In watching protection of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I used to be taken by movies of Russian POWs testifying they had been stunned that they weren’t greeted by the individuals of Ukraine as liberators who had come to oust a drug-addicted, neo-Nazi regime that had taken management of the federal government.
Extra not too long ago, there have been movies of Russian individuals cheering on the troops as they regroup and reenter Ukraine, having nonetheless purchased into state propaganda they’re liberators, not invaders.
Most Russians refuse to imagine the Russian Military is bombing civilian targets in Ukrainian cities and cities and settle for Russian information protection contending the numerous scenes of conflict crimes have been staged by Ukrainians.
In the meantime, Vladimir Putin’s approval rankings have surged through the invasion, though that might be an element of individuals fearing repercussions in the event that they communicate negatively of the president.
In fact, the Russian individuals have been brainwashed by years of state censorship and propaganda. They’re fed a broadly distorted view of historical past and present occasions.
Unbiased media in Russia have been systematically shuttered, and what overseas media protection Russians are capable of see is denounced by authorities as “pretend information.”
It occurred to me there are factions within the U.S. and West Virginia who would love us to emulate Russia.
Contemplate the so-called anti-critical race principle laws that has been handed in quite a lot of states and, had been it not for the bumbling of Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, would have handed the West Virginia Legislature final month.
Legal guidelines stifling and even barring educating in regards to the multitude of much less savory points of the American expertise, together with however not restricted to racism, serve to distort historical past, simply as is completed in Russia.
Pretending unhealthy issues didn’t happen in American historical past doesn’t make them go away, nor does it erase their lingering results.
In fact, distorting historical past is nothing new. We’ve on our Capitol grounds and in our Capitol rotunda monuments to a traitor who fought to protect the establishment of slavery, erected by a gaggle that, in its day, distorted historical past to painting him as a hero of a supposed Misplaced Trigger.
Proper-thinking states like Virginia have eliminated such statuary from distinguished public areas, the place they’d initially been positioned, partly, to intimidate individuals of shade.
The purple state schooling wars even have introduced a surge in efforts to ban books containing so-called “divisive ideas,” primarily associated to race and gender.
West Virginia is unfortunately conversant in the e book bans, with the boycotts and violence that broke out in Kanawha County in 1974 when the state tried to introduce new, multicultural books to the general public colleges curriculum.
In the meantime, impartial information media are below assault from the proper.
We had a president who echoed Putin’s claims of “pretend information,” and known as the press the enemy of the individuals. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has had individuals bodily faraway from press conferences — one thing Gov. Jim Justice does electronically by hiding behind the cowardly veil of digital press briefings — briefings from which an honor roll record of reporters have been excluded from taking part.
Even when well-intentioned, stifling the educating of the disagreeable components of our historical past or present occasions as a result of they may make sure college students uncomfortable, or proscribing impartial media as a result of it would uncover some disagreeable truths shouldn’t be the trail a free society ought to take.
In any other case, we may discover ourselves like these Russian POWs, astonished that it turned out the historical past we had been taught and the media we consumed bore little resemblance to actuality.
As famous, Justice’s state COVID-19 briefings have turn into much less and fewer about COVID-19 and an increasing number of an digital soapbox for self-aggrandizing and partisan political rhetoric.
Justice of late has incessantly espoused his principle that the invasion of Ukraine was prompted by weak American management and lack of power independence.
In fact, to Justice’s pondering, power independence is to not be achieved by increasing renewable power sources — there’s no revenue for him in these — however by turning again the clock to elevated reliance on fossil fuels.
At his March 7 briefing (which is probably higher remembered for considered one of his tirades in opposition to me), Justice mentioned of Putin: “I believe he’s calculating, and I believe he’s completely a wise man, and I believe he sees weaknesses, and he sees that the US is being run by President Biden, who’s tremendous, tremendous, tremendous weak and confused and all the things else below the solar, and he tries to take benefit.”
Now, some six weeks later, Putin is trying much less sensible and calculating, and extra like a bloodthirsty madman.
President Joe Biden, removed from being weak and confused, has stored the American individuals and the world up to the mark on what’s taking place in Ukraine, has introduced NATO allies collectively to an unprecedented stage of unity, and has been a gradual hand in supporting the Ukrainian navy and folks whereas avoiding a worldwide escalation of the battle.
Talking of state-imposed censorship, the Legislature this session handed a invoice restoring the state’s movie funding tax credit score (HB2096), which is an efficient factor.
Nevertheless, the laws features a proviso giving the state Workplace of Financial Growth sole discretion to disclaim tax credit to any movie or tv manufacturing that “negatively portrays the state of West Virginia.”
This raises the query, if it had been being made as we speak, would “Matewan,” arguably the very best movie ever set in West Virginia, be denied tax credit due to its depiction of the mine wars of the Twenties and its underlying theme in regards to the exploitation of the working class?
Would a movie in regards to the Buffalo Creek catastrophe or any of the numerous mine disasters in state historical past be denied tax credit?
Within the unique incarnation, tax credit might be denied to movie or tv productions that portrayed the state “in a considerably derogatory method,” a a lot narrower criterion.
Once more, it seems to be one other try to whitewash historical past and present occasions by giving a state company sole authority to find out what movie and TV productions it deems acceptable.
(The laws additionally denies tax credit to productions that embrace sexually specific materials. Mockingly, that provision is below state Code 11-13X-3.)
Lastly, concerning final week’s merchandise on the “Do It For Babydog” pickup truck winners who’re having to report the inflated costs the governor’s workplace paid for the vans as earnings, due to Michael Greenlief and Tom Peyton, who every despatched me an article, “Tax Penalties of Non-cash Prizes,” from the ClientWhys Studying Middle, a useful resource for licensed public accountants and tax professionals.
It cites instances from the U.S. Tax Courtroom (which Peyton defined to me is a authorized time period for the federal appeals court docket that hears appeals of IRS selections) the place individuals efficiently have argued that non-cash prizes had been value one thing much less to them than the precise retail worth.
That features a 1954 case during which a prizewinner argued the journey he gained in a radio contest was not definitely worth the full retail worth to him. In that case, it was a steamship journey to Buenos Aires, however I may see the place a winner of a ski trip who doesn’t ski and hates chilly climate may make a case that she or he shouldn’t be going to benefit from the full retail worth of the journey.
Right here’s hoping the Babydog truck winners have a chance to scale back their tax burdens sooner or later, however I don’t think about that can occur between now and Tax Day.
