FROM THE ARCHIVES: Dissident Power - Beating Back Bullies
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Dissident Power - Beating Back Bullies
A lesson in spine stiffening
This report was originally published April 11, 2023, before Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and it contains his beautiful words of defiance. In my mind I keep hearing the words of Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’:
“There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said — no. But somehow we missed it.”
In light of reports of the death of Alexei Navalny, I am reposting this as a reminder that this our moment. We mustn’t miss it.
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“What would things have been like [in Russia] if during periods of mass arrests people had not sat there, paling with terror at every bang on the door..but understood they had nothing to lose and had boldly set up in the hall an ambush of half a dozen people?”—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writer, Soviet dissident, Nobel Prize winner
I am still feasting on our ‘Speakeasy’ with David Pepper, where we were given some incredibly practical advice about how to save democracy.
One of the lessons from David that is still resonating with me today is not letting ourselves be bullied by the authoritarian right. Good people banding together to speak truth to power have been toppling dictators for centuries.
As Mahatma Gandhi wrote:
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it - always.”
As Solzhenitsyn wrote, what if half a dozen people had ambushed the first thugs who came to arrest dissidents. What if…
This week we saw what happens when people whose state has been gamed by gerrymandering took back their power by showing up in the thousands to protest the expulsion of two black lawmakers for having the audacity to lead protests demanding gun control. Not only were stars born on the national political scene, but one of the expelled members has already been sworn back in.
Power to the people.
We can still do that in America if we stop cowering each time the authoritarian right does something despicable.
We are not Russia yet, although great effort is being exerted by horseshoe operatives who barely obscure their corruption under the cloak of fascism.
Stop being bullied.
Wisconsin is a great example of people rising up against bullying. They messed with the bull and they got the horn - the citizens of Wisconsin like women to have health care and don’t like gerrymandering, and they let it be known when a RWNJ vying for the Supreme Court was resoundingly defeated. The people chose a woman who reflects their values.
And Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg fired back at Jim Jordan today, filing a complaint that noted “Congress has no power to supervise state criminal prosecutions. Nor does Congress have the power to serve subpoenas ‘for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to punish those investigated.’”
Punching bullies right in the nose.
As David Pepper taught us, the authoritarian right’s policies are unpopular, so don’t let them force them on us. Stand up to bullies, while we still can.
#FreeKaraMurza
I wrote last week about a little girl in Russia, who was snatched from her family and put in an orphanage because she drew a picture in defense of Ukraine. Her father, who went missing, was sentenced to prison.
And to think we have traitors like Elon Musk, Michael Flynn, Tucker Carlson, and Day Old McDonald Trump actively working on behalf of Putin. It’s disgusting.
As my podcast partner Jim Stewartson wrote today:
“The transnational conspiracy to dismantle the liberal democratic order established after WWII is real, and it is vast. But the leadership is now openly collaborating in active measures and psyops. And we do nothing.
“They will never stop. They must be defeated.”
On Monday, Vladimir Kara-Murza, the protege of Boris Nemtsov - the opposition leader of Russia who was assassinated in front of the Kremlin - wrote his final speech to the court, where he is standing trial.
His crime? Speaking out against Putin’s war of annihilation in Ukraine. For that, he’s been charged with treason and is facing up to 25 years in prison.
His speech is beautiful, poignant, and I would like to share with you these excerpts:
The criminal, of course, must repent of his deeds. I’m in jail for my political views. For speaking out against the war in Ukraine. For many years of struggle against Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship. For facilitating the adoption of personal international sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against human rights violators.
Not only do I not repent of any of this, I am proud of it. I am proud that Boris Nemtsov brought me into politics. And I hope that he is not ashamed of me. I subscribe to every word that I have spoken and every word of which I have been accused by this court. I blame myself for only one thing: that over the years of my political activity I have not managed to convince enough of my compatriots and enough politicians in the democratic countries of the danger that the current regime in the Kremlin poses for Russia and for the world. Today this is obvious to everyone, but at a terrible price — the price of war.
The day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate—when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper; when those who unleashed the war rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognized as criminals.
This day will come as inevitably as spring follows even the coldest winter. And then our society will be horrified by the terrible crimes…
Even today, even in the darkness surrounding us, even sitting in this cage, I love my country and believe in our people.
