November 19, 2016

Grabbing some Pussy Riot in Madison, Wisconsin.

Pussy Riot performed not a concert but a Q&A at the Wisconsin Union last night. The Progressive covered it:
Imagine if the colorful, costumed marchers protesting in the streets of Madison against Scott Walker in 2011 were rounded up and shipped off to a penal colony. Putin’s crackdown on dissent in Russia—after an outpouring of post-Soviet free expression—was just as much of a shock. When they started to make pointed critiques of the Putin regime, Pussy Riot caught the brunt of Putin’s backlash....

For my daughters and their friends, who took part in demonstrations against Walker, hearing from these radical young women who went to prison for their beliefs was eye-opening—especially in the wake of the election of Donald Trump....

Pussy Riot members Masha Alyokhina and Basha Bogina talked about standing up against Putin’s repression, why they felt a particular kinship with Wisconsinites during the uprising against Walker, and how they continued rebelling even in prison.
Their music, when they do play, is punk rock, but that didn't stop them from participating, the next day, at the Solidarity Sing Along at the State Capitol in some anti-Scott-Walker folksinging:



One of the Solidarity Singers quotes one of the Pussy Rioters: "She said last night that we have a good culture of rioting."

There are various old posts on this blog about the Solidarity Singers. From April 2013, there's "Solidarity Singers seek recognition as 'Longest continuously running singing political protest.'" There's this video I made of them singing in the Rotunda during the protests of 2011 (with me offering real-time commentary):



Then there was the time I got into what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called an "altercation": "'Capitol altercation involves Solidarity Singers, political blogger" — i.e. Althouse": " I was standing filming a man who was ranting about how Jesus would be on the anti-Scott Walker side. This man blows a vuvuzela right in my face more than once. He's yelling at a man who is a Christian minister, but was never given much of a chance to say anything. Then a very angry guy comes up and violently snatches my camera, but can't get it out of my hand. He tries a second time, and he also hits me. My son detached the man's hand from mine. Anyway, I have this on video... here."

IN THE COMMENTS: chickelit said: "Pussy Riot made a ridiculous anti-Trump propaganda video...."



I guess they're not the "trigger warning" type of feminist. That video is full of the graphic depiction of sexualized violence against women. I'm sure many people will find it sexually titillating in the old-fashioned way.

65 comments:

Sebastian said...

"Then a very angry guy comes up and violently snatches my camera, but can't get it out of my hand. He tries a second time, and he also hits me." "Mostly peaceful" then, as the MSM would say.

Lewis Wetzel said...

For my daughters and their friends, who took part in demonstrations against Walker, hearing from these radical young women who went to prison for their beliefs was eye-opening—especially in the wake of the election of Donald Trump....
Progressives were very proud of putting Kim Davis in jail for her beliefs.

Freder Frederson said...

Progressives were very proud of putting Kim Davis in jail for her beliefs.

Kim Davis was put in jail for contempt of court when she tried to interfere with other peoples' civil rights.

If she didn't want to do her job, she should have quit.

tim in vermont said...

Punk Rock = We really don't have the time or the talent to learn the craft, but goddamit people need to listen to us.

The US equivalent of Pussy Riot is Dinesh D'Souza, who went to prison for criticizing Hillary, or that guy Hillary and Obama put in prison for making a movie about Islam.

Curious George said...

"Solidarity Singers seek recognition as 'Longest continuously running singing political protest.'"

And there is the money shot.

chickelit said...

Pussy Riot made a ridiculous anti-Trump propaganda video which I linked here. That video greatly diminished them in my opinion. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

For my daughters and their friends, who took part in demonstrations against Walker, hearing from these radical young women who went to prison for their beliefs was eye-opening—especially in the wake of the election of Donald Trump....

..................................

having learned their lesson in prison they will never say anything bad about Vlad again. They are here because there is no personal risk involved and they can bask in the adulation of dolts like this lady.

Curious George said...

