[lbo-talk] Yukos: The Big Ugly

[Jim Devine]

> 
> Surely, one of the most infuriating aspects of modern media life -- at
> least here in the US where I happen to be nervously sitting at the
> moment -- is the lusty abandonment of narrative consistency and removal
> of even recent history from many 'news' stories.
> 
> So Khodorkovsky, described only a few short years ago by the 'quality
> press' as essentially a thief, was transformed, once the Putin vs.
> Khodorkovsky story was firmly in place, into a besieged reformer 

it's reminiscent of the way that, in Orwell's _1984_, the people rushed out 
to demonstrate their hate for Eurasia, only to find that the Enemy du jour 
(according to the Party Line) was instead Eastasia. What traitor had faked 
the signs to say "Eurasia"? they asked. The fact that Eurasia had been the 
Enemy had been flushed down the memory hole. 

some think that _1984_ was simply based on a critique of Stalin's USSR. But 
if read carefully, it's clear that a lot of it comes from his experience in 
the UK, including the role of mainstream press. E.g., Stalin was an official 
Bad Guy -- until he was allied with the UK -- and then became a Bad Guy once 
again when the war ended. 

-- 
Jim Devine
"Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people 
talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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