Viewpoint: Why I loved Nemtsov

[muriel_volestrangler]

From the blog of an 88 year old history professor in Russia:

But there was something… More than belonging to one political cohort, which it is now customary to call "liberal". People have begun to use this word to signify everything hateful and inimical, without pausing to think about what it means, the root of the idea.

My childhood comes back to me: who is the enemy? It was the White Army, then the fascists. But there was something real about that. And now? Some people have simply gone crazy with this word, and the phrase "liberal fascism" has come along, and the devil knows what. Whatever, if Nemtsov was a liberal, I am proud to name myself a liberal too.

There is no point attempting to work out who, precisely, organised the murder. The main thing is - why? It's because he was a liberal. A dissident. A fighter for freedom of thought and speech, for human rights. A fighter against an authoritarian system, dominated by the police and KGB gendarmes, which is taking on totalitarian features in front of our eyes.

You murdered him, you orators on television, whipping up popular hatred. You windbags and toadies, members of parliament, generals and professors. It's thanks to your efforts that a culture of hatred is spreading in Russia, a culture of intolerance, bitterness, national arrogance, and malicious smears against everything that seems foreign to you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31692409

[uhnope]

1. So "liberal" is a bad word in Russia now

and all of Russia TV sounds like FOX+RW talk radio.

Thank you for posting.

[moondust]

2. Reagan called it "the 'L' word"

Refusing to speak such an unspeakable word aloud.

Although he may have done it rather tongue-in-cheek, RW radicals latched onto the idea and the public demonization of "unspeakable liberalism" in the U.S. was born. And now they have their own TV and radio networks.

[Cha]

4. He thought he was sooo clever.

[freshwest]

3. K&R. Thanks, Muriel.

[Cha]

5. "You murdered him, you orators on television, whipping up popular hatred. You windbags and..

toadies.." wow, does ever sound familiar.. WH Fence Jumpers and Death Threats.. sound familiar?

Thank you for this, m_v.. I think I would have loved Boris Nemtnov, too.. to his memory