[lbo-talk] A PR disaster: Five views on Pussy Riot's war

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Thu Aug 23 08:56:15 PDT 2012


On Aug 23, 2012, at 11:10 AM, Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> wrote:


> The best analysis I've read so far (consisting entirely of common
> sense, of course):


> "Unfortunately for Pussy Riot, that court of public opinion did not
> find in their favour either ..."
>
> http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/2012823795897200.html

Where we also read:


> But simply reading the entire lyrics, as translated by the activist website Free Pussy Riot, poses a huge challenge to this notion. It describes Orthodox parishioners as cringing supplicants, "crawling to bow" to their venal priests in "black robes, golden epaulettes". The "head of the KGB" is "their chief saint", who is a "bitch" and "believes in Putin", not God. Their wild gesticulations, as observed in the video of the "punk prayer", are a mockery of Orthodox ritual, and this mockery is reflected in the lyrics, e.g. "the cross-bearer procession of black limousines". They rage against "gay pride sent to Siberia in chains", urge the Virgin Mary to "become a feminist", and lace their song with scatological references.

Oh, I guess they do deserve a couple of years in jail for this. Must be ok, since Britain has similar laws.

What a load of crap. This is the best analysis you've read so far? Should people go to jail for insulting the beliefs of others?

Doug



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