Kamil Galeev Profile picture
Jan 5 41 tweets 23 min read
What you should know about @navalny?

1. Far right politician, promoter of hate propaganda
2. Never disowned his extremist agenda or assumed responsibility for it. When being called out, he lied and smeared his critics
3. Enjoyed thorough whitewashing by Moscow & Western media🧵
@mentions@navalny started his independent political career in 2007, co-founding an ethnonationalist "Narod" movement and launching the Radio of the Thousand Hills style propaganda. Remember this video, we'll need it later to judge integrity of:

a) @navalny
b) journalists whitewashing him
For context:

The 2000s were an era of the mass nationalist violence in Russia. The golden age of "White trains" with nationalist gangs entering the public transport and attacking those who didn't look sufficiently white. The far right wave was real and @navalny aimed to ride it
This 2011 video illustrates how @navalny resorts to lies and smear, when facing the (factually correct) criticism. Remember the cockroaches video? He:

1) denies its existence
2) compares a prof who called him out with Putin's propagandists
3) jokingly demands him being demoted
Notice that a prof did not express any opinion at all. He just pointed out to a verifiable fact - the cockroach video produced by @navalny. Still, Navalny refuses to take any responsibility. He lies, denying a verifiable fact. After that he resorts to smear against his critic Image
Let's zoom in @albats-@navalny dialogue:

A: [I was told] you called the Gastarbeiters cockroaches in the Internet. Yes or no? (laughs)
N: First, no. Second, if this question was asked by Kurginyan or Soloviev or one of their kind... It's a question of the same nature. Nonsense Image
A: So you are sure that in no video clip, nowhere...
N: If professors are using such sources of information, we'll demote them from tenure
A: You can't do that. In the US tenure is a lifetime job
N: With our mass actions we can do anything

That's a joke ofc. But a telling one Image
@mentions@navalny's logic:

1. Someone points out to a verifiable fact. In this case, Navalny's own video
2. He must be a Putinist propagandist like Kurginyan/Soloviev. Otherwise, why would he be doing that?
3. Demote him via mass action (joke ofc, @navalny knows he can't do anything) Image
This is a major counterargument against the "reformed @navalny" narrative. Yes, a man can change. But that requires integrity and willingness to assume responsibility for your actions. How probable it is that a persistent and passionate liar could change for the better? Image
@mentions@navalny enjoyed thorough whitewashing by the reputable Moscow & Western media. Consider this "good and balanced" article published in the New Yorker & recommended by @christogrozev

@mashagessen describes the cockroach video as an "argument for gun rights"

Systemic whitewashing ImageImage
- Ok. Perhaps @navalny published some unfortunate videos spreading ethnic hatred and closely bordering the incitement to violence. But wasn't that incidental?

- Not quite. Review of @navalny's publications including those in his personal blog suggests it's a consistent worldview Image
No other politician personified Russian hopes for the better future. Whose hopes you may ask? Well, hopes of the:

1) Moscow media establishment
2) Russian ultranationalists

Consider the Sputnik and Pogrom, the most popular Russian far right platform of the recent decades ImageImage
You never heard about Sputnik and Pogrom? The most influential Russian ultranationalist media? Well, that's understandable. Russian internal discourse is systematically misrepresented by the media and academia. If you don't speak and read in Russian, you're probably being lied to ImageImage
Sputnik and Pogrom had a mixed attitude towards @navalny. They criticised him when seeing him as unprincipled & opportunistic. At the same time, they repeatedly endorsed him as their only hope for the positive change. They did not see any alternative, much like the Western media Image
And @navalny endorsed their endorsements. See his retweet of a Sputnik and Pogrom birthday greetings from the 2013

If there's a moment when Navalny disowned his old platform, I am failing to see it

Source: Navalny's own Twitter
Image
2016. When asked about "rodents", @navalny tried to switch to the theme of corruption. Only when pressured again, he apologised for his "non-politically correct" anti-Georgian slur. Still, he claimed that his overall position "has not changed" since then

