V,
Thanks for the call out!

Curious, how do you come to me as being a member of the Democratic Party? I am not now, nor have I ever been. In fact when I turned 18 I registered, much to my later shame, as a member of the Republican Party.

Of course I am racist. I believe that we are all racist to an extent. But, to be clear, you are significantly more racist than I am. You did not just compare Jackson to a clown, but to an exhausted stereotype of a black clown. Yes, the character was created by a black comedian, that does not diminish the racism of the allusion.

My favourite part of your attempt to twist my words was the word “colored” in describing black or people of color (I am looking forward to your spin on this). I haven’t heard this word in this context since my late Nana said, “of course I have colored friends.” Super.

And I am interested in why you chose to ignore the link that I posted. It is the rank hypocrisy of the Republicans, conservatives and religious in the world that angers/amuses me. The most recent example being Bishop Eddie Long.

Please go back to analysing the politics of your country and, as a tourist in my country, stay out of our politics.

For ambi. Ivars Ījabs: Ceļā uz latviešu putinismu. He refers to a Hermanis article in IR which I still haven’t read.

Finally got to read the Hermanis article in IR, published a while ago. It is worth reproducing here.

tras dienas pēc Kapu svētku pirmizrādes Jaunajā Rīgas teātrī režisors Alvis Hermanis dodas prom no Latvijas. Minhenē viņš iestudēs Džeka Londona Senču aicinājumu. Intensīvā radošā dzīve citos Eiropas teātros nozīmē, ka aptuveni pusgadu Hermanis ir Latvijā, pusgadu -  prom. Neilgi pirms došanās uz Minheni Hermanis stāsta žurnālam Ir, ko sapratis, piecu gadu garumā veidojot izrādes par latviešiem, un kas, viņaprāt, Latvijā notiks tālāk. Kā vieliska, simboliska piedeva režisora stāstītajam sarunas laikā uz galda teātra Mazajā zālē gulst saņurcītas salvetes - Hermanis ir saaukstējies, šņaukājas un dzer siltu.

Darīt vienlaikus divas darbības, kas ir pretrunā. Par ko tas liecina? Nu, tā ir tāda indiāņu daba. Naivums. Latvieši neredz saistību starp ideālo un reālo pasauli. Nesaprot, ka tās sakabinātas kopā, ka nevar runāt vienu un darīt citu.

[to be continued]

Latvietis ir spējīgs ieskatīties notiekošajam tieši acīs, izvērtēt?
Galīgi nav. Kāpēc latviešiem vairs nepatīk braukt uz Rīgas jūrmalu? Tāpēc, ka viņiem liekas, ka cilvēki čurā jūrā. Tur nav labi peldēties. Savukārt Latvijas politiskais baseins ir stipri piečurāts. Zinām cilvēkus, kuri čurā gadiem ilgi, bet, tā kā viņiem visiem ir peldbikses, prokuratūra netiek klāt. Nevar pieķert, ka tieši viņi čurājuši. Tas, ka ūdens dzeltens, ir redzams. Bet cilvēkiem laikam patīk peldēties dzeltenā ūdenī. Tāpēc tie, kuri par viņiem atkal un atkal vēlēs, - viņi ir imūni pret piečurātu ūdeni.

Mūsdienās ir darīšana ar pavisam citu situāciju: krīzi individuālā līmenī cilvēki risina nevis no nacionālas valsts interesēm, bet personīgā labklājība ir pirmajā vietā. Līdz ar to arī Latvijā nekāda revolūcija nav iespējama. Cilvēki vienkārši aizbrauc. Agrāk tas nebija iespējams. Tagad ir. Patriotisms vienmēr būs otrajā vietā. Pirmajā ir naudiņa.

Kādā mērā pats jūtaties saistīts ar Latvijas realitāti? Jūs tomēr ļoti ilgu laiku esat prom.
Ar Latviju esmu saistīts visbiezākajām tauvām. Citur strādāju, tur man ir labi profesionālie apstākļi. Bet sirds tur nav piesaistīta.

