Nazism is cool again!

Recommended listening while you read – Huey Lewis and The News – It’s Hip to be Square

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is entering its 27th day, and both countries have been suffering severe casualties and losses. The Ukrainian people and its military have been putting up a hell of a fight against the Russian soldiers, and one battalion amongst this conflict that’s been gaining a lot of worldwide attention is the neo-nazi Azov regiment.

With Putin being compared to Hitler frequently over the past month (see any of those links), and this invasion being likened to the beginning of WWII, you’d be easily forgiven for thinking the Azov battalion were part of the Russian invasion force, but hey – guess what? They’re fighting for Ukraine! And loads of people are on their side!!

What a fucking time to be alive; who would’ve predicted that in 2022 we’d descend this far into insanity that people would be openly supporting neo-Nazis? And just when the future was looking so bright too.

To give a bit of context, the Azov regiment was formed in May 2014 as a volunteer militia, before being incorporated into the National Guard by November. They have tortured people, committed numerous war crimes, use the Wolfsangel Nazi symbol as their logo, and a spokesperson for the group even said that 10-20% of them openly identify as Nazis.

On top of all that (if you’re somehow still not convinced they’re a Nazi group) Azov’s founding member Andriy Biletsky, has himself said that [their] “historic mission of [their] nation” is to lead the “white races of the world in a final crusade for their survival against the … Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans]“.

Sounds pretty Hitlerish, don’t you think? The so-racist-that-racist-is-too-weak-of-a-word regiment leader went on to become a far-right, ultra-nationalist Member of Parliament from 2014-2019. Yeah, you did read that correctly – a poor man’s Hitler, actually had a seat in the Ukrainian government for five years.

It might be a surprise to some people (but not to anyone who knows a bit of history) that the group was even trained and armed by the USA in 2015. Wow! The USA supporting Nazis? That’s a first! It’s not like they’d ever help Nazis after fighting so hard to defeat them in WWII? And then give thousands of Nazis amnesty after WWII was over, to help them fight the Soviets in the Cold War? That didn’t happen and never would.

The USA wouldn’t ever do that because they’re a beacon of freedom, liberty and eagle-screeching democracy. And to be fair to them, that was the olden days; we’ve progressed a lot since the Cold War and us Westerners who love to suck on the long, hard dick of modern democracy (see: free market capitalism) would never support Nazis – nope, not ever. Or would we?

The UK and USA are currently making bank selling weapons to Azov. There’s good money to be made selling weapons to fascists. Can I get a “Kerching!”.

Big business has so far, as usual been on the right side of history too, making sure to strengthen our democracy and not allow hate to grow and spread.

Facebook, which serves as one of our most-utilised means of global communication, and an important source of news for millions of boomers the world over, made sure to ban the Azov group back in 2019, under their Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy.

It makes sense, with the Zuck being of Jewish/robot heritage, that he wouldn’t allow a neo-nazi, far right group to recruit members on his platform. Facebook has in recent years been completely against hate groups and any incitement of violence, so they would never — oh wait. Sorry, for a moment there I forgot that Facebook reversed it’s ban on praising the Azov regiment on February 25th.

So I guess now supporting far-right violence is like, cool again? Hold on, there’s a bunch of January 6th protestors / rioters / dissenters / seditionists who’d like a word with you Mark.

So just to clarify, being a violent right-winger is ok sometimes, just only when you say so. Sounds a bit authoritarian doesn’t it? Nah, nah, nah. FB is totally trustworthy and honest and Mr. Zuckerberg just wants to make the world a better place.

What makes all of this more fascinating however, is that Putin himself has said that his justification for violating Ukraine’s territory was to eradicate the far-right, ultra-nationalist, neo-Nazi movement that has been growing in Eastern Ukraine.

So the West decided to legitimize his claims by supporting and promoting the Azov battalion? You honestly can’t make this shit up. Even mainstream U.S. media outlets like CNN are broadcasting interviews with Azov battalion commanders on national TV.

The doublethink needed here is enough to make George Orwell rise from the grave and write 1984 Part 2. That’d probably be unnecessary though since we’re basically already living in part 1.

Overall, it is important to support the UKRAINIAN PEOPLE, the main victims of this invasion. Even show support for the legitimate Ukrainian military. However, this is not American politics. You don’t have to just pick one side. You don’t have to blindly support either Ukraine or Russia. Unlike in the US elections, where you have to choose between either the nasty, lying, fascist war-mongerer or the corrupt, two-faced, greedy war-mongerer, you can support the Ukrainian people and the country’s efforts to defend their homeland against invaders, while also saying that the Nazi elements of Ukraine are a legitimate problem. There’s this thing called nuance, you may have heard of it.

Or, you know, you could carry on being being a mindless cheerleader for whichever one-sided agenda dominates your news feed.

You can donate to UNHCR (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) for Ukraine here