2017. When preparing for debates with Strelkov, @navalny listed the most serious Russian problems in his view. That looks exactly like his old platform minus trash talk. This is his old agenda, just in a more "respectable" form, without ethnic slurs and incitement for violence Image
Let's sum up:

1. @navalny's remarks are not incidental. They reflect consistent ultranationalist vision
2. There's no sign of him being "reformed". While occasionally apologising for slurs, he claims his views haven't changed
3. He stopped trashtalking, that's how he changed
4. As there's no evidence of being "reformed", there's no indication he can be "reformed" in the future. Change is possible, but that requires integrity and readiness to assume responsibility for one's actions. What I see is a passionate denial of verifiable facts
5. "Reformed Navalny" narrative is constructed by first Moscow and then Western media establishment who have been whitewashing him since day one. How come? Well, the latter draw their opinions about Russian from the former. That's their main if not only source of "facts"
6. In their quest to whitewash @navalny Moscow and then Western media had to distort facts on a massive scale. They failed to call him out on his verifiable lies like @albats. They misrepresented the navalnist propaganda to present it in more favourable view like @mashagessen
7. Extremely biased and distorting presentation of @navalny by the Western media should not surprise us. They generally form their opinions based on "facts" selected and interpretations provided by the Moscow cultural establishment. I liked the "perspective laundering" formula
FAQ

Q: @navalny may be shitty for the Russian minorities. But he would respect international borders. That's enough
A: He has repeatedly confirmed that his perspective on the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and creation of pro-Russian puppet states there has NOT changed
Q: The videos and livejournal posts are from the late 2000s. A lot of time has passed since then
A: He has repeatedly confirmed that his views have NOT changed. He never disowned his old views or platform. He stopped trashtalking and using the ethnic slurs. But that's it
Q: Can't a person change over the time?
A: Change is possible. But that requires integrity and readiness to assume the responsibility. I don't see anything that could indicate @navalny has these qualities. Denial doesn't suffice
@mentions@navalny Q: Ok, but at least he'll be a democrat, unlike Putin
A: His reaction when facing a 100% factually correct criticism is very showing. He denies it, smears a critic accusing him of acting as a propagandist and calls for demoting him. That's how he behaves *before* taking power
Q: I don't see any other solution
A: If you see a "solution" in handing the absolute power to an unrepented ultranationalist and imperialist, liar and slanderer, you must revise your set of assumptions. You probably borrowed your assumptions from the Moscow cultural establishment
Q: We must stop this war right now. @navalny will do it
A: Russia has lost this round of the war. Any, almost any Putin's successor would end hostilities [for now]. Putin would love to do it too, he just can't. Objectively speaking, Russia needs a truce to restock & regroup
Q: What about the anti-corruption fight?
A: You'll be surprised to learn how Putin started his Kremlin career and then consolidated power over Russia. Beware of "anticorruption fighters"

The end of 🧵
Selected sources:

1. "Navalny the Dentist" video. Yes, these are the excerpts from the Happy Tree Friends

2. The "cockroaches" video

Pretty much everyone in Russia will recognise the tune. It's from a super popular "In the world of the animals" TV Program. Provides some context for @navalny's "for guns rights argument" (according to the @NewYorker article)

4. A 2011 interview with @navalny

52:57 When facing a factually correct criticism (his own video), Navalny resorts to lies and smear, denying an easily verifiable fact. You can see how the host @albats fails (or chooses not to) call him out

5. 2016 interview

After being pressured twice, @navalny apologised for the "rodents" remark, but claimed that his position on the Russian-Georgian war hasn't changed. He tried to avoid this topic, switching to "corruption", but the host did not allow him