Jums ir izdevies radīt unikālu kultūrvidi, biļetes uz jūsu izrādēm tiek izpirktas. Vai tas nav iemesls justies laimīgam?
Man ir sajūta, ka Jaunā Rīgas teātra skatītāji ir ierobežots cilvēku skaits, kādi desmit tūkstoši, kuri dzīvo Rīgā. Mēs visu laiku runājam ar vieniem un tiem pašiem cilvēkiem.

Vai kaut ko par latviešiem neuztaisījāt, bet vajadzēja?
Ir bijusi kaudze visvisādu ideju. Ļoti gribējās uztaisīt Spēlēju, dancoju. Tomēr visu, ko gribējām, mēs pateicām. Daudz pateicām. Latviešu projekts piecu gadu garumā nebija tā iecerēts, bet beigās sanāca iespaidīgs. Visas šīs izrādes nepārtraukti tiek vizinātas pa ārzemēm. Tās tiek aicinātas. Citās valstīs teātris ar tādām lietām nav nodarbojies, visi joprojām lugas iestudē pārsvarā par «mīl - nemīl». Caur mūsu latviešu identitātes pētījumu ārzemnieki ierauga arī paši sevi.

Tas ir tas, ar ko budisms man liekas pārāks par kristietību - ka meistari ieiet tādā līmenī, kurā grēku problēmas ir triviālas. Varbūt… arī uz Latviju nevajag tik ļoti sirdī ieciklēties. Latvija man nav nekas bērnišķīgs, tā ir ļoti svarīga, bet dzīve laikam tomēr ir arī par kaut ko citu.

The end.

tom - 27 September 2010 01:46 AM

V,
Thanks for the call out!

Curious, how do you come to me as being a member of the Democratic Party? I am not now, nor have I ever been. In fact when I turned 18 I registered, much to my later shame, as a member of the Republican Party.

Of course I am racist. I believe that we are all racist to an extent. But, to be clear, you are significantly more racist than I am. You did not just compare Jackson to a clown, but to an exhausted stereotype of a black clown. Yes, the character was created by a black comedian, that does not diminish the racism of the allusion.

My favourite part of your attempt to twist my words was the word “colored” in describing black or people of color (I am looking forward to your spin on this). I haven’t heard this word in this context since my late Nana said, “of course I have colored friends.” Super.

And I am interested in why you chose to ignore the link that I posted. It is the rank hypocrisy of the Republicans, conservatives and religious in the world that angers/amuses me. The most recent example being Bishop Eddie Long.

Please go back to analysing the politics of your country and, as a tourist in my country, stay out of our politics.

Tom, Der Übersturmführer has never called you a member of the Democrat party.  Heaven forbid!  Only wondered if you somehow were affiliated with those cretins.

Trey-J (a.k.a. Jesse Jackson Jr.) was called a clown.  The first African-American clown that Der Übersturmführer could think of was Homey.  Good for you, if you have a more encyclopedic memory of Afro-American clowns. 

What Der Übersturmführer does not understand is how you can use the phrase “people of color” freely, but then get all bent out of shape when people of color are described as colored people.  Sorry that you have been living in a bubble ever since Nana shuffled off the mortal coil, but there is a very prominent organization called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  It’s been in the news over in America a lot lately.  The Obama administration recently fired one of their appointees over remarks she made at an NAACP meeting.  Trey-J himself is a member of the NAACP, thus it would be fair to conclude that he is one of the colored people seeking advancement, or he is interested in seeing colored people advance.  Apparently you, Tom, are not interested in seeing advancement for colored people.

If you are looking for amusing rank hypocrisy, stick with the Democrat party.  They are both funny and sad at the same time.  Take Chicago Democrat Debbie Halverson, for example.  Her campaign is a true smear campaign, employing NAZI imagery.  Der Übersturmführer HATES Illinois Nazis (aka Democrats).

Der Übersturmführer looks forward to voting on Saturday, and will fondly think of you as he does.

/V a.k.a. Der Übersturmführer von Balsstiesīgs

Gott in Himmel ! Bobciks is reading the wrong comic books…

The Obama administration recently fired one of their appointees over remarks she made at an NAACP meeting.  Trey-J himself is a member of the NAACP, thus it would be fair to conclude that he is one of the colored people seeking advancement, or he is interested in seeing colored people advance.  Apparently you, Tom, are not interested in seeing advancement for colored people.

