Good day to you, reader.
Welcome to another occasional musing from The Partisan, an anarchist living in 21st century America. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and indulge my gift of the gab. As the title suggests, we’ll be touching on the conflict in Ukraine but before we do that, let’s review some interesting Ohio history.
Danny Greene was a mobster in Cleveland (my hometown) during the 1970s. Made somewhat famous by the film Kill the Irishman, Danny was a hero to many locals. The myth is one of those classic anti-hero Robin Hood types. Danny was ruthless, but he’d help the kind, Irish grandmother pay her rent because that’s what a good Irish boy did. Whatever skulls he cracked, he was just trying his best to get his people’s share from those pasta loving Italian bastards!
One of my closest friends, when seeing her dentist, would park in the same lot where in 1977 Danny was blown up by a car bomb. She knew the very spot where it happened. Bit of a local landmark, you could say. His death lead in no small part to some major moves by American law enforcement against organized crime not just in Cleveland, but also New York City.
Here’s a great scene from the movie. It contains my second favorite insult of all time. Danny is the seated gentleman.
What’s not to love about the guy like that? Even the goddamn carpet was green.
Let us now turn to the latest crime war, the one currently going on between two organizations named the Russian Federation and Ukraine. You read me right. I’m not getting into the details of it now, but every state is just that: a mafia.
And look, I get it any potential objection to such a characterization, especially at a time like this. You feel for the people. Putin is not just a bad guy, but also a bad guy. I know all the usual propaganda lines. But Danny was a ruthless shit head. He killed people. He stole. He’d beat up your kind, Irish grandmother instead of paying her rent if she was in his way.
So as most, if not all, of my readers live in the West I can only presume right now your Danny is Ukrainian. Perhaps it’s that ace pilot, the so-called Ghost of Kiev? Maybe it’s those 13 soldiers that told a Russian warship to fuck off (which turned out to be a lie, by the way)? The stories here have the same kind of goal: pull at your heart strings, make you root for the underdog, the anti-hero, despite the actual insanity of it all.
And that’s my short, simple point. What’s going on now in Eastern Europe isn’t a game. It’s not some sporting event where everyone lines up behind their favorite team, waves the flags, drinks the beer, and cheers at the great plays (real or imagined). It’s the same old shit out of a sheep’s asshole: those that hate battling it out while those that just want to live lose the most, regardless of what syndicate they happen to live under.
So my recommendation to you is step back. Consider your natural tribal loyalties, and resist the urge to be caught up in the mindless militarism of the moment. An anti-hero like Danny might stir sympathy, but in the end, it’s one way to get you on the hook.
And if you don’t slow down, they’ll eat you alive.
You’re making false equivalencies. Is Ukraine corrupt? Yes. It is also forward thinking and its people are yearning for the Western values of freedom and democracy. They are fighting a dark force in the form of Putin whose goal is to restore the glory of authoritarian mother Russia. That much of Russian soldiers and populace have been brainwashed is not an excuse for the very real tortures being inflicted in Ukraine. The Nazi youth were also brainwashed. The world is small now. The outcome of that war will have significant impact on the type of influence and power spreading in Europe. China is watching how much the world cares and becoming more aggressive in Taiwan. When America is weak and withdraws from key regions, like the Middle East and now Eastern Europe, the vacuum is filled by those who stump out equal rights, democratic elections, and freedom of speech.
"Bear-baiting as foreign policy." -- 'Exploiting Russia's anxieties.'
https://thescrum.substack.com/p/bear-baiting-as-foreign-policy?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1NTc3OTQsInBvc3RfaWQiOjQ5MzUzNDIxLCJfIjoiMXJwZUYiLCJpYXQiOjE2NDU5ODE4NjcsImV4cCI6MTY0NTk4NTQ2NywiaXNzIjoicHViLTExMjE2NCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.2-wwf3DWqVMzGc6y_RLt-oFh0AcvHUv-u0w1Iog64l0&utm_source=url