Pro-Russian Activists Attack Police Station in Odessa, Prisoners Freed

Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, speaking in Odessa, which is on the western, Black Sea stretch of Ukraine's coast, accused Russia of engineering Friday's clashes there that led to the deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian activists in a blazing building.

For Vladimir Putin, mimicking his opponents is a key element to keeping power. At home the Russian president oversees a democracy with sham elections and a loyal parliamentary opposition made up of stuffed shirts. His foreign policy can be best described as “condemn and copy.” Since 2007, when he assailed U.S. hegemony in a Munich speech, Putin has been raging against the West—and then committing his version of the sins he’s just condemned.

Nobody I’ve met at pro-Russia rallies has described any real threats or instances of repression. Asked what’s motivating them, they invariably turn to stock phrases that have been widely propagated on Russian state television: “Kiev junta,” “fascists,” “illegitimate government,” “referendum,” “federalization.” Follow-up questions rarely yield any enlightening answers. “Federalization means that Kiev listens to us,” Boris Dekhteryenko, a car mechanic from Makeyevka, explained to me. “We want independence within Russia.”



The confusion is understandable given that there is no repression of Russians or their language to begin with.

Those of us who grew up in the west after WWII believed that supporting anything resembling fascism was unthinkable.



The moral degeneration of the U.S. state and its Nato allies since that time is almost beyond belief. So too is the degeneration of the Washington Post, New York Times, and other corporate media which have helped to delude large numbers of Americans into believing that Russia, which has killed or attacked no one, is somehow the aggressor in Ukraine.



In reality, and on the ground, the U.S. government – with no mandate from the American people - is supporting a fascist/oligarch unelected Ukrainian ‘government’ installed in a coup spear-headed by two openly fascist parties, Svoboda and Right sector.



Now, in actions highly reminiscent of Hitler and his brown shirts, Right-sector oriented hooligans aided by military forces have just beaten with chains and baseball bats, and burned to death in the Trade Unions building of Odessa 31 civilians who were engaged in a peaceful occupation in their own city – civilians who are opposed to, and do not recognize, the new oligarch/fascist ‘government’.

Yesterday, the day that U.S.-state-supported fascists beat civilians with chains and clubs and burned them to death in a trade union hall in the Ukraine – this also is a day that will live in infamy.

What we're witnessing right now is breathtaking, unprecedented and absurd. When was the last time we saw such a disconnect between what our news media tells us and what actually occurred?In Odessa, in Ukraine, fascists from the group "Right Sector" burned a building with peaceful pro-Russian protesters inside. The proof is in the post below this one.Here are the hard truths of the situation:Look at the video above. These Nazi thugs, the guys we are supporting, are chanting praise of Stepan Bandera , the fascist leader of Ukraine during World War II who murdered many Jews and Poles. (In the photo to your left, Bandera's image is being carried through the streets by modern Nazi skinheads.) Bandera was so vile he disgusted even Hitler . (Thanks to a reader for sending me the link.)So how is NBC playing this? Get out your vomit bucket and have it nearby before you attempt to read this... Anything there about that burning building and the people who were fried (and, if they tried to escape through a window, shot)? Well, not in the headline. But if we scroll down, we do get this...and seriously, I hope you have your vomit bucket close at hand...RUSSIA engineered that?Where's the evidence? Our media analysts usually scoff at anything that reeks of conspiracy theory. But whenis the target, suddenly any paranoid accusation, however wacky, becomes permissible. How didcreate those crowds chanting Bandera's name? The perps were thugs wearing Right Sector insignia! You can easily find their images on the net, if you look. (Example to your right.)Now check out this Slate piece by Lucian Kim. (He's a former "Moscow correspndent" -- and we know the history there.)The article goes on and on like that. Basically, Kim is trying to convince us that any Ukrainians who don't want to be ruled by Nazi thugs must be pawns of Putin. Does Kim give us anythat Putin is responsible the protests against the puppets we installed in Kiev? Well, you could say that he gives us proof by assertion.Kim can't seem to understand why anyone in Ukraine would launch protests against the brownshirts who brought down a democratically-elected leader and installed a neocon puppet. ( Victoria Nuland's infamous telephone call proves that "Yats" was picked by American right-wingers.)My jaw literally dropped wide open as I read the following...Gosh. Why wouldobject to be being ruled by a bunch of Nazified Bandera-worshippers? From Kim's point of view, the whole thing simply makes no sense!And what about all those people who were burned? Apparently, they sacrificed their lives for a cause that, according to Kim, didn't really matter to them. Kim wants you to think that the protestors are protesting just for the hell of it, that they really have no valid complaints, that they really don'tabout an American-engineered coup that put fascism in power.So why did so many people risk their lives by going out into the streets to fight the fascists? Obviously, Putin has somehowthem. Yeah. Has to be. That's the only possible answer. It's all his fault.And if your dog pees on your carpet, you should blame Putin foras well.Now let's talk about those Right Sector thugs who burned all of those people alive. According to most American journalists, the Right Sector is really just a wonderful, sweet bunch of patriots. Gosh, why would anyone complain about having a crew likerunning rampant throughout your country? The NYT is still telling readers that Russia "invaded" Crimea , even though everyone else knows that the Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to split from Ukraine and join Russia, thereby restoring an historical norm. The Crimeans speak Russian, and they (sensibly) want no part of the madness in Kiev. (They also don't want any interruption in the flow of gas.)For the truth of what's happening now, go to Global Research Our media lied incessantly about the Nicaraguan contras. Our media lied us into the invasion of Iraq.Now this.I've never seen this level of media manipulation before. Of course, webiased coverage from Fox News and similar outlets -- but the manipulators are particularly effective when they infiltrate centrist and liberal news organs.