Straw man alert !

Bobciks - are you a member of the NAACP ? Would it be fair to conclude then that since you are not - then you are not interested in seeing colored people advance ?

You know who else wasn’t a member of the NAACP Bobcik ? Hitler. Bobciks and Hitler were never members of the NAACP. See the connection ?

Tom’s point, which was well taken, was that the term “colored people” is generally associated with the racist white south’s use of the term 50 years ago. The NAACP is well within their rights to not have to rename themselves as terms change or mature. Your use of the term is highly dubious though.

If you are looking for amusing rank hypocrisy, stick with the Democrat party.  They are both funny and sad at the same time.  Take Chicago Democrat Debbie Halverson, for example.  Her campaign is a true smear campaign, employing NAZI imagery.  Der Übersturmführer HATES Illinois Nazis (aka Democrats).

Funny and sad at the same time. You know who’s posts are funny and sad at the same time ? Yours !

Oh, the smorgasbord of factual errors !

It’s Debbie Halvorson. She is not a Chicago Democrat. The 11th Congressional district does not include the City of Chicago. Her relationship with a number of Chicago Democrats - such as your recent fetish with Jesse Jackson Jr - is well documented. Go read first Bobcik.

Thanks Aleksej, for the Ijabs and Hermanis—interesting reading!  As I mentioned I got a brochure from ALA, as I’m sure many people here in the states did,  with a prologue from Ijabs; there was a general breakdown of the 6 main parties describing platforms, candidates; a good synopsis, I thought, (especially for dummies like me) without an endorsement for any one party, just urging people to get out and vote.  I was thinking about posting it on LOL, but…it’s quite long.

And tomorrow is already October 1st…

Irena

I didn’t realize, but non-citizens’ children who were born in the post-Soviet independent Latvia after 1991 will vote for the first time. They say some interesting things about the country’s future.

PS: Ambi’s favorite Edward Lucas says, “The centre-left Harmony Centre party, which has a lot of support among ethnic Russians, looks set to do well and may finally get a place in government (it already runs Riga, in a coalition). That would not be a catastrophe, the column argues.”

Not a catastrophe for Lucas or for a Russian.  Lucas has no intention of living in LatRuss and the Russians can hardly wait until Latvia is no longer known as “litttle Latvia” but “little Russia.”  Not a few on this forum also appear to see no evil from the “bilingual”-Latvia Soviet-Harmony Party and their chipmunk-cheeks poster-boy Ushakov, hear no evil from the 60% Russians - speaking Russian never Latvian -who live in Riga, and feel no evil as little Latvian tourists when the Russian cabdriver greets them with “sveiks” and thanks them with “paldies.”  Let’s see how soon Lucas moves to live in LatRuss after the elections replacing Latvians like me who don’t.

Did those young men who will vote for the first time and were born to non-citizens struck you as those who are salivating at the thought of living in RusLatvia? Funny. Just as funny as your tirade about “little Latvia”... are you planning to invade? Perhaps, Mongolia is a good country to invade… including everything in between.

I heard Lucas speak here. He is a proponent of a European Russian. He knows Russian history well and he knows that Russians have had their identity crisis since the end of the Tatar yoke. Are they Asian or are they European? Russians in the Baltics have a perfect opportunity to grow into a European Russian with European values, such as the freedom of speech, press, expression, and assembly.

Aleksejs,
Would you live in a country for years without becoming a citizen and without learning the language of the country?  One does not become a “European Russian” but a person with democratic and cultural and linguistic values of the particular European state of chosen citizenship and loyalty.  You can think about being a “European Russian” in Latvia all you want but in Germany you better learn Deutsch and value being a German or move on to the next nationalistic country and try being your “European Russian.”  I wouldn’t move to France, not even Sweden after that last election.  Don’t even think in your “European Russian” brain about claiming that Swedish is a difficult and useless language and try and speak in Russian to the Swedes in Stockholm. Where do you think a “European Russian” can vote and what language should he or she speak?  I already told you that no one in Europe speaks “European.”  What a scary thought that the children of Russian parents who haven’t been taught by their parents to be responsible, active, and loyal citizens of a democratic European country like Latvia will be voting for my future in Latvia.

You saw the LTV report, ambersun? Did it strike you that the new generation of the children of non-citizens born after 1991 are the kind of people that don’t speak the language? I hear among Latvians there is a real worry that Russians actually beat them on the labor market because they speak Latvian and Russian while ethnic Latvians don’t speak Russian. And both you and I know that the more skills you have, the more competitive you become on the labor market.

You make it seem like it was those people’s decision to move here. They were born here. Hardly a choice. There are some who originally moved here, but they are fewer in numbers as the time takes its toll.

How does one become a European Russian? Naturally. Russians from Russia already notice a difference in the mentality. Blog posts on Telegraf web site for example from Baltic Russians living in Russia for work, for example, usually underscore the difference in mentality. How different it is. I recall one woman wrote at length how Russians in Russia live in trash, how they throw wrappers on the ground, while she preferred to use the trash receptacle. Sure, that’s small, but it underscores that Russians there and Russians here are not one and the same.

It is not about the language alone. It is about a set of beliefs. I’ve given you tons of examples how even diaspora Latvians (take Roberts, as an example) spew the very same crap as some Russians (could hardly blame the Soviet deformity on that). How many Latvians don’t care about democracy and yearn for a strong hand to guide their country? How is that different than Russians’ love for Lt. Col. Vovochka? There are many processes taking place in Latvia. On one hand, I see Latvians themselves wrestling with the issue of values and ideology. What is basis for Latvia as a political entity? What kind of government and a society it has? What are people of Latvia - regardless of their ethnicity - good at? The government hardly ever says anything about their values to Belarusians, for example. As Lembergs said in the debates last night: “business is business.” And what can be more Russian than that?

On the other hand, Russians don’t depend on Vovochka to tell them how it’s going to be. The decisions that affect them are made in Riga, not in Moscow. And unlike in Moscow, they can influence those decisions by participating in an election. And many of them will do so tomorrow. That same Russian journalist said on TV last night that he is grateful for the opportunity to host the debates here because back in Russia, those kind of true debates are unlikely to take place. To me, that is the set of the European values. You don’t have to speak “the European language.” You can be a native Russian speaker who subscribes to the list of values I mentioned. It is much easier to get involved in the political process in Latvia, then in Russia.

Your last sentence struck an interesting thought. What a scary thought that the children of Russian parents who haven’t been taught by their parents to be responsible, active, and loyal citizens of a democratic European country like Latvia will be voting for my future in Latvia. First of all, you and they will be voting for our future. Second of all, it reminded me of Ivan Ilyin, Putin’s favorite ideologue of the past, who wished that the public first be educated and then be granted a right to choose their rulers.

There is a minimal level of education and knowledge, outside of which any election becomes its own caricature. You don’t just need rudimentary literacy, which allows a man .. to spell his name. Here, one needs understanding of the election process and platforms provided, smart evaluation of the candidates, understanding of the government and economy of the country and its needs, of an idea of the political, international, and military dangers; and of course the communion with the credible sources of information.

Maybe we should only voting rights to men, because they are more capable of making a cold emotion-free decision? Or landowners as they have more at stake?

Did you know that of all undecideds in the upcoming elections 70 percent are ethnic Latvians? And that 46 percent of the citizens say they either don’t know for whom to vote, or think of changing their mind? Your sentence could be applied to them also. 20 years after independence, it appears Latvians have no alternatives. The left is the pro-Russia party and the right has run the country into the economic ground. Latvian solution is to stay at home. This is why the president is going to give a speech urging people to vote.

Must we not only endure the consequences of the past occupations,but also the the drivel of the wantabee “return to the good old days of occupation” slogging through the “swamps” of non commie democracy?The initial disbelief of Juris K. discovery of the nefarious” russian gene"has been replaced with awe at his insight. The unwashed masses of the East demand to be admitted to Europe based on their barbarian birthright.How quaint!