A Guide to Tymoshenko’s Pragmatic Theism and Electionphobia

As her party goes forum-shopping to overturn the snap election, a practice to which Yushchenko responds with court-crushing, she makes a few more noteworthy statements:

Reporter: A non-political question. Yulia Volodymyrivna, what superstitions do you have?

PM Tymoshenko: Huh, dear friends, frankly speaking, I neither have time for superstitions nor for faith in them. I’m a rather pragmatic person and I also believe that superstitions contradict normal faith in God, and so I don’t have any superstitions. One should just live with faith in God in one’s soul.

PM Tymoshenko: Dear friends, it’s not black, it’s blue. It’s not that bad [giggles]. I think that we should do some fighting for the operation of this parliament. Snap elections are a disaster for the country, and therefore financing from the emergency fund is illogical. From the emergency fund, we finance disaster relief, not disaster creation itself.

Where one stands depends on where one sits.

In 2007, while campaigning for snap elections in a bid to unseat Yanukovych, Tymoshenko made the following statements (h/t Ukrayinska Pravda):

Snap elections — there’s no tragedy in this. In America, they have elections every two years. Or take Israel — the world’s smartest state as they say — you gather 100,000 signatures and, adios, you get snap elections.

Sept. 18, 2007

The only solution in the current situation is to fear not snap elections and to get a confirmation of the mandate of trust from the people. If we hold snap elections, the country will spend 300 million hryvnias. But leave the mafia in power and we’ll lose tens of billions of dollars.

Apr. 3, 2007

Snap elections are the price we have to pay to save Ukraine for its new, democratic and European future. It’s a fairly modest price.

Apr. 6, 2007

I want to say that snap elections are not a whim of the President. It’s just that the country can’t live with this level of politics. And whatever ruling the Constitutional Court makes, this state [of affairs] will be of no consequence to the rejection of Yanukovych policies by his henchmen.

Apr. 16, 2007

She probably meant that no matter how the Constitutional Court ruled, Yanukovych henchmen would stick to their guns. Alas, in September 2008, she found it hard to stick to her promise not to do business with the Party of Regions.

That’s when Yushchenko rained her parade. He wants to do business with the PRU just as badly.

They all talk stabilnist: stabilnist this, stabilnist that. They all sing from the same status quo hymn sheet, as if saying: “L'État, c'est moi; après moi le déluge.”

In 2007, Tymoshenko tried to convince Ukrainians that “not all politicians are alike.” I trusted her. Will I trust her again?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/9/30/81995.htm
http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/9/18/64056.htm
http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/4/3/56812.htm
http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/4/6/57042.htm
http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/4/16/57513.htm
http://www.wz.lviv.ua/pages.php?ac=arch&atid=57698

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Life Outside the Verkhovna Rada

I shot these in Mariyinsky Park, which adjoins the Mariyinsky Palace and our parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Date: sunset of Sunday, October 12, 2008.









The skaters, the bicyclists and the rollerbladers reminded me of political Ukraine. And so did the sky.

Commies Rally Against UPA

Today, the UPA — the Ukrainian Insurgent Army that fought both Hitler and Stalin — marks its 66th anniversary.

Last year, I went to a UPA rally. This year, I went to a commie counter-rally. My improved memory capacity allowed me to capture some of the high moments of that event.

As expected, I found myself in the Jurassic Park of communism, progressive socialism, pan-Slavism, Russian monarchism, imperialism, Eurasianism and whatnot.

The diehard formulas:

Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians = Russians
UPA = SS Galizien = Nazis/fascists
Yushchenko, Oranges = Nazis/fascists

The event gathered a few hundred people. Aside from attempts to break the police cordon and "reach across the the aisle," the event went without much incident.

Enjoy!



"Let's stop fascism!"










Nataliya Vitrenko, queen of the PSPU


"Let's protect Ukraine from the UPA!"



"The bandits of the OUN-UPA are Nazi scum."
Oops, looks like somebody forgot to put a T in there! The correct Russian word is нацистская, not нациская, as written on the above sign.















"OUN + UPA = 卐. Get out of Ukraine!"






Debates: anti-UPA vs. pro-UPA



"No to the descendants of collaborators and Banderites! Heil NATO!"

Shake it, baby!

Breaking through the police cordon





UPA supporters gather on the other side of Maidan


Conversation peace


Back to the U.S.S.R.



Dugin-Jugend








A view from the UPA side of Maidan


Riot police



E pluribus unum — Ukrainian style

Tymoshenko Ducks Questions on Cooperation With Kremlin

Here's how the lady in white handled the hard questions in her interview on Inter.

PM Yulia Tymoshenko: Today, we absolutely can’t have snap elections.

Interviewer: You will contest the decree?
Tymoshenko: I am convinced that this should be done so that there will be no elections. We don’t want elections because it means more chaos, and what’s interesting is that the elections are almost scheduled for New Year’s Eve. That’s when people will be eating olivye and vinehret and will be counting the ballots. It’s insanity, it must be stopped.