His words are defiant, and staggeringly beautiful.
This is what is coming here to America if we do not fight the fascist creep.
When Ron DeSantis’ goons arrested the leaders of the Democratic party last Monday night for peacefully protesting a six-week abortion ban that the people in Florida do not want, he’s signaling he’s all in on fascism. RadPod went live with a Florida state representative to expose the gestapo-like tactics. We will not be distracted.
Chaos agents, tankies, Day Old McDonald on Tucksky - these are all distractions. We will distract away our democracy if we do not give enough of a shit to fight for it.
On the eve of the eighth anniversary of Boris Nemtsov’s murder, I wrote a thoughtful piece on his life and his legacy.
Here are portions of that report:
“My goal is to liberate Russia from crooks and thieves - from Putin.”-Boris Nemtsov
Boris Nemtsov defied Putin, recognized him as a thief, and wanted to mobilize the Russian people toward a “peaceful path to democracy.”
“Unfortunately, the revolutions in Russia usually end in bloodshed,” he said, in a 2011 interview with Deutsche Welle. “I’m an opponent of revolutions and a supporter of peaceful change… We have to do everything we can to put Russia on a peaceful path to democracy.”
On February 27, 2015, on the eve of a protest Nemtsov was set to lead against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he was assassinated in front of the Kremlin - four bullets to his back. His assassins didn’t have the courage to face him…
Nemtsov had warned of Putin’s “reign of cynicism and lies.”
“He rigged 13 million votes for his party of crooks and thieves,” said Nemtsov, to Deutsche Welle. “And then blames Hillary Clinton for the demonstrations.”
Clinton spoke openly about her serious concerns about Putin’s election conduct, and demanded a full investigation.
So what did Putin do? He virtually assassinated Hillary Clinton. The most qualified presidential candidate in American modern history was virtually assassinated in a systemic operation by Putin - the gravity, scope, and details of which are still unfolding.
The death of Boris Nemtsov is not just a loss for Russia, it is a loss for the world.
‘The Damned’
“I feel badly for Putin,” said Nemtsov, in the Deutsche Welle interview. “He’s damned. He’ll wind up like Mubarak, Gaddafi, and Ben Ali- it’s gonna end badly for him.”
We need to stand up to bullies. Things never end well for dictators.
We must not be distracted.
In my Nemtsov tribute, I wrote about a ‘masked dream’ I had.
I fell asleep last night while reading Nemtsov reports - the one about the billions of dollars stolen by “Putin’s crooks and thieves” in the lead up to the Sochi Olympics and his posthumous report on Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
I dreamed of a Russia, where all the people wear Nemtsov masks - as they go about their day - a symbolic statement that Russia had an opportunity for a peaceful future under the leadership of a man who dared to stand up to Putin and his corrupt allies.
As each Russian citizen wore their Nemtsov mask, it was tantamount to mass trolling of Putin, who’s been trolling the world by spreading poisonous unreality and crimes against humanity.
I realized when I awoke that I dreamed of the masks because of Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Lucid column, which featured a photo of a death mask that Mussolini hung in the Palazzo Braschi in Rome in 1934. I described it as ominous threat in the center of Rome - a Kabuki demon mask - that cast an evil fascist eye on the people.
I wrote:
“The strongmen know what they are doing - they are trying to destroy our empathy.”
Perhaps I dreamed the future - a future when Nemtsov masks are worn as a reminder to Putin that his opponents may be murdered, but they live on in the hearts of the world, they speak from the grave of a peaceful future that doesn’t include a murderous band of crooks and thieves as leaders.
A world with empathy.
We have a duty to speak truth to power, while we are still able to think for ourselves.
I will leave you tonight with this - a memory from one of my early Resistance meetings, when they were still underground.
I made friends with an activist from Romania, and he grew up having to whisper in his home. He told me, “It starts with the silencing of truth.”
We made a tragic mistake in America in 2016. The people obeyed in advance. The majority just accepted Trump’s illegitimate presidency and went about their business. That was a mistake.
He and the other cabal of traitors have been trying to silence truth ever since.
Do we give enough of a shit to fight for democracy? Because if so, we must not be distracted, we must stay loud, we must stand up to bullies, and we must speak truth to power.
As Solzhenitsyn wrote:
“One word of truth outweighs the world.”
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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
