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Middle Finger to Obama On Russian TV Is Not What It Seems

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A sphinxlike Russian newscaster Tatiana Limanova has flipped a “bird” while pronouncing Barack Obama's name on the Russian REN TV – the country's largest privately owned channel. The video of this exotic event is spreading like wildfire over the yet unrestricted Internet as if it were a UFO sighting, causing some overly curious comrades to question the algorithm of Hillary's “reset” button. Some have gone as far as sending letters to this Party Organ asking for a translation of her words from the Mother Tongue into the Kapitalist English. This is just wrong.

Need I remind them that, instead of asking questions, all comrades worth their salt rations must be prepared to rationalize any phenomenon in a way that advances the cause of the Revolution? And since President Obama is a useful tool of the Revolution, one should be able instantly to misinterpret this bird sighting as the most positive development for Obama and his foreign policy initiatives - even if one must invent an alternative "translation” and adjust the truth by faking the knowledge of the Mother Tongue.

So let's use this opportunity as a training exercise. See this “bird-watching” video and show your skills in progressive truth adjustment. Remember: the issue is not the issue; the Revolution is the issue.

EMBEDDED VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Image THE REALITY:

Tatiana Limanova says the following in Russian: "Dmitriy Medvedev has become the Chairman of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) today.” She stutters while pronouncing the name of the summit and continues: “Previously this position was held by Barack Obama.” That's when she flips the bird and dispassionately goes on to describe the APEC press conference in Honolulu, with Medvedev talking about Russian-American missile treaty.

All bias aside, I don't believe her middle finger is directed at Obama. It's likely that her producer, after she had stuttered in the first sentence, had said something into her earpiece that caused her to flip the bird in response, thinking she was speaking off camera over the footage of the conference. That unintentionally coincided with her reading Obama's name.

Here's why I think it wasn't intentional. Flipping the bird at another country's leader doesn't agree with the unwritten ethics of "edgy" journalism that requires attacking one's own ruling elites first. Given that REN TV has the reputation of the last bastion of free media in Russia, an "edgy" newscaster there would sooner flip a bird to her own president, Medvedev, than to the US president.

In addition, most Russians don't make the same distinction between the president and the country as we do; Obama for them personifies America. So if the “bird” were intentional, it would be directed at the United States as a whole rather than to Obama personally. And that is also unlikely considering that the rest of REN TV programming is mostly made of American shows in Russian translation:

  • Formula-1 motor racing
  • Family Guy (as Гриффины)
  • The Simpsons (as Симпсоны)
  • Friends (as Друзья)
  • The X-Files (as Секретные материалы)
  • M*A*S*H (as МЭШ)
  • My Name Is Earl (as Меня зовут Эрл)
  • Top Gear Russia (Russian: Top Gear: Русская версия)
  • Prison Break (as Побег)
  • The 4400 (as 4400) - a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network
  • Supernatural (as Сверхъестественное)
  • Jetix, children's adventure programming from Disney
Furthermore, in Russia the middle finger itself is a very recent appropriation borrowed via Hollywood movies and other popular culture vehicles, along with some American slang expressions, curse words, political correctness, and Che Guevara T-shirts.

The traditional Russian equivalent to the middle finger used to be “the fig” – a fist with a thumb placed between the index and the middle fingers. Since there is no significance to this gesture in the American culture, it's easy to imagine a US official, e.g., Hillary Clinton, accidentally placing her fingers in that manner over the table while dining with a Russian counterpart. That would be rather impolite because every Russian knows that polite people show “the fig” only with the hand hidden deep in the pocket.

Thus, instead of being a hostile gesture, the middle finger on Russian TV symbolizes the new spirit of Russian-American friendship, cultural exchange, and deepened mutual understanding.

The lesson we can all learn from this TV blooper is, how a random silly gesture, in the absence of cultural and linguistic context, can become a politically charged international phenomenon. Fortunately, Americans aren't prone to taking into the streets rioting and breaking things due to a perceived insult. So let's be grateful that the newscaster's finger went up as she pronounced “Barack Obama” and not some other combination of words and sounds that might sound as “Prophet Mohammed.” Such turn of events would have been much worse, causing serious material damage and loss of innocent lives – as it already has in many other cases.

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Private Enterprise is a blight on humanity. As long as there are Private Television stations, our Socialist Avatars are always in danger of being disrespected in public.


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Come on RS, do you think that former Communists around the world don't see Barack for who he is? He is a danger to everyone! Pootin may be a son of a she-dog, but he is an ultra-nationalist, and if some Russians who are weary of him and Medvedev are angry at Mr. Obama, it is because a Commie American President is the worst thing to have in such a moment. In other words, Bush kept Pootin in check, Obama only fires Pootin up (who would anyone living in a dangerous neighborhood hate more, the criminal thug who terrorizes the neighborhood, or the corrupt cop who makes things easier for the thug?).

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Red Square is exactly correct on this one and all other matters.

The response is too automatic and nonchalant to be directed at any one particular person outside of her circle.

She does not even appear to be emotionally involved in the international sign of malcontent.


