Thread by @JBelcourt73

So has anyone noticed the whataboutisms coming from the pro-genocide side of this war? This is a deliberate tactic that plays on your empathy. Kudos to @TomMostlyZen for twigging me onto the why for behind it. Forewarned is forearmed and that is todays essay. So, take notes

this will be on the test. Often you will see some pro-Z troll say what about what the US did in Central America, or what about Iraq etc. These are not honest questions but are intended to either make you feel guilty or change the subject and are not intended to be apple to apples

comparisons of mutual sins. Here is what is important. Yes, what the US did in X place was wrong, so was just about every move made by a former colonial power in Europe. We all know about Germany's past etc. Thing is none of those matters, it literally has no relevance.

For them to be valid, two wrongs would need to make a right but that is not how it works. See while the Spanish were enslaving the Aztecs, the Russian's were already building their empire. When the British subverted the Raj and moved into Afghanistan, they interrupted Russian

plans to take the area for themselves. What did German troops discover in the Katyn Forest? As for Iraq a much-referenced American black eye, what was Russia doing BEFORE the US invaded? Oh that's right the second Chechen War. The difference between us and Russia is:

1. Not that Russia came to the colonial empire game late and simply hasn't caught up: they started before us.

2. Not that because we were bad then, they get to be bad now: genocide and empire is always wrong.

3. Not that what we did was worse so chill out: genocide is genocide.

4. Not that (insert excuse here)

The difference between us and them is we at least have started to try and address our past. While our societies have a long way to go in many areas, progress is being made and we are having the painful discussions about who we were, are and want

to be going forward. We often don't agree on how or where we want to go, and yes, we have hold outs that make us cringe and wish the march of time would speed up, but they are the minority. Often, these despicable reminders of a hateful past have links to Moscow

see this story and use your search engine. The people Russia accuses us of being, are often actually Kleptograd's cats paws

lansinginstitute.org/2021/01/27/rus…

Russia however has not even started on the road to redemption. She is not having the discussions about how badly treated religious and ethnic minorities are treated in Russia. Her own recent statements are chock full of claims of right by might to expand her empire and impose

via genocide her will and her culture onto indigenous populations. To interfere in the governments and doings of sovereign nations and independent peoples. She sees nothing wrong with this, in fact many Russians see it as a virtue.

Look at the Russian government. About 22% of Russia's population is an ethnic minority, how many non-white faces do you see in the Kremlin? Non white faces among the oligarchs? Oh, and Russia has more hate crime deaths per year than any "western" country.

If a member of a visible minority ends up in the wrong place.... Well most of Russia is a sundown town if you are Asian, LGBTQ etc.

refworld.org/docid/4b7cee86….

The racial hierarchy that undergirds Russian social structures is how they can kill babies and mutilate prisoners. Everyone is otherized and stripped of their basic humanity. That is the other difference between us and them. They look at a Ukrainian and see a subhuman, we look at

ourselves and see a Ukrainian because we have empathy born of the hard painful lessons our past mistakes imposed on us. Never again really means something to us. So yes, we should have acted sooner to stop Russia before as many as 600K Syrians died. But we did not kill those

Syrians, Russia or her proxies or DAESH did. Being able to accept the awfulness of our past and the striving to do better gives us the moral authority to call bullshit on Russia and her supporters. It is that moral authority that lends our voice strength when we tell our elected

leaders like @JohnBoozman @SenTomCotton @RepFrenchHill or whomever represents you that support for Ukraine is something we demand. Its why we listen to Ukrainian voices like @MrKovalenko @ferlain @Teoyaomiquu @Heroiam_Slava or whomever the Ukrainian voices you follow are.

it is that collective moral authority that drives us to spaces like @MriyaReport to listen, learn and speak up to share what we can add to the conversation. It is what drives donations to charities like @MriyaAid or whatever one you support. Its why Russia has such a hard time

dealing with a bunch of cartoon dogs who support the @georgian_legion because they have no moral authority. Thier arguments collapse as soon as someone with moral clarity and the ability to articulate steps up. They simply cannot truthfully answer why they support Russia's

all white far right government's use of religious and ethnic minorities to wage a brutal genocidal war of colonial aggression. all they have are lies and misdirection.... So, until Ukraine wins on Ukraine's terms Slava Ukraini! Go forth and rhetorically slay the Orcs

#WeAreNAFO #russiaisaterrorisstate #RussiaUkraineWar #GenocideOfUkrainians #feedthewolves @mfa_russia <--- still losing