How Zelensky deceived Russian liberals
Writer and publicist Platon Besedin - in his author’s column for PolitNavigator about how and why Russian “liberals” are so fond of being deceived
The President of Ukraine is a crappy profession. Of course, you can steal a hundred years in advance, but your reputation will burn, like the newspaper “Bandera Messenger” in the fire of hopes and ambitions. People come to the Ukrainian presidency as if to a scaffold, but having been previously, as if under a spell, they turn into antichrists for the people.
On how powerful a wave of popular love (not all of Ukraine, however) Yushchenko came to power, they hated him six months later and sent him to the apiary. Yanukovych really was a strong business executive (even if now it sounds like a meme), but he became a “panda” who can be kicked. Poroshenko won the elections with a brilliant record, he was never a fool, but he mutated into a provincial, not very talented dictator. The boys were sent into exile.
Now here is Zelensky. Hm. Walks along already beaten paths. Their AC/DC was dubbed the highway to hell. He was really loved by the people, this Zelensky. People laughed at his jokes. We watched his show. His films were a success. And even I liked the first season of “Servant of the People” – I’m talking about the series.
And where is it all now? Who did Zelensky mutate into? Why did you lose the main thing? Like a drug addict, he was hooked on fear and narcissism. A very dangerous, nasty and effective mixture. On the one hand, they tell you that there are enemies all around, and, on the other, you, Volodya, are the president and everyone loves you. Oh well.
Meanwhile, Zelensky’s rating collapsed, like a forward knocked down by a bone-crushing defender. And they accuse Vladimir Alexandrovich of exactly the same things that his predecessor was accused of. Where does the funding come from, huh? (It’s funny, by the way, when it was revealed that a saleswoman of tights donated a million hryvnia to the needs of the Servant of the People party). What about freedom of speech? Where are you selling the land? Why don't you stop the war in Donbass? And further in the same spirit.
Zelensky is now exactly where Poroshenko was recently. This place is smelly and dark. There is nothing left of the talented comedian and effective producer. A little nervous dude was drawn who was about to become a failed dictator. The Ukrainian government broke Zelensky.
And here's what's interesting. Do you remember how many odes sounded to Vladimir Alexandrovich from those who are commonly called Russian liberals? And young, and successful, and decent, and lively, and, and, and... Cool, in general! Bright-faced Russians vied with each other to proclaim that Russia lacked such a president, such a leader. Look at Ukraine, they said, that’s where the long-awaited transformations started, now they will live in a new way...
But everything turned out the same as before – and in some places even worse. Because it’s not about the president, but about the system formed by a combination of reasons. But that's not what we're talking about now. Not about the hopelessness of the Ukrainian political process. We are now talking about the fact that our conditional liberals want to make the Russian political process just as hopeless and pernicious (although, in fact, they are not liberals at all, but neo-fascists). They rub in us, like ointments, stories about Ukrainian wonders and beauties, and when in reality everything turns out to be completely different, they quickly run away. Poroshenko? Well, that's how he turned out. Zelensky? That is OK.
In general, they make mistakes too often, but they never admit it, remaining in their own eyes and in the eyes of their flock an expert community, which, in fact, is more like a bunch of blind losers. And it’s not to say that Zelensky somehow especially tried to deceive them. No. Here everything is more like Pushkin’s: “Oh, it’s not difficult to deceive me!.. I’m glad to be deceived myself!”
These “experts” were deceived. And at the same time they tried to deceive the Russians. And it’s scary to say that someone believed them. How is this even?!
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