Interviewer: You believe the elections won’t take place?
PM Yulia Tymoshenko: I know they won’t take place.

Interviewer: They say that the Kremlin made a bet on you as Ukraine’s next president.

Tymoshenko: Let’s skip this question because, first of all, it’s not yet clear who will make it to the presidential election, and, second, it seems to be that it’s not really appropriate to frame questions that way. Let’s move on to questions like…where it’s clear that…uh…that actually a constructive answer could be provided because [otherwise] I now would start responding to this with nasty things. That’s not necessary [giggles].

Interviewer: When did you last meet Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk?
Tymoshenko: [pause] I think time is up.

Interviewer: You don’t feel like talking about it?
Tymoshenko: I thank you very much, I thank you very much. It was a wonderful interview. I think we’ve discussed all the important subjects.

Interviewer: Thank you.

Who is Mr. Medvedchuk? Former President Kuchma’s chief of staff and a friend of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Cooperation between Medvedchuk and Tymoshenko has been widely reported by sources close to Medvechuk and by President Yushchenko.

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Original source: http://inter.ua

Yanuk Blasts Oranges, Woos Voters, Promises Stabilnist

For Yanukovych new elections mean new opportunities. So there he goes again, wallowing in his voters’ pain, sugarcoating his stewardship of the economy, peddling the idea of his comeback.

Viktor Yanukovych, speaking in Russian: The bell tolls for the current government. The government has driven the country to the brink of bankruptcy. Determining which one of the Oranges is more guilty doesn’t make sense. The entire team is guilty. They are all guilty. In less than a year of the two Orange governments’ stay in power, the state has twice lost the high economic growth rate.

During the short-lived stay in power of the current government, citizens have also been twice fooled: First, they crashed the dollar, then they advised people to hold their savings in the national currency. After that, they crashed the hryvnia. Millions of ordinary Ukrainians suffered. Their hard-earned savings lost their value. People living in the countryside suffered most because crop problems added to the preexisting ones. The profiteers and murky dealers under the wing of the current government robbed the farmers, robbed the state, and the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people yielded paltry results. Having led the country into ruin, the current government, for a second time, has pushed society toward another pre-term parliamentary election. The Party of Regions stood against it. We do not agree with such policy and do not share such approaches.

We offered to reach consensus, not over positions but over improving the lives of people, developing the economy. However, the Oranges were only interested in seats. They need so many seats in government that a whole furniture factory can’t produce. As a responsible political power, we hereby state that we that we will unite society not around partisan colors but around a program of improving the lives of people. I repeat: The Party of Regions doesn’t care who is more guilty in the Orange coalition’s collapse. That question should be addressed to someone else. They took responsibility before the people, now let them report to the people. What we care about is how to improve people’s lives, build a strong state, and unite society. It is with this in mind that we — faced with the test of new elections — look into the future and ponder ways to improve the lives of citizens, to create a situation of stabilnost* and peace in the country, and to implement the kind of effective policy that would win the world’s respect for Ukraine.

We are confident of our ability, and we are ready to assume the task of rebuilding the country again — without any ultimatums to our potential partners, without empty promises to achieve the unachievable. There will be no empty talk. There will be order and stabilnost.* There will be work for the benefit of the state and the Ukrainian people. So help us God.

*Stabilnost (стабильность) is Russian for stabilnist (стабільність). In the vocabulary of Ukrainian politicians, stabilnist denotes stability, but connotes the status quo.

So, Mr. "Hemingway," if it hurts so bad to have new elections, why does it feel so good?

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Original Source: http://kanalukraina.tv

Yushchenko Dissolves Parliament, Blames Tymoshenko (Updated)

In a televised address at 9 p.m. local time Wednesday, President Viktor Yushchenko announced his decision to dissolve Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, due to what he described as "the ambition of one person" and the "prevalence of personal interests over national ones."

He also blamed PM Tymoshenko for inflation and populism.

His decision brings an end to a monthlong drama of rocky relations within the Orange coalition and following its demise, in which Tymoshenko's BYuT and Yushchenko's NUNS sought advantage over each other. Influenced by their leaders and power brokers, the two Orange coalition parties flirted with the Party of Regions with an eye toward the 2010 presidential election.

The situation deteriorated after the Russo-Georgian conflict. Unlike President Yushchenko, PM Yulia Tymoshenko showed little support for Georgia. In addition to that, the Presidential Secretariat accused Tymoshenko of treason, alleging that the PM had held secret meetings with the Russians.

On September 2, Tymoshenko's BYuT entered into an ad hoc alliance with the Party of Regions, voting to curtail Yushchenko's powers and make Russian a second official language for public servants.

Recently, BYuT reversed its decision in an apparent attempt to stem the fall of its approval ratings in western Ukraine. Nevertheless, attempts at resurrecting the Orange coalition have failed, giving the President the right to dissolve Parliament.