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prog/off....DAMMIT,RED!!!! DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!!!Here I thought I had seen my soulmate, and you burst my bubble! I was browsing her profile in Russian Mail Order Bride Weekly when I read THIS. My Shwing has Shwung :(

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ThePeoplesComrade wrote:
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That looks like Corzine watching out for the Feds...speaking of which, where is the Chairman? I didn't know he was on MFG's board...then again, I am not shocked when the scorpion strikes...

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And here I thought it was the new Dear Leader salute. I guess I didn't get the right memo.

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Dearest Comrade Red Square-

I am Amerikan as apple pie. I am Amerikan from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. All my relatives were Amikans going back at least 5 generations or more.

I was a kid in the 1950's and teenager during the 1960's. I learned how to defend myself from Russian nuclear bombs by crawling under my school desk and curling up in the proper ball in order to kiss my ass goodbye. Yes indeed, I learned to be scared shitless of the "damnruskies".

When Comrade Khrushchev ("We will bury you!") visited the US in 1959 we were delighted how much he enjoyed the supermarkets and felt sorry for him not being able to visit Disneyland because of "security concerns". We did view his pompous attitude as rather clown-like and obviously phony.

Here we are now all these years later- with a Communist in the White House- and he is phony as a three dollar bill. I and all my Red Neck peers out here in "flyover country clinging to our guns and religion" certainly give the Obamination the bird. (Please note my avatar is all about his election)

So is Russian newscaster Tatiana Limanova giving Obama the bird because he is a Communist? Or is it because Obama is just spoiled rotten child who grew up to be a pompous dork?


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Russia's Middle Finger Pushes Hillary's Reset Button

Middle_Finger_Obama_Russia_Reset.jpg
A random silly gesture minus cultural and linguistic context, multiplied by wishful thinking on both sides, can result in a serious international “overcharge.”

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Tatyana Limanova gets fired-

Russian newsreader fired after Obama middle finger insult
By Andrew Osborn, Moscow11:46AM GMT 24 Nov 2011
London Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8912395/Russian-newsreader-fired-after-Obama-middle-finger-insult.html

....REN TV, a privately owned channel controlled by associates of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, said on Thursday it had decided to take her off air calling her actions "unacceptable" and "unprofessional".

"On 14 November during the 'News 24' programme the presenter Limanova made an unacceptable gesture that was a synonym for an offensive expression," it said in a statement.

The channel, which is broadcast to 120 million people, claimed the gesture was intended for her colleagues in the studio rather than for President Obama.

"It had no subtext and was not linked with the news that Limanova was reading at that moment," it said.

Nonetheless, it said it had been left with no choice but to fire her.

"A decision has been taken that T Limanova cannot and will not continue to work on the REN TV channel as a presenter," it said.

Sources close to the channel had previously tried to defuse the row by claiming that the newsreader had believed she was off camera at the time and merely providing a voice-over for a report. She had raised her middle finger as a jokey retort to studio technicians who had been trying to put her off her stride, they said.

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Red Square wrote:The traditional Russian equivalent to the middle finger used to be “the fig” – a fist with a thumb placed between the index and the middle fingers. Since there is no significance to this gesture in the American culture....
No significance in the common vernacular but I think it's beginning to take off in the progressive culture...

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Isn't the fig pretty much the same as the world socialism "stand united" fist? Asking this for my edification... Of course the picture above was modified for the leftists in WI protesting Gov. Walker, but it's pretty much indicative of the type of art/gestures being used lefties in general.

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BBBB-B-B-But, Boss! They sacked her! What would be up with that?The MSM historically sacks NO-ONE for even MORE offensive comments/gestures! You know what they are. I'm including the Russian press as part of the MSM, naturally.

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Red Square wrote:Russia's Middle Finger Pushes Hillary's Reset Button

Middle_Finger_Obama_Russia_Reset.jpg
A random silly gesture minus cultural and linguistic context, multiplied by wishful thinking on both sides, can result in a serious international “overcharge.”
It was great! Waaaaaay better than the three way scissorfest I had with The Janets!

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Maybe Tatiana should move to France where they don't seem to have a problem with this sort of thing. If this flippin' battle on the Paris Metro is any indication, her possibilities are endless!




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_RJbE ... ideo_title

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Dear Comrade Red Square,

This is merely an addendum to my recent post which I felt fitting for the subject at hand.
It was:

Hey Obama,

‹^› ‹(•¿•)› ‹^›p.s. the kerning needs to be tighter, so it "reads" better. Can't do it here. :•)And, my returns are to no avail. (sigh) (Want to make it look nice for you)Edit: Tried another time to make it look better.Didn't work.

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Forget about the kerning ..... it's the spaces between typed characters that concern me.

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Krasnodar,

What would I ever do without you! You always make me laugh! And, I do actually find the typesetting aspects of the new Cube formatting a bit um, arbitrary. I don't like my type running together as if I was some amateur! I've been doing this for years! Not sure what's up with this, as yet. Maybe I just haven't figured out something obvious. This, of course, has never happened before! (NOT!)

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Pamalinski,

With due respect, what have you ever experienced on the People's Cube that hasn't been a just little " bit um, arbitrary "?

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Excellent point, Krasnodar!

I feel much better now!


 
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