Putin is Hitler. You’d have to be a right-wing extremist to want peace with his Empire of Evil. The top priority for our democracies is to stop the Putin-lover, along with the homophobe and racist, from hiding behind archaic laws protecting “free speech.” Fuck their freedoms! Entry visas can and indeed must be denied to all far-right troublemakers. (Good on yer, Australia.)
If that sounds stilted, I confess: I’ve been a reader for so long, and taught so many Russian students, I’m having trouble getting into the proper spirit. But give me time. Man is the creature who can get used to everything, as Dosto-, uh, as somebody once said.
Here’s what puzzles me. Why are Blob-friendly media and human rights groups like Amnesty International so angry at South Korea for not allowing in Christine Ahn, America’s most prominent North Korea sympathizer? (Lawrence Peck abounds in relevant information and quotations, if you’re interested.)
Why does calling for dialogue with Pyongyang make Ahn (of Women Cross DMZ) a “pacifist” or “peace activist,” when calling for dialogue with Moscow makes Victor Orbán a stooge of Russia?
Why does denial of Ahn’s entry signal “democratic backsliding,” as Gloria Steinem says, when censoring Russia-sympathetic speech in the West is thought vital for protecting democracy?
Is it really because “tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running dangerously high,” as Women Cross DMZ claims? Aren’t they running much higher in Europe? And aren’t thousands of North Koreans now fighting with Russian troops against Ukraine, that embodiment of liberal-democratic values?
Don’t tell me our woke left is still giving North Korea bonus points for revolutionary pretensions. After all, this is the regime whose propaganda apparatus called Obama (in 2014) “the spitting image of a monkey in an African jungle… a mongrel of indeterminate bloodline.” As for LGBTQ issues, here (from a propaganda story) is an exchange between a captured Yankee and a North Korean soldier:
“Captain, sir, homosexuality is how I fulfill myself as a person. Since it does no harm to your esteemed government or esteemed nation, it is unfair for Jonathan and me to be prevented from doing something that is part of our private life.”
[The soldier’s response:] “This is the territory of our republic, where people enjoy lives befitting human beings. On this soil, none of that sort of behavior will be tolerated.”
[From Chŏn In-gwang, “P’yŏngyang-ŭi nunbora,” 2007.]
No country is more strongly opposed to everything the globalist West stands for than North Korea. So what gives? Why do people like George Soros donate to Women Cross DMZ, and what is Steinem, the CIA’s favorite feminist, doing in this pro-North group? I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation, but until I get it, I’ll stick to my assertion (see the post below) that the Blob harbors an intriguing soft spot for the most authoritarian state in the “authoritarian bloc.” Yes, even now.
UPDATE: Ahn and the State Dept: 10 November 2024:
Now, if an American known for fiery condemnations of US imperialism, demands for the withdrawal of US troops, and expressions of sympathy for a country fighting Ukraine were barred from entering Poland, the last institution to which that person would turn for help would be the US State Department.
And anyone those people would be less likely to help under such circumstances is hard to imagine.
But according to Korean Quarterly (hat-tip to Lawrence Peck):
“Along with the Women Cross DMZ attorney, Ahn said she immediately got in touch with the State Department, which will try to obtain a formal justification from the South Korean consulate on why she was barred from entering South Korea.”
See what I mean?