In Russia and Israel, national derangement runs wild

Every time a rustic’s social contract unravels, situations develop into ripe for rumors and absurdities to flow into. Even when these are outrageous and clearly nonsensical, they may give expression to a folks’s deepest fears and prejudices.

Such is the case in Russia at present, the place Sergei Markov, a former adviser to President Vladimir Putin, has warned that Ukraine is creating “homosexual tremendous troopers” to wage battle towards his nation: “Army theorists and historians know which military in Greece was the strongest, bear in mind? The Spartans. They had been united by a gay brotherhood. They had been all homos. These had been the politics of their management. I believe they’re planning the identical for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”

In fact, this combination of homophobia, pretend historical past and Marvel comic-inspired concepts of tremendous troopers signifies that Markov is just not fascinated by encouraging important considering and reasoned evaluation. Regardless of: Such idiotic statements apparently resonate with a minimum of some necessary segments of Russian society.