The BBC's stunning hypocrisy

In a truly shameless example of the pot calling the kettle black, my Feedly stream from the BBC today contains an arresting link: "Russia's 'Stalinist' propaganda machine". I'm drawn to click on it because I've been constantly reading about the developing crisis in the Ukraine, since the days of Nuland's taped phone call, where she was discussing how the U.S. was fomenting the rebellion that finally boiled over into an armed coup. Also, for those who appreciate the tragicomedy of life, the irony of the epically Stalinist BBC accusing others of being propagandists is ... well ... just, well...

Tellingly the writer, one Bridget Kendall, spent some time doing postgraduate work in the U.S., and seems to be also a Guardian contributor. 'Nuff said!

The article starts off with an attempt to evoke a suprisingly elegiac existence ("the heady scent of lilac on the long warm evenings") — that of young Muscovites — and segues into how it may be on the brink of disaster because of the adventurism of the Russian President ("It's as though everyone is a spectator at a sporting event, or watching a game show on TV - a detached enjoyment, as though this orgy of Russian patriotism carries no consequences, so there is no point in thinking where it might lead."). It's a bit like watching a poor B-movie, where the bad things that are going to happen are heralded by a sudden fearfulness in the music. Interesting also that the word she uses to describe a display of patriotism is "orgy", with its many negative connotations. Indeed, since the word "orgy" must not now have anything except a positive connotation at the BBC when used to describe yer actual group sex, the negative usage seems to be restricted to what our ancestors thought were the old virtues.

After quoting a few more dissidents — academics who bemoan the country's slide into materialism and its inexplicable lack of appetite for the goals of the liberal intelligentsia — she finishes with a little dig at one of Putin's academic supporters, who apparently "smiles slyly" — ooh girl, the shivers are fairly coursin' down me spine!

All in all, an excellent example of why the BBC should be shut down immediately.