The main reason Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he says, is to “de-Nazify” the country. He falsely claims Zelinsky and his government are Nazis. Amazingly Putin has some American News Anchors and even United States Congresspersons who parrot that propaganda.
It was a real Nazi who initiated the whole idea of repeating a lie. The more you repeat the lie, the more people will come to believe it. That is often attributed to the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Göbbels. If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. It was actually the biggest Nazi of them all, Adolf Hitler, who blamed the Jews for utilizing the Big Lie technique. In Mein Kampf, he stated, “What Luck for Rulers that Men Do not Think!” But it was Göbbels who did say, “the Truth does not matter.” Regardless of who said it, repeating the big lie does sink in! Mark Twain came out with the best one-liner of all, “The Truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie.”
Orthodox Jews who escaped the bombs in Ukraine, now living in Moldavia, came out belying Putin’s propaganda. The Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, Moshe Reuven, recently made an impassioned video where he accused Putin of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. He says: “Against whom is this denazification directed?… Only somebody who has been brainwashed could believe such rubbish. There is no Nazism in Ukraine. There aren’t even any nationalistic parties in Parliament. No normal person believes this drivel.” Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch, recipient of the Ukrainian Parliament Medal of Honor in 2020, told Haaretz (the leading Israeli newspaper) he has no idea what Putin is talking about, and “anti-Semitic incidents” are very rare and the government takes care of them. Furthermore, he is quoted as saying what we all know, ” Putin is totally nuts!”
This would not be the first time that Putin has twisted historic truths into his own concocted scenario. He dismissed Ukraine as its own country with sovereign borders despite a thousand-year history that contradicts his delusions. He speaks of Ukraine denying Russians their own language and culture, a complete fabrication. All the rumors around Putin having some mysterious illness that warps his mind is getting traction in my mind. His physical appearance has also changed. He has facial puffiness, not unlike someone on large doses of steroids. When you look at his facial features just a few years ago, he is getting what is described in medical texts as “moon facies.” People who take steroids can also have mental changes, more aggressive behavior, anger, depression, antisocial behavior, and paranoia. All give credence to what has been called “roid rage” (steroid rage), which fit very well into what we are witnessing.
There are many Jews in the Ukrainian military and Israeli volunteers that are fighting against Russians. Zelinsky is Jewish, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor and his Great Uncles were murdered in Hitler’s concentration camps. Ukraine had the only government with both Jews as the head of state and head of government outside of Israel. Zelinsky won the election with a 73% majority of the country. Ukraine has one of the most pluralistic governments, which allows all political philosophies a voice. The United States has a Communist party with about 5000 members and a Nazy party with less than 1000 members, but it could be larger if one added all the “white supremacists” and KKK members, but it would still be below the Communist membership. Ukraine, being a democracy, also has a far-right contingent, the Azov Battalion. It is a minority of the Ukrainian military, and interestingly, they all speak Russian, have financial backing from the “breakaway provinces” of Luhansk and Donetsk, now under Russian control, and also have ties to a similar Nationalistic organization in the Russian military. The Ukrainian far-right may be closer to Putin than they admit. Besides, Putin fits into the definition of a Nazi a lot better than Zelinsky does.
Trump keeps doubling down that Putin is very smart. Putin is unhinged, and I agree not stupid, but being a liar, a butcher, and a war criminal does not quite fit my definition of “smart.” It brings up other historical characters like Hitler, Caligula, Stalin, and other monsters that I don’t associate with smart. I am going to keep my eyes out for some other politician who has a better definition of smart.