I wonder if their champions will be surprised at this kind of hate speech...or if they think this doesn't matter?

It's certainly not very "liberal" or "progressive" to take that kind of attitude, is it?

The guy from the American Family Association would really love him.

Half of the stuff you post is distorted or taken out of context. There is a false narrative in general and our media has a huge issue with how they report fact when it comes to foreign policy. It affects not just Russia/Ukraine but also the middle east and is terribly dangerous to world peace.

These attitudes need to change. But returning them with hate and isolating them does the opposite of opening their society up.

We have our own who make statements like this. The Southern states are homophobic as well. But we don't malign everyone in those states.

It took the US many years to open up and we are still working on it. Look at the struggles we have with racial issues as well.

It is good to expose these things; but coming from someone with an alternative agenda of making a case for war and is consistently distorting and hunting for anything they can find to stereotype is not really an honest OP.

RT is a bastion of truth and can not be questioned by anyone here. Ukraine needs to just roll over and let Russia slice off as much of the country as they want. I think you have an agenda and it is the wrong one.

I prefer no war and there would not be if Russia never sent it's troops into Ukraine breaking the signed basing agreements and annexing part of the country of Ukraine. Russia has been supplying equipment, troops and munitions under cover of the "military exercises" along the unmonitored Ukrainian border. Russia can stop the war today if it pulled it's troops back and told the "pro-Russians" to stop the offensive they started and follow the cease fire they signed and now have unilaterally pulled out of.

So far you have never answered my question on this and do not expect you to now.

Should Putin stop the year long "military exercise" and pull those troops and equipment away from the border and allow the border to be monitored by international observers to help ratchet this down?

I would like to see UN peacekeepers. I would like to see those peacekeepers also monitoring Kiev's activity, and the UN pushing Ukraine back to democratic representation.

Most of the troops being said to be "on the border" are not right on the border but in communities that are near the border. I don't expect Russia would pull away with tensions with NATO and the US where they are. No more than we would if there were a conflict in Mexico and the government there allied with Warsaw.

You and I will never fully agree, because we have very different conclusions about underlying situations. I see what happened in Crimea as self determination during a constitutional crisis. I see (KNOW) that the current government in Kiev is a minority and extreme group that was never able to be in power before because they did not have support, and it is having a minority in government with extremists involved that has led to everything afterward.

I know you have a different conclusion.

I suspect that Russia is supporting the rebels but not near to the extent of the media narrative, just as we are supporting the coup government and their war machine.

I believe Russia is reacting, for the most part.

They had an election that met international standards and the far right did very poorly. The center did much better and a lot of the east was prevented from voting by the "pro-Russians". Many districts are not represented in the east due to the failure to allow the democratic vote and those seats are open.

The eats held elections that did not meet international standards and were not international;ly observed except the group that tried to pass themselves of as OSCE and were caught.




http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/11/ukrainian-rebel-regions-vote-with-fake-election-monitors-real-anger/

How are we supplying their war machine, by sending tents and socks? The "pro-Russians" now seem to be more heavily armed and supplied than the Ukrainian army ever has been due to them being underfunded for 25 years.

The "pro-Russian's" tore up the cease fire they signed and are on a sustained offensive along the entire front and gaining ground. Where are all of the resupplies and weapons coming from. Do you know how much resupply that takes? Do not pull that shit it is just Ukraine captured equipment because we both know that is not true and I just admit the obvious. Most captured equipment in a battle at least has some damage. The pro-Russian's are getting brand new equipment with tires that are not even worn.

Now they are attacking Mariupol again and will soon take Debaltseve. Interesting the Russian's, and "pro-Russian's" left there just as the major push for Debaltseve started. Coordination anyone?

you don't get too far

and they still try and push that narrative that the entire parliament is made up of Right Sector and Svoboda neo-Nazi's.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkhovna_Rada

They will never agree with the facts as presented and just believe Putin's propaganda mouth piece RT. Notice 28 vacant seats as the "pro-Russians" did not allow people to vote in the democratic elections for the Rada. Instead of just installing unelected representatives, they just left them open until free and fair elections could be held. This is quite unlike the east where they had to bribe voters with food and there were no international observers and even the UN failed to recognize those elections as free and fair. But RT did so all is well, I guess.

http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.com/2015/01/whither-ukrainian-far-right.html

I discovered this guy from this http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017241553

He seems like a very well-informed, academic person



More of the very detailed analysis: http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.com/2015/01/whither-ukrainian-far-right.html

I always like more good information

They know that the perception was not helpful they joined other parties. But in actuallity there are as many Svoboda and even more Right Sector and other neo-nazi members now in the government then before the election.

Ukraine's former President &Prime Minister to formalize and strengthen alliance with Neo-Nazi groups



There are no longer any doubts that the new Ukrainian leadership wasn't allied with Svoboda and Right sector (Neo Nazi groups) as a "necessary temporary situation", but is so aligned with them that they are taking part of the "fatherhood" party and binding with Svoboda and Right sector to create a larger, more powerful coalition.

