has a resonance in Ukraine now “bearing the slings and arrows of a
demented dictator.”
Dowd had previously
called Zelensky “a symbol of bravery whose leadership has been defined
by nimble action against overwhelming odds”
This unfettered hagiography of Zelensky could lead you to think
he is the Democrat Presidential Nominee for 2024. This worship would even Obama
insecure.
The giddy adulation reaches its crescendo when Dowd asks
“Will Zelensky live or die when Russian forces bear down?”
Dowd then begins to lay the ground for war asking questions
such as”
“What does this crisis mean for the identity of America and
the West — who will we be when this is over?
“Will the planet even survive?”
The implication is that inaction can no longer be an option since
the planet is in peril.
Ukrainians receive praise for choosing “to stand for something”
and remain “united as a democracy in a way America has not been for a long
time” adding that the US “has become more and more riven over politics” owing
to the “the destructive partisanship of masks and Covid”.
The lack of self-awareness is astounding. Does Dowd not
realize that the very vicious partisan far-left propaganda organization that she
writes for is among the causes for the damaging partisanship.
Dowd herself has written articles viciously partisan articles provocatively
titled “Trump’s Coup, Part Deux”, “Trump’s taste for Blood”, “Trump’s Capitol
Offense”, “Oh Brother, Tears for Trump”, “We hereby dump Trump” “King Kong
Trump, losing his grip”, ”All the President’s insecurities”, “Bonfire of
Trump’s vanity” “Covid Dreams, Trump’s nightmare”. The unhinged hit
pieces were relentless.
Obviously, when she talks of division, in her self-righteous
mind, she and her ilk presume they are on the right side of issues and it is Trump
and his supporters who refuse to accept the groupthink who are the reason for
discord.
The article ends with the need to stand by Ukraine calling it “the
1939 moment” of good versus evil. The article again makes the moral case for US
intervention and is supported with quotes from great minds such as former NY
Governor George Pataki, former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, and Illia Ponomarenko, a
reporter for The
Kyiv Independent.
The article commiserates the “horrible position Biden is in,
dealing with an irrational, soulless fiend with over 4,000 nukes who thinks he
can glue the Soviet empire back together with the blood of innocents.”
There are portions in this piece that almost sound like they
are authored by the parody masters of the Onion news network.
So what do we make of all this hyperbole?
We have to remember that Zelensky won the presidential
election in 2019 after much of his campaign was allegedly bankrolled by one
of Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Kolomoisky was recently banned from
entry into the US for “significant corruption” and used his “influence and power
for his personal benefit.”
Corruption
is widespread
and almost innate in Ukraine. Zelensky brought in new anti-oligarch laws to
combat corruption, that critics allege were used to punish supporters of his opponents. Recent
corruption charges against Zelensky's rival, Petro
Poroshenko, were called politically motivated.
Before the war, Zelensky has been accused of using draconian
measures to restrain the press. This included attempts to cancel the
screening of a documentary film, and threats of criminal prosecution against
media outlets and journalists, critical of the government.
From cronyism
to restraining the media, Zelensky almost functions like a Democrat, no wonder
the mainstream media loves him.
What the article probably gets right is that Zelensky is a
first-rate actor, as good as the legendary Sir John Gielgud.
Zelensky currently sports a slight stubble, he no longer wears
suits, instead, he dresses in an army-green T-shirt. He even drags his own
chair into position at a news conference and holds his camera as he steams videos while ambling through the deserted streets of Ukraine.
For those watching, these images are meant to
convey, a weary, exasperated, exhausted but stoic and determined look. A man who no longer bothers to suit up or follow protocol because all his energies and focus are directed to the well-being of his people.
For actors of experience, getting the look right and delivering
lines projecting the right emotions becomes almost second nature.
It is no surprise that Zelensky managed to deliver a rousing
speech to the British and the EU parliament that provoked prolonged applause
and a standing ovation.
In addition to the mainstream media, who else are calling him
an ‘inspirational figure’, leading calls boycotts of Russia and making the case
for war?
Washington and EU establishment figures, Hollywood stars, Corporate
Houses, Big Tech, and the ‘intellectual’ class.
What are they doing to those who express skepticism? They are
being discredited as branded agents of Putin and Russian propagandists.
When there is no freedom to question, it is an obvious cause for concern.
Quite often one can just the merit of an issue or an
individual based on who is backing and opposition it.
In Zelensky’s case, his proponents certainly do not have a promising record.
A look at their utterances shows that they have been almost consistently
wrong on matters of importance ranging from WMD in Iraq to Covid-19 Vaccines
What is undisputedly needed is our compassion for regular Ukrainians
who have lost their lives and have been displaced from their homes, perhaps forever.
But when partisans such as Maureen Dowd attempt to prop up
somebody and make a case for action, you can be sure that the opposite must be
true.
This also appears on American Thinker
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