Re: <nettime> Anne Applebaum

This recent NLR review of one of Applebaum's books, which includes a bit of a political profile, might be of interest in this discussion:

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii126/articles/susan-watkins-the-fractured-right

On Mon, 2 May 2022, 10:32 carl guderian, <carlg@vermilion-sands.com> wrote:

Hi all,

You can count me among those who used to look askance at Applebaum. Back in the Noughts, she was a regular and legitimate target of Sadly, No!, a blog I used to frequent. She’d even received from Orban (I think) the same far-right Hungarian honor also given to Trump hanger-on Sebastian Gorka, the one that lets you add “v” to your last name. Her husband is Polish and had been a cabinet minister in an earlier center-right government there. He and they were swept out when Poland went further right and, maybe, seeing where it was leading, she seems to have mellowed somewhat. From her articles since then, she seems to have stopped moving to the right and maybe even piulled back a bit, while the right races toward fascism. Or maybe the world going crazier, she just seems relatively sane and more liberal now.

I still don’t entirely trust her, but she appears to be more of an ally these days, and did warn about neofascism and Putin. Has she learned anything since the last Cold War? We’ll see...

Your mileage (kilometrage) may vary, and some settling may occur during shipping.

Carl

> On 1 mei 2022, at 22:21, Ted Byfield <tedbyfield@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Allan, WRT Russia/Ukraine one notable feature of the current US political landscape is that a fair number of ostensible leftists are making arguments that are remarkably similar to fascist trolls like Tucker Carlson. I'm no fan of Applebaum's at all, so when I saw her name I was skeptical; but as I read through her essay, nothing she said jumped out at me as outrageously skewed. Since your comment didn't offer any specific criticisms, could you be persuaded to do so?
>
> Cheers,
> Ted
>
> On 1 May 2022, at 15:00, allan siegel A Train wrote:
>
>> Hello Nettimers
>> I find it odd that Anne Applebaum's questionable commentary on the events - and historical references - in Ukraine are uncritically posted here. Anne Applebaum is a notorious right-wing ideologue of the unquestionable neoliberal persuasion who has been lauded for her attacks on left-leaning politics (to say the least). As the conflict in Ukraine becomes increasingly enmeshed in the myopic politics of the cold-war and as America descends into pre-civil rights post war policies it becomes increasingly important to consider who is describing reality and from what vantage point. Most people in the U.S. still believe that the atomic bomb was used to save the lives of U.S. soldiers and to end WW II. A very questionable assumption. Saber rattling by Biden and others indebted to military contractors won't bring democracy to Ukraine or necessarily even peace.
>> Best
>> Allan
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