Facism, having been emboldened from the recent coup in Ukraine, is growing significantly there as the country further splits politically. This is only one strong front for Facism there, there are also other parties such as PM Lyashko's "Radical Party, which has been growing in influence as well; (Lyashko is the Parlimentary member that Amnesty International warned on):

Link to Amnesty's info:
Impunity reigns for abductions and ill-treatment by pro-Kyiv vigilantes in eastern Ukraine
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/Impunity-reigns-for-abductions-ill-treatment-eastern-Ukraine-06-08-2014


There was always a problem with the new government that came into power in Kiev having brought in Neo-Nazi "commanders" into the executive branch and in many other positions in government. But they claim all along was that it wasn't a significant thing, and not demonstrative of the major personalities involved.

But this is clear evidence that not only was is it a considerable problem, but power players in the existing government are going to actually **increase** the prominence of these groups by forming a parliamentary collation and running together in the elections. This is a serious development and needs to be exposed.

From the Kyiv Post:

Turchynov, Avakov, Parubiy and commanders of special battalions included in military council of People's Front

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/turchynov-avakov-parubiy-and-commanders-of-special-battalions-included-in-military-council-of-peoples-front-364326.html

Parubiy is one of the heads of "Svoboda". This alliance also includes Andriy Biletsky, the head of the “Azov” battalion, the most openly fascist of the paramilitary battalions. Biletsky is also the leader of the Social-National Assembly of Ukraine and it’s paramilitary wing Patriot of Ukraine, (essentially the most violent and militant of the neo-nazi groups in Ukraine).


From wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_of_Ukraine)

"The Patriot of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Патріо́т Украї́ни is a Ukrainian nationalist organization with racist and neo-Nazi political beliefs. It constitutes a paramilitary wing of the Social-National Assembly of Ukraine (S.N.A.), an assemblage of neo-Nazi organizations and groups founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine. Both the “Patriot of Ukraine” and the S.N.A. engage in political violence against minorities and their political opponents. The leader of the “Patriot of Ukraine” and of the Social-National Assembly is Andriy Biletsky."

Here is a picture of the collation meeting. (Notice the banner in the background).
The former President and PM in the foreground.

This isn't "hunting for anything," this is like Bryan Fischer being the head of every TV network in the USA.

your apologia for bigotry is well known by now: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025470575#post125

to push what is really something else.

I am not going to get into a nuanced argument with someone who has really little capability to understand or tolerate more complex dialog.

LEAVE RT ALONE!

it. The OP is doing what is always a public service, calling out prejudice and hate speech and those who practice those things. You don't want to talk about the fact that RT is run by a bigoted nut job. So your wrap yourself in Ukraine to change the subject. A disgusting exploitation in service to orthodoxy and bigotry.

Huffington Post. I hope you deem that an acceptable link! I think it will give you some political insight to the LGBT situation in Russia. Also re-read post #4 and then look at #2 again. America has come a long way but we still have a lot to overcome.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/russia-orthodox-church-gay-sex_n_4574854.html

I find RT a welcome change to our coporate owned M$M.

You prefer your media to be fashioned for you by a ragingly bigoted government owned and operated source. I do not. Freedom of choice and all that. But I can't blame you for changing the subject from the subject of the OP. It's pretty brutal stuff to excuse.

If you choose not to partake, that is your choice.

some Americans would not need RT as another source of news.

"News" is no longer in the Ameircan media vocabulary-except as an ancient artifact.

Al Jazeera America serves a similar purpose, an alternative to the State..I mean corporate media propaganda.

speakers is an alternative to anything, as it is literally State Owned Media, crafted for a particular audience outside of that State. It's a specious and foolish idea in my opinion. To compare AJ to RT is an insult to AJ, frankly. RT is more like PressTV which is of course not shown in Iran but is another State Owned Media outlet created to influence people outside of the State that owns it.

The fact that you are pushing a media outlet that is bigoted to the core and owned by a government that oppresses the very group the outlet denigrates is very informative. Not surprising, but certainly definitive of your world view.

largely from DU, that some would rather go along to get along with the M$M than to look at how others see issues. Big mistake in my book. Closing out alternative viewpoints doesn't advance solutions.

Stand up to homophobia? You are "pinkwashing" or "distracting from all the good done." Is it any wonder why there are more than a few gay posters who are quite pissed off right now?

It's not freedom of speech when the aforementioned speech is such an obvious incitement to riot or kill someone. Those who defend it are suffering a major deficit of empathy bordering on the level of sociopathy. They should not be given a free pass.

in the dear ol' USA. Thank God we're coming along. Russia has a longer road but we know our knowledge came from within not from other countries. Russia will advance from within.....in time.

When " Broke back " PUTTI comes out of the closet as a
GAY, Russian man / boy ??

All these Heterophobic comments today.

Is that the gay cousin of "reverse racism?"

is all those claps after he stops talking. :p


so sad that Russia has been taken over by neo-nazis