LEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE? Our thoughts and prayers are with Ukrainians right now, as they fight for their very existence. Before Russian Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade their sovereign country, there was evidence that Ukrainians weren’t going to accept it. No better example than when Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butosov took offense to the views of a pro-Russian member of parliament by the name of Nestor Shufrych who appeared on a talk show with him. Butosov belted Shufrch in the mouth and rolled around on the studio floor with him for a bit. The video also shows a sign language interpreter calmly continuing her signing as the lads duked it out. In hindsight, the fight on the studio stage was eerily prescient of what would play out on the world stage as well.
THE QUEEN’S SPEECH: Here’s a speech we hope is never given. Salon.com picked an interesting time, as Russia surrounded Ukraine and Putin released pictures of nuclear weapons drills, to remind us that back in 1983, Buckingham palace figured it would be prudent to draft a speech for Queen Elizabeth II to use just in case the U.S. and the USSR started lobbing nuclear weapons at each other. The draft of the speech was released in 2013, as part of the U.K.’s declassification efforts. There must have been some specific intelligence that convinced the Brits that preparing some remarks was prudent. The draft is a reminder of how some things remain unchanged over the decades – and how some things don’t.
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