Israel Shamir

The Fighting Optimist

Tag: vladimir putin

They Spoke

Comments

The highly anticipated encounter of the two presidents went better, much better than anybody predicted. There was a lot of anxiety, and expectations were low as heavy rain clouds, especially after Trump’s visit to Warsaw where he obediently repeated the Cold War platitudes dictated by his minders. Trump had been sent off to Hamburg by Was[...]

Read in French: Ils se sont parlé!

A Lousy Dancer

5 Comments
A lousy dancer blames the uneven floor, and Mme Clinton had proven to be an unexpectedly lousy dancer in the competition for the presidency against the blundering New York tycoon. We would expect her to win or lose graciously, as befits a former First Lady, but gosh, she is clumsy – and blames her lack of grace on poor Mr Putin. He is sure hell of a guy; visitors to Berlin’s AltesMuseum qu[...]
Read in French: Poutine, Clinton et César

A Crooked Mile

Comments
The “crooked mile” from the Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes (“There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile etc”) is Fleet Street, which is well known to London journalists. So I was told when I joined the BBC at Bush House, at the very end of Fleet Street. Not only is the street itself crooked, but so are many of its occupants. Crookedness is a professional problem for the media. Howe[...]
Read in French: Redresser les médias tordus

L’Ennemi malgré lui

Comments
Les primaires orchestrées par le Democratic National Committee (DNC), la plus haute instance du Parti démocrate, en 2016, me rappellent le film paradigmatique de Leni Riefenstahl Le triomphe de la volonté. La phrase du général Allen (quatre étoiles du corps des Marines, à la retraite), prêt à botter le cul aux Russes, brandissant le drapeau au milieu de la foule hystérique criant  « [...]

Putin Blues

Comments
plavevski / Shutterstock.com
Heavy darkness befalls the North; the sun rarely emerges from between the clouds. This year, Russia has noticeably less street illumination, and the spirits are anything but festive. Only the whiteness of the snow and Christmas trees break the gloom and remind us of the forthcoming low point of the cosmic wheel, Yuletide, when days starts to wax and nights to wane. As this stellar event foret[...]
Read in French: Le blues de Poutine
Israel Shamir © 2016 Frontier Theme