On Oleg Sentsov, a film director who was a political prisoner of the Kremlin and now fights in the Ukrainian military; Herschel Walker, the GOP Senate nominee in Georgia; and more
Oleg Sentsov is a man to know. A man to be aware of. A man to be astounded by. He is a film director, and he had a big career. But — a lot of things have happened to him in recent years.
Sentsov was born in the Soviet Union — in Crimea — in 1976. He studied in Kyiv and Moscow. He picked up steam, with his movies, in the late 2000s. In 2014, Putin’s Russia annexed Crimea and launched its war in the Donbass. Sentsov objected — and was therefore arrested by Russian authorities and imprisoned.
He himself is an ethnic Russian. Sentsov is a Ukrainian of Russian ethnicity. For years, many people told us that ethnic Russians in Ukraine desired to belong to Russia, not Ukraine. Millions have now put the lie to this claim, decisively.
For five years, Oleg Sentsov endured the life of a political prisoner in Russia. He had a sham trial, of course. He was tortured, of course. He went on a hunger strike, a long one. The “outside world” did what it could to help him (or some of what it could). Several of us wrote about him and his case. The European Parliament awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
In September 2019, Sentsov was freed in a prisoner swap — a swap between Russia and Ukraine. So, he had his “life back.” He could return to his career directing films.
He gave an interview last summer, saying, “It feels like I finally have my life back. I can travel . . .” He also said, “I decided to become a movie director in my early 30s. Since that time, I have never had any doubt about what I want to do. It’s my deep and inner need to write and make movies.”
Putin keeps interrupting. On February 24 of this year, the Russian dictator launched his all-out assault on Ukraine. And what Sentsov did was — join up. I was not aware of this until Wednesday, when the Ukrainian World Congress issued a tweet:
#Ukrainian film director, former Kremlin political prisoner, and now a fighter in the UA Armed Forces, Oleg Sentsov, celebrates his B-day on the front lines today. Our best wishes are for good health, inspiration, strength, and Victory! Glory to the Heroes!
A picture below the tweet shows Sentsov in uniform.
I think of myself (I wince to say). I’ve become a bit of a creature of habit. I like my routine. I like to have my milkshake served at a particular time at a particular diner (even by a particular waiter). When I need to deviate from my routine, I’m a little cross.
What about Oleg Sentsov? What about his life of making movies? Talk about a routine disrupted: imprisonment, torture, hunger strike, war, combat. The bravery of this fellow — his sheer spine, his sheer guts — leaves me in nothing short of awe.
I hope that he and his cause win. They deserve to.
• Let’s talk a little American politics. There is some of the universal in our politics, too, needless to say. There is some of the universal in all human activity, I imagine.
The tribal impulse is very strong. No doubt it is rooted in biology. The partisan impulse, related, is also very strong. We want our side to win. We want our jersey to win. We would vote for the devil himself if he had an R after his name, or a D after his name.
Pas d’ennemis à gauche, goes an old line. (“No enemies to the left.”) Pas d’ennemis à droite is its counterpart. (“No enemies to the right.”) Bill Buckley used to warn against this. He used to warn against a lot of things.
Speaking of French, he often quoted Talleyrand: “Surtout pas trop de zèle” — “Above all, not too much zeal.” It sort of annoyed me when he quoted this. But I understand him, more and more.
Herschel Walker is the Republican nominee in Georgia for the U.S. Senate. I bear him no ill will whatsoever — none. I would love having lunch or dinner with him. But is he suited to the Senate? Fit for it? Do these questions even matter?
In 2020, Walker was talking to Glenn Beck. Walker said,
“Do you know what, man? I’m gonna say something I probably shouldn’t. Do you know, right now, I have something that can bring you to a building that would clean you from COVID as you walk through this dry mist. As you walk through the door, it will kill any COVID on your body. When you leave, it will kill the virus, as you leave this here product. They don’t wanna talk about that. They don’t wanna hear about that.”
That is a perfect distillation of populism and quackery. (The populism comes in the claim that “they” — always a shadowy, elite “they” — want to suppress the truth.)