New elections will be held on December 7. Previous elections were held on March 26, 2006 and September 30, 2007.

Sources: President Yushchenko's address on Channel 5

Ukraine in the Second U.S. Presidential Debate

Last night at Belmont University, Obama and McCain reiterated their positions.

As always, the subject of Ukraine emerged in the Russian context. Watch the video.



McCain specifically addresses Ukraine 3:52 into the video, advocating for Ukraine’s admission into NATO.

Obama does not say “the Ukraine” again (nor does he say "Ukraine") and stresses a pro-active foreign policy.

Video embedded from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25DDzrI5vSo

Kosmos Explains His Nickname

Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky did not earn the nickname "Космос" ("Kosmos") for his spaced-out public appearances alone. He earned it for his lack of gravity toward the public good in the avalanche of land decisions and zoning polices sponsored by his office.

On "Shuster Live," the man presented his side of the story:

Kyiv Mayor Leonid “Kosmos” Chernovetsky: It’s like a…
Talk show guest: From space, coming from space!
Chernovetsky: Uh…exactly! It’s a cosmic policy and it has nothing to do whatsoever with reality.

Savik Shuster, host: Listen, it’s interesting, why do they call you ‘Kosmos?’
Chernovetsky: First of all, let me tell you…

Savik Shuster: He’s just, he’s just…I-I-I got the notion from him, he didn’t just say ‘from space’ for nothing.
Talk show guest: I said it accidentally, almost accidentally.

Chernovetsky: Savik, it’s an honor for me, because many of the decisions that my administration makes along with the Kyiv City Council which I have the honor to preside over — they are completely unusual for Ukraine. These are completely novel approaches that the ministries and the Cabinet may view as ‘cosmic’ and may present them as such. But I’m proud that they are unlike anything that has happened before in Ukraine.

He’s right. No other mayor in Ukraine has made so many decisions in such a short period of time — land decisions, that is.

Bolstered by the buckwits who sell their votes for a pack of buckwheat, he and his party are running for parliament. Fasten your seat belts. This is just the beginning!

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Putin Jokingly Refers to Yushchenko as ‘Mazurik’

When President Yushchenko’s Lviv-bound jet experienced problems shortly after takeoff Thursday, the pilots decided to fly back to Kyiv for an emergency landing.

Meanwhile, Tymoshenko was about to fly off to Moscow for gas talks with Putin, her jet waiting on the runway.

Having landed, Yushchenko’s posse requisitioned Tymoshenko’s jet, forcing her to take a charter flight to Moscow. The story grabbed headlines and Putin picked it up in what was a rarely missed opportunity to get back at Yushchenko.

Referring to Yushchenko as mazurik (Rus. for pickpocket, corpse) became the opening joke in an otherwise emotionally charged press conference that featured Putin crying on Tymoshenko’s shoulder, bewailing Ukraine’s arms supplies to Georgia. Here’s the mazurik quote:

Putin: Some mazurk snatched the jet. Okay then…uh

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6 Miners Die in Luhansk Oblast

A methane blast at the Duvanna mine in Sukhodolsk, Luhansk oblast, claimed the lives of 6 miners at 00:45 local time on Saturday.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/10/4/82285.htm

Tymoshenko Backtracks As Voters Flee in Panic

After her September fling with the Party of Regions shook her electoral base, the sweetness turned sour. The prodigal PM appears to have scurried back to the salt mines of Orange coalition-rebuilding, even if nothing gets rebuilt in the end.

Before flying off to Moscow yesterday to discuss gas supplies, she abandoned support for legislation that shook Yushchenko’s throne and made Russian a second official language for civil servants.

PM Yulia Tymoshenko: I just saw and I see…uh…here it says ‘spiraling into crisis,’ right? Here it is, with the portrait at the background, with the Premier’s interview at the background. I want to tell you, first of all, it’s an outright manipulation of your mind when the screen now says ‘spiraling into crisis.’ I’m just reading, there’s a display before my eyes. So I want to say that when the President…

Channel 5 host Svyatoslav Tseholko: That the crisis is spiraling into Ukraine, isn’t it true?
Yulia Tymoshenko: Not at all! Don’t push it. It’s absolutely not true.

Svyatoslav Tseholko: I can ask them to pull this subtitle.
Yulia Tymoshenko: Now you see how easy it is to put away the manipulation of people’s minds and scaremongering and certain psycho phenomena.

Svyatoslav Tseholko: The producers are telling me that they’ve changed the subtitle and put it this way:
Yulia Tymoshenko: ‘Ukrainian Renaissance,’ can you see that?
Svyatoslav Tseholko: With a question mark. Could this really be possible?

Yulia Tymoshenko: Well [giggles], it’s not every day that I can be in your studio changing subtitles. Only the chaos in politics is preventing the country from being remarkably successful.

Amen to that, my fair lady. Chaos is stabilnist without makeup.

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