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More from @kamilkazani

Jan 2
1. Language gap -> Most Westerners do not consume content in Russian

2. So, Westerners form their opinion based on what their own media/cultural establishment told them

3. Western cultural establishment forms their opinions based on what Moscow cultural establishment told them
Western discourse on Russia is being formed by the Western cultural elites. And the Western cultural elites rely on the facts selected and interpretations provided by the cultural elites of Moscow. As a result, it's the upper class of Moscow that defines how the West sees Russia
Perspective of the Moscow cultural elites is wildly overrepresented in the Western discourse. Since the Western cultural elites hardly even interact with anyone else, they fully depend upon the former as the source of both "facts" and interpretations to base their opinions upon
Read 7 tweets
Dec 31, 2022
And that’s why you shouldn’t trust the reputable sources blindly. Many of them tend to distort facts when it suits their political agenda. The very systematic whitewashing of @Navalny by the media establishment is a good example

I’ll post a thread on the first week of Jan
Consider a “good and balanced” account of @navalny politics quoted by Grozev. This is Masha Gessen’s article in the New Yorker. Notice how this reputable journalist is describing one of Navalny’s debut video clips:

“One was a forty second argument about gun rights”

Seriously?
Watch it yourself and make your own judgment on whether the “forty seconds argument on gin rights” description fits well to this video. You can make your own conclusions on the impartiality and trustworthiness of the quoted article
Read 10 tweets
Dec 30, 2022
How to write boring?

Writing boringly is a powerful skill that moves you up many, many professional hierarchies. Life is unfair though. Some were blessed with a natural gift for writing unreadably, others should learn it

The first concept we need is the level of abstraction🧵
Three principles of boring writing:

1. Stay on the same level of abstraction
2. Stay on the same level of abstraction
3. Do not give reader any explicit or implicit hints he could use to get to another level of abstraction on his own. Lock him on his level and throw away the key
Imagine you are describing empirical evidence. Give one example, two examples, three examples, give as many as you can. But never include any hint or clue on how these examples may reflect more general and (God forbid!) nontrivial patterns. Lock the reader and throw away the key
Read 12 tweets
Dec 25, 2022
Every theory has its limits of applicability. "Kremlin guys are crooks" theory, too. This narrative is so successful, because it appeals to the meanest humans instincts, in particular - to the envy. Envious people tend to overuse this idea far, far beyond any reasonable limits
Like, ok, I understand that you're poor, constantly stressed about money and necessity to pay the bills. I also understand that you're envious about yachts and villas. That doesn't mean that "they're crooks" theory is all explaining. If they were, this war just wouldn't start
"They're just crooks" narrative is not successful, because it is so true. It is so successful, because people are obsessed with their unreflected envy and cannot distance from it. If this war is going on, it means they're not *just* crooks. They're something else, too
Read 7 tweets
Dec 24, 2022
It is also convenient to talk about personal guilt, it just won’t get you anywhere. I know many Ukrainians will hate to hear this, but I don’t think this war will end with any sort of moral catharsis at all. Meanwhile much of Ukrainian discourse seems to be catharsis-oriented
Consider the “reparations”. This idea is not completely unrealistic. Ukraine may have a chance to use some of the Russian gov/oligarch assets abroad for post-war reconstruction. Should Russia collapse, Ukrainians may also have a chance to enter Russia and take what they want
But that’s not what is being proposed (for the most part). For the most part ppl seem to imagine reparations as Russia paying trillions bazillions dollars *over a long period* to pay for the harm it inflicted. I think this plan is madness and potentially suicidal madness
Read 8 tweets
Dec 24, 2022
You nailed it, bro. Now guess how many modern machine tools building plants are there in Russia
I very much liked your question because it shows a very widespread fallacy. Take “commonsensical” assumptions and deduce conclusions out of them. Meanwhile, much better of commonsensical wisdom is just propaganda that doesn’t stand the test of reality
Assume that much of what you consider to be “facts” is false, and often completely false
Read 4 tweets

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