Earlier this year, in a church, Walker was talking evolution. “Think about this,” he said. “At one time, science said man came from apes. Did it not? If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it.” His interlocutor said, “You know, now you’re getting too smart for us, Herschel.”
And here is the would-be senator on pollution: “Since we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got we to clean that back up.”
Look, I’m not a babe in the woods. I know that a bunch of rogues and fruit loops get into the U.S. Senate. Not all of them can be a Daniel Webster or a Henry Clay. They can’t even be a Hubert Humphrey or a Howard Baker. But there ought to be a minimum amount of respect for that body. The Senate is not a joke. The government is not unimportant.
You’re familiar with the expression “flood the zone with sh**,” and the expression “burn it down.” These are associated with Steve Bannon. That spirit is very hot in America right now. The LOL spirit. The “nothing matters” spirit. A nation of trolls, we are, to a degree. “The worse the better.” (That is an old Leninist line.)
I’ve said enough on this subject, certainly for now. I’ve spoken on the subject before — and gotten a lot of what-aboutery and other sophistry. Snob! Even Racist! (That nasty charge has always come from the left, in my experience; to hear it come from the right is a new experience, one of many.) The truth is, plenty of Republicans, both in politics and in the media, agree with me. A lot of them — most of them — stay mum. Maybe that will change, sometime, somehow.
• The headline over this article reads, “Starbucks to close some stores due to safety concerns.” One of the stores is the one in Union Station, Washington, D.C., very near the Capitol. I think of a slogan of Ford Motor, some years ago: “Quality is Job 1.” What is “Job 1” of the government? The physical protection of the citizenry, I would say. Not “free false teeth,” to quote Bill Buckley. Government ought to do what it should, and do it well. Without ordered liberty, there is no liberty.
This is a platitude, but we need those, once in a while.
• In recent days, I have hit a Wendy’s or two, in need of a Chocolate Frostee. (The word “need” ought to be in quotation marks.) They were advertising for help — signing bonuses, college tuition, the whole bitsy (to quote my grandmother). In some parts of our country, employers are crying for labor.
Is that a good problem to have? I suppose no problem is really good . . .
• Speaking of business: I thought this was a good name for a store, a company:
• I was in a cab. Someone had left a dollar bill in the back seat. I handed it to the cabbie (who was from South Asia). He was reluctant to take it. “Give it to someone on the street,” he said. Ultimately, he did take the dollar, but he said, “I’m not going to keep it. I’m going to give it to someone on the street. It is not mine, I did not earn it.”
He was adamant. And I admired him.
• A little music? Here’s a review of a recital by Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Soviet-born pianist (long resident in Austria). Her program was Mozart and Beethoven, followed by two encores: one by Debussy, the other by Schubert. Formidable lady, Leonskaja.
• About an hour ago, I recorded a sportscast with two of my favorite gurus: David French and Vivek Dave. I recently played golf with Vivek, in Greater Detroit. I don’t have a scorecard to show you — or one I’m willing to share — but here’s photographic evidence:
Vivek showed up wearing a cap from the Woodmont Country Club, outside Washington, D.C. He has a friend who plays there, and Vivek picked up the cap in the pro shop. I have a bit of history at Woodmont. Well, I don’t — but my grandfather does.
I did some Googling around. I found this article in the Evening Star, dated October 12, 1942. The headline: “Nordlinger Rules Woodmont Linksmen Fourteen Times.” And the first two paragraphs:
It’s getting so that a fellow finds it hard even to keep track of the number of club championships he wins. That happens to be the case with Howard Nordlinger, the straight-hitting gent who rules the links roost at the Woodmont Country Club.
Howard won the title again yesterday, licking Ellis Edlowitz in the final by 6 and 5. Some one asked Howard how many times he had won the Woodmont title. “I think” — and he paused. “Yes, I’m sure this is the fourteenth time.” That is slightly better than par for the course.
My bragging aside — not that the championships had anything to do with me — may I make a linguistic point? “Someone” is spelled “some one,” two words, as those words haven’t been joined yet. I get a kick out of that, somehow. Years ago, I received letters from older people with words such as “to-day.”
Speaking of days — have a good one, and I’ll talk to you soon.
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