OK, the US media hit a new low now. I'm genuinely pissed. · 10:08am Dec 22nd, 2016
Maybe you have heard the news of the assassination of a Russian ambassador in Turkey by now?
Well, someone named Gersh Kuntzman has apparently decided that the assassination was by no means a despicable fact, and that the diplomat's murderer was a "soldier" and not a terrorist.
He even said, "Justice has been served."
That's... wow. Just wow.
I admit - I am triggered. I have grown used to the harp thrown on Russia (my homeland, in case you didn't see my bio) since 2014, or, hell, since 2008, when Georgian-South Ossetian war occurred, so all the latest stuff, be it McLaren's report, allegation of DNC hacking and helping Trump win the Presidential elections or aiming to destabilize the EU by supporting right-wing parties - this is kinda "meh" to me already. I treat it the same way as I treat Russian mass media (which do have their own agenda and propaganda), just with the reversal of black and white.
But to write this?! And to have the gall to make an analogy between our diplomat and a Nazi German diplomat killed in 1938 by a Jew and to say that murder of Russian diplomat is something that should and will be vindicated like the gunning of a Nazi diplomat? That just crosses all red lines of the most basic decency. (And uses the motherfucking reductio ad Hitlerum again.)
My reaction can be summed like this:
So... he thinks that it's perfectly acceptable to murder diplomats for the wrongdoings of the country?
Then it means that the murder of John Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, in 2012 is also justice for what NATO forces did to that country?
That if a Serb were to kill Richard M. Miles, the US ambassador to Yugoslavia until the NATO bombings of 1999, then that would be justice for how Serbia had Kosovo torn away from it and how ethnic Serbians that remained there suffered from an outright genocide?
That if someone from Iraq were to kill any US diplomat that worked in Iraq since 2003, then that would be justice for the whole clusterfuck that Iraq has turned into since that year?
That if a Syrian were to kill Robert Stephen Ford, the US ambassador to Syria in 2011, or any US rep after him, then it would be justice for the US support of "moderate rebels" which fused themselves into radical Islamist organizations?
I'm pretty sure that this Gersh Kuntzman would blow his top if any Russian (or just not pro-US government) media called anything of what I listed above "justice"!
Sorry, Kuntzman. You can't have it only your way. As Russians tend to think, rules are either to be followed by everyone or no one at all, and if someone says "screw the rules" and gets away with it, they have no motherfucking reason whatsoever to complain when someone else goes "screw the rules, they broke them first!" and screws the rules.
Killing diplomats, according to conventions, falls under "shit you just don't do, motherfucking ever" category, yet this guy thinks it's fine because it's Putin's diplomat, and Putin kills opposition/journalists/Chechen terrorists/babies/whoever-the-fuck-he-wants and kicks puppies. Fine, then! Since there are things US government could be taken to task for as well, I'll think that any murder of American diplomat that is done under circumstances similar to this murder of Russian diplomat is justice.
And if he doesn't want to apologize and acts surprised that there are Americans that dislike what he said, then he's just an extrauterine bastard swine and can get triggered all he wants.
4350676
You had similar thoughts as well?
Ugh... Some people are just... I don't think I have a strong enough word...
And screw the media. American here, and I've learned that the VAST majority of what the media says are lies, with just enough truth to be believable, and that it is just another tool of a corrupt government.
Hell, not only do I doubt that Russia hacked the elections, it's my belief that they are rigged from the beginning, by our very own government, and the election process is just a show they put on to make us "sheep" believe we have some control. Perhaps I'm wrong on that one, but at this point I wouldn't put it past them.
OK, I'll quit ranting early on this one.
I hate how the first thing he does is instantly start comparing to Hitler.
Ugh I agree- the media is out of control!!
4350707
Same here.
If you want, I can list the derogatory terms I have seen my compatriots use for him. Maybe you'll find something
Governments are always corrupt
I find that notion unlikely as well. I'm not saying that it's impossible per se, after all, US and Russia aren't friends and I wouldn't put it past our special services to try some dirty trick, but the plan to hack the elections, AFAIK, would be just so wide-spanning that keeping it a secret - which is paramount! - would be impossible.
4350710
IKR?
4350734
Well, it's not really about control per se, but about journalist's ethics. He can have his opinion, but I find it absolutely unethical that he wrote this and the editor allowed this (if this is not an op-ed; I was unable to determine if it was).
And he also snarks about being "Russia's most wanted" for exercising his right to freedom of speech. Well, he can have that, sure, but then he should know that being that snide is not without consequences, and that we Russians also have the right to call him an asshole for that.
Mind you, this is the same "journalist" who said he'd developed PTSD after firing a gun out at a shooting range for the first time. Anything this man says has a high chance of being stupid and insulting.
4350695 kinda
I always try not to get into serious politics besides making fun of Putin, but from reading those articles it's rather obvious that the journalist didn't exactly have what you might call critical thinking. Comparing the thing to the Nazis is not only a low blow, but fallacious because Nazi Germany is very different from modern Russia (for example Russia isn't indoctrinating its population and telling them to exterminate an entire people, as far as I know) and trying to draw analogies between the two is simply not accurate. Not to mention the article itself is very...emotional. I'd say the guy is perhaps even more reactive than Putin in how instead of just taking the criticism he's fighting back and arguably worsening the problem.
Sadly though, stuff like that seems to happen in media everywhere all the time (Fox News being the biggest example). Just the way media is today; heavily reactional and sensationalist, and if they're not stirring up fear they're trying to paint a black and white/good and evil situation when there isn't one. From what I've read it seems that Kuntzman thinks Putin being an ass (which is in itself obviously debatable) justifies killing a diplomat or people who just work for the Russian government. You're right in how going by his logic, practically everyone in every government involved in any kind of war or conflict can be killed without consequence. If anything, he editor probably allowed it because Kuntzman's outrageous content and title means clickbait, and therefore money.
Hopefully, this will just be one rotten article written by some random asshole who quickly gets forgotten by history. I can understand where you're coming from, buddy; asshole politicians and reporters do this all the time. Hold on to that hope that the nature of the article's content won't spread too far through the media, and then let go of it.
Dude its in his name he is a (Kunt)zman, no need to be suprised why he is like that. And I don't think its only the american mass media that is guilty of this biased way of thinking.
I mean... Nazi? wow thats just too much, and most west nations are also guilty of high amount of inocent deaths during thier imperialist days?
America - American natives?
Spain - Philippines ( I live here )
U.K - China, India
4350754
Can't argue with that.
( Personal rambling)
I don't really like the current administration of my country, Insulting the other country leaders and representative is just... urgh
4350761
How in actual hell does one develop a PTSD from firing a gun? He didn't have his shoulder broken by a recoil from a Barrett, FFS. (AFAIK he fired an AR-15).
4350839
Well, no, we don't, neither officially nor unofficially. There are people who want to eliminate the whole US because of their politics, but they are, AFAIK, a minority even among people with strong anti-American sentiments.
Ugh. Where did the journalistic standards go?
Also, I heard that someone in Egypt was arrested when they tried photographing "bloodied kids in Aleppo" and maybe distribute this on social networks. And then everyone would harp on Russia again.
I know that civilian casualties are unavoidable, but the way they speak makes us look like tital barbarians on ISIS levels. For fuck's sake...
Even if Putin is an ass, he was an ass under whom the life started stinking less. Pun intended. The way this "journalist" goes about Putin, though, one'd think Putin killed his puppy, urinated on its corpse and danced on its grave while half-naked and drinking vodka and singing some Russian song.
And I am starting to get really annoyed when they bring up Grozny in Chechnya as a Putin's "crime". "Oh the poor Chechens! Putin steamrolled them!" Where the fuck were these "moralists" when Nord-Ost or Beslan or explosions in Volgograd and Moscow Underground (2010) happened? Oh yeah, they were writing something about how Putin is bad and this bit him in the ass or something. Fuckers. I remember some Internet paper compiling articles from Western media about terrorist acts in Russia and acts in Western countries like 9/11 or 7/7. They were oh-so-inspiring-and-brave when it came to them, but they totally dismissed us. My blood still boils when I remember that one.
Well yeah, Grozny got bombed to shit, civilians died, federal forces, admittedly, weren't kind, and Kadyrov isn't a totally nice man. Like, Russian army was bloodthirsty. You know what? Of course they would get bloodthirsty when starting from fall of USSR, if you were a Russian in Chechnya, you had to run like hell from there to save your life even before 1994 or you could get killed! And when incompetent command would sell off 18-19 year olds down the river to the hands of Wahhabist mercenaries and whoever the fuck else wanted to kill Russians and the poor guys would return without limbs or eyes - if they did return! Yeah, revenge was a factor. The dicks should get off the high horse.
Sorry for the rant.
Most likely, the editor did it for money, yes. Asshole.
I dunno. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already demanded an apology, and he refused. This is almost diplomatic scandal now.
Thanks for the words, though.
4350840
All media are biased
Huh... sounds like something I would do if I knew a Russian drinking song. I know an Irish one though, so it'll have to do...
And getting PTSD from firing an AR-15? What a puss. He'd slip into a coma if he even so much as took a look around my room... Modified AR-15 being one of the many in my collection.
4351981
I must agree. I once fired an AK-74 on a firing range. Well, my ears rang a bit, but no PTSD, and I'm a rather peaceful guy.
4352041 Awesome. Never shot the 74 before.
I have sent a few M-203 rounds down range before. Kicks about like a 12 guage shotgun, and makes a BEAUTIFUL "thwoomp" (wait two seconds) ”KABOOM" sound.
And look! No PTSD!
A raging boner maybe, but no PTSD.
I'll stop now...
(((Gersh Kuntzman)))
Every
Fucking
Time