The World Cup and the hatemongers

Anne Applebaum appears in the social media for all the wrong reasons, this time because of a comment on her Twitter account claiming NATO wins the world cup

Anne Applebaum has made a name for herself on the back of Russophobic hysteria, idiotic diatribes and hate-mongering against Moscow, the Kremlin and anything Russian. I have torn this female to shreds many a time in this column, to the point where she refused to engage in any sort of dialogue with me after I tried to humanise our relationship. In short, she skulked off humiliated in a huff, a childish tantrum, a sulk.

Now I am sent a screenshot of a Twitter account bearing her photo, her name and perhaps the most idiotic comment one will find on the Net for some time to come, well perhaps the second most idiotic (President Duterte of the Philippines is supposed to have said he will resign if anyone can show him a selfie they took with God. Rolleyes). The comment attributed to Anne Applebaum, after Russia was eliminated from the World Cup on penalties against Croatia, reads as follows:

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

Whoever wrote this nonsensical piece of puerile, gloating pigshit, whichever mind-numbingly boring, pathetic, loser of an apology for a human being and a writer, whether it was Anne Applebaum or someone else (the page accepts anything people place on it), what a stupid comment, what an inane attempt to grandstage a sports event and turn it into a geo-political slogan of victory.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

For a start, NATO is not playing at the World Cup. If it was, it would have been eliminated in the group stage because as a military organisation, it is useless, a collection of cowards whose foreign policies are controlled by Washington (illegal under most Constitutions), a club managed by those with their hands tied by the lobbies which run NATO behind the scenes. If NATO were a country, federated in one of the soccer Federations, which it is not, it would never have been allowed by FIFA to participate because it has carried out war crimes, criminal acts of wanton destruction of persons and property outside the auspices of the UNO, acts of terrorism, breaching international law and targeting civilian structures with military hardware. NATO would be as welcome at a sports event as a cough followed by an abdominal cholic suffered by a gentleman wearing white trousers giving a speech after a dinner party of curry and rice. Next, England is not a NATO member, the United Kingdom is, so as usual the comment on Applebaum's page humiliates the author through pigfaced ignorance, shitfaced arrogance and unadulterated insolence.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

So, the claim is as ridiculous as it is grade school playgroundish. For the author of this piece of sheer idiocy, only countries enrolled in a football federation can be present in a World Cup. The claim is as vapid as saying that all four countries remaining in the competition (Belgium, Croatia, England, France) all have capital cities, all start with capital letters and are all located in Europe. Wow, tell me something I did not know. Not bad for a Pulitzer Prizewinner, if indeed it was Applebaum herself and not a ghostwriter using her Twitter page, Applebaum - who has penned Red Famine, Gulag and Iron Curtain, three Russophobic volumes of hatred aimed at hurting Russia, three pieces of revisionist balderdash unfit to lie on the floor beside the toilet. What a waste of time.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

The author of the comment, whether it is Applebaum or not (and who would be surprised if it was?) shows a total lack of respect for the hundreds of millions of people enjoying this sports event, this meeting between young men and women from all the continents, playing together, having fun together and discovering the wonderful country that Russia is.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

Fans from around the world are writing comments full of love and affection, telling stories of human warmth, being presented jars of home-made jams and jellies and pickles, being given hugs and kisses and soccer scarves. Nice stories from nice people in a world in which even today after two decades of NATO's acts of terrorism (murder and destruction of families and lives, blasting the faces off kids after calling them legitimate targets, targeting water supplies and electricity grids "to break their backs"), people celebrate sport as a means of bringing cultures together and celebrating multi-culturalism.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

This is a world which does not need a po-faced, hate-filled, Russophobic asshole to gate-crash the party and spoil the fun. The author of the idiotic NATO comment got it square between the eyes from numerous Twitter posters, ripping it to shreds. The author of the idiotic NATO comment does not belong in this day and age; the author of the idiotic NATO comment belongs to yesteryear, a world filled with bile and vitriol, a world in which the Old Testament (the first terrorist manual) rules the roost. The rest of us have moved on.

"Whatever happens, NATO now wins the World Cup".

Expressing the hearts and minds of the vast majority of those who have enjoyed FIFA 2018, thank you Russia for a wonderful World Cup, thank you Russia for your marvellous hospitality, thank you Russia for your great friendship, your gigantic heart, your amazing culture, your music, folklore, dances, your painting and sculpture, your ballet performances, your unequalled literature, your gastronomy and your fun-loving peoples. Thank you Russia for some wonderful, flowing football, a brilliant passing game down both flanks and through the center, some solid defending, some great goalkeeping from Akinfeev, some creative midfield play and some attacking magic. Mesmerising stuff!

Whatever happens, Russia reached far further than anyone in their wildest dreams imagined, whatever happens, the FIFA World Cup 2018 has been a resounding success and whatever happens, the fool who made the comment about NATO is being laughed at in the four corners of the Earth. Whoever it was, may (s)he hear those laughs day and night for the rest of her/his days.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru 

Twitter: @TimothyBHinchey

[email protected]

*Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey has worked as a correspondent, journalist, deputy editor, editor, chief editor, director, project manager, executive director, partner and owner of printed and online daily, weekly, monthly and yearly publications, TV stations and media groups printed, aired and distributed in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe Isles; the Russian Foreign Ministry publication Dialog and the Cuban Foreign Ministry Official Publications. He has spent the last two decades in humanitarian projects, connecting communities, working to document and catalog disappearing languages, cultures, traditions, working to network with the LGBT communities helping to set up shelters for abused or frightened victims and as Media Partner with UN Women, working to foster the UN Women project to fight against gender violence and to strive for an end to sexism, racism and homophobia. A Vegan, he is also a Media Partner of Humane Society International, fighting for animal rights. He is Director and Chief Editor of the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru.