The Echo of Jack Boots

In a 1936 article in the New York Times it was reported that Adolf Hitler had assured the IOC that all antisemitic signs and placards would be removed from the German Olympic sites for the duration of the games.  Please note that Hitler did not assure the IOC that the persecution of the Jews would end, just that the outwardly visible signs of that persecution would be hidden from the Olympians and those attending the 1936 Olympiads.  The chairman of the IOC at the time Henri Baillet-Latour was “well satisfied” with Hitler’s assurances to temporarily pause his campaign of hate against Germany’s Jewish minority.  In fact Baillet-Latour "attacked energetically groups in the United States that have opposed American participation in the Berlin games.  He asserted that the agitation against participation was exclusively a political campaign, citing as evidence the fact that none of the national Olympic committees now opposed having the games in Berlin.  He declared that the non-participation movement was being well financed and was “based on lies,” representing nothing more than a trump card in the hand of certain interested groups that have nothing to do with sport.  The Olympic boycott movement in the United States was referred to as a policy limiting the athletes’ freedom, while the International Olympic Committee’s policy was cited as a policy of freedom giving the individual the right to decide of his own free will."

How remarkably similar is the situation today with the Russian Government "assuring" the IOC about the safety of the Olympians and those attending the Olympiad in Sochi.  This report from the Russian site RiaNovosti is chillingly similar to the 1936 NYT article:

Russia's Interior Ministry, which controls the police force, confirmed Monday that the country's controversial anti-gay law will be enforced during the Sochi 2014 Olympics. Confusion has reigned over how the country intends to act during the February 7-23 Winter Games after President Vladimir Putin signed legislation in June that bans the promotion of homosexuality to minors.

The International Olympic Committee first claimed it had received assurances from top government officials that Sochi 2014 athletes and guests will not be affected, prompting Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko to insist no one is exempt from the law.

"The law enforcement agencies can have no qualms with people who harbor a nontraditional sexual orientation and do not commit such acts [to promote homosexuality to minors], do not conduct any kind of provocation and take part in the Olympics peacefully," said an Interior Ministry statement issued on Monday.

It warned against this approach being mixed up with discrimination against gay people.  "Any discussion on violating the rights of representatives of nontraditional sexual orientations, stopping them from taking part in the Olympic Games or discrimination of athletes and guests of the Olympics according to their sexual orientation is totally unfounded and contrived," the statement added.

The head of Russia's National Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov stated it plainly.  "If a person does not put across his views in the presence of children, no measures against him can be taken," Zhukov said. "People of nontraditional sexual orientations can take part in the competitions and all other events at the Games unhindered, without any fear for their safety whatsoever."

All of the above "assurances" are nothing but a crock of shit as Putin and the Russians have no intention of deviating from their violent persecution of anyone or anything even slightly pro Gay, Olympian or not, the watching world be damned.  "Tromp, tromp, tromp, tromp"  I can hear the SS Jack Boots echoing all around me, can you hear it, too?  It is the sound of lives being sacrificed for the good of the 'fascita communistas' who are rampantly running wild in Russia today.  

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In today's Musical Moment, I have two Classic Recordings of Piano Concerto Number 1 in C Major and Piano Sonata Number 14 in C Sharp Minor (Moonlight) by Ludwig von Beethoven. The Concerto performance was recorded in 1954 by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert Menges and featuring Solomon as Piano Soloist followed by one of Solomon's last recorded performances in 1956 of the Moonlight Sonata prior to a stroke that same year which paralyzed his right side, ending his concert and recording career.

 

I find it somehow appropriate to feature a collection chock full of delightful derrieres in this edition of Bootylicious to countermand the appearance of everyone in the Russian government as gigantic assholes.  I think you will like the asses below much better than the assholes running around Russia today.  Thanks for sharing part of your day with me, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!