"Freder Frederson said...
Progressives were very proud of putting Kim Davis in jail for her beliefs.

Kim Davis was put in jail for contempt of court when she tried to interfere with other peoples' civil rights."

And all these assholes blocking traffic, damaging property...what say you?

tim in vermont said...

Oh yeah, and Citizen's United, whose anti-Hillary movie was banned.

I am waiting for Freder to come up with examples where the fascist Republicans shut down opposing speech with government power.

And waiting....

and waiting...

Freder Frederson said...

And all these assholes blocking traffic, damaging property...what say you?

vandalism is not acceptable and vandals should be arrested. Blocking traffic, generally not.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Kim Davis was put in jail for contempt of court when she tried to interfere with other peoples' civil rights."
Jesus, Fredersen, what the Hell do you think the judge put the Pussy Riot gals in jail for? Their "beliefs"? They were found guilty of hooliganism. They could have just stayed home, couldn't they? You think only liberals have the right to act politically on their values?

tim in vermont said...

My daughter was held up in an ambulance for an hour and a half in Boston due to Black Lives Matters protests. She was OK, but I think her civil rights were violated.

Paco Wové said...

"a very angry guy comes up and violently snatches my camera... He tries a second time, and he also hits me"

He was just being colorful and costumed, Althouse. Get with the program.

What is it about the modern left and hysterical drama-queening?

Freder Frederson said...

I am waiting for Freder to come up with examples where the fascist Republicans shut down opposing speech with government power.

When I was in college (public university in Illinois) Louis Farrakhan was uninvited from speaking.

That was easy.

Curious George said...

"Freder Frederson said...
Blocking traffic, generally not."

Wow. So interferring with some rights is okay. What others?

And you know a person died because an ambulance was blocked. Guess that's just a broken egg in your omelette.

Freder Frederson said...

And besides, it seems Terry is perfectly willing to lock people up for "hooliganism".

Gahrie said...

Just out of curiosity...how many rightwing protesters interrupted either event in an attempt to prevent these Lerftwingers from speaking?

MayBee said...

Am I the only one who thinks the movie guy they put in jail was just some CIA agent they wrapped a scarf around and put in a police car so they could show the world they had "taken care of the problem"?

Sydney said...

You mean to say those Wisconsin protesters are still occupying your capitol building?

Gahrie said...

And besides, it seems Terry is perfectly willing to lock people up for "hooliganism".

Well what else are you supposed to do with them?

Freder Frederson said...

Well what else are you supposed to do with them?

Defend their First Amendment rights?

Curious George said...

Here's a song sung to "Solidarity Forever" I posted here back during the protests:

"Nothing Lasts Forever" by Curious George

We had the fall elections that we lost instead of won
So we grabbed our drums and bugles for some protestin’ fun
Yet our force was weaker than Walker’s awesome strength of one
Damn our gravy train is gone.

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is gone.

The public finally realized that we are the greedy parasite
Nobody bought this serfdom shit once our compensation came to light
Sure there’s always something left for us to organize and fight
But our gravy train is gone.

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is one.

It is we who made you wait forever at the DMV
Because we used start at ten and quit at half past three
Now voting is like coming here you’ll need a state ID
For our gravy train is gone.

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is gone.

The world that's staffed by idle drones was ours and ours alone
But that’s history now because Walker cut our budgets to the bone
Now we have to type and file and answer the goddamn phone!
Because that gravy train is gone.

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is gone.

We have taken untold millions that the public toiled to earn,
And the unions spent their 10% so that fact was never learned,
Now those were times that we will forever yearn, Because our gravy train is gone.

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is gone.

Now our protests sound tired and oh so very lame,
We can’t think of anything else to chant but that idiotic “shame”,
Our last chance will be recalls that will surely end the same, And our gravy train is gone!

Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, Nothing lasts forever, For our gravy train is gone.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"And besides, it seems Terry is perfectly willing to lock people up for "hooliganism"."
Don't put words in my mouth. I am pointing out the hypocrisy of liberals who praise dissent -- when they are doing the dissenting. When people dissent against the laws they support, it's toss the bastards in jail.
Putin? One man.
Anthony Kennedy? One man.

Crimso said...

"When I was in college (public university in Illinois) Louis Farrakhan was uninvited from speaking."

Don't you know that hate speech isn't allowed? It's one of the rules. Alinsky told me so.

On those grounds, example not accepted. Try again. Wait, don't bother. You'll undoubtedly keep tossing out examples that can be easily shot down using the rules now in effect. That's the beauty of those rules, they can be twisted for use as a weapon by either side.

In a less sarcastic and more serious consideration of laws and principles (an approach leftists generally no longer deserve based upon their intellectual dishonesty), that might be a good example. Details matter.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I tried to identify the Illinois incident Fredersen mentioned, but all I got were links to Farakhan's wikipedia and facebook pages, and about a thousand links to stories about conservatives being banned from speaking at campuses. What year did this happen, Fredersen? Help a fella out.

Gahrie said...

Defend their First Amendment rights?

If they are "hooligans" then they are not speaking, they are behaving....and behaving in a manner deserving of punishment.

Next Freder will be explaining why the assassination of Trump wouldn't actually be a crime....but actually speech.

Free John Wilkes Booth!

Michael K said...

"she tried to interfere with other peoples' civil rights."

Yes and bankrupting a few bakeries and flower shops is also free speech in your book. It really is amusing to see the left out in the open.

chickelit said...

Althouse wrote: I'm sure many people will find it sexually titillating in the old-fashioned way.

Beavis and Butthead voices:

Uhhhhh...Althouse said "titilated"

Yeah, yeah, titilated

Bill, Republic of Texas said...


Pussy Riot was put in jail for trespassing and hooliganism when they invaded the most sacred church in Russia and disrupted the service and damaged the screens. The State decided to make an example of them a warning to others.

All totalitarianism is based on law. It's not the lack of law it is the selective or punitive use of laws.

Kim whatshername should never been jailed. There were other remedies available but the State decided to make an example of her as a warning to others.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Pussy riot video is excellent. It perfectly captures the cognitive dissonance of the modern progressive.
The Nazi symbols are a nice touch.

Unknown said...

The left claims that Kim Davis was jailed for various reasons, but while it was happening all the protestors were screaming in joy and marching and celebrating the fact they jailed a Christian.

It played out like it always does, nowadays: the angry leftist mob of protestors celebrating the state police force punishing the white Christian... who they claim has all the power.

Really? Angry mob and state police against little old ladies, and the little old lady has all the power, huh?

Tell us, O wise Fredor: When, exactly, was the last time the Christian won the lawsuit and didn't get destroyed by the state and the left? If white Christians are the people of privilege, why do they always get the raw end of the state bayonet? And when, if it's the Christian theocracy that you guys scream about so much: when did the gays get crushed under the jackboot of the Cross? Decades ago, possibly?

Of course, you'll come up with something where a gay person got stiffed a quarter in change and it's the end of the world and thus justification for bankrupting and destroying lives, all while claiming you are powerless and the ones losing homes and businesses have all the power.


--Vance

Lewis Wetzel said...

Well, near as I can tell, if Kim Davis and some friends were arrested after donning KKK outfits, invading an African American church, doing a song and dance routine mocking the parishioners, all the while filming it so they could make some money putting it on youtube, Fredersen would be right here on Althouse defending Davis's first amendment rights.

Amadeus 48 said...

One of my friends wonders whether under the Russian system a charge of hooliganism includes the lesser offences of committing shenanigans and promoting hijinks. Does anyone know?

Lewis Wetzel said...

I think one of the original charges was "insulting the Church." Damn lucky they did not get burned at the stake.

mrmittens said...

https://radfemworldnews.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/pussy-riot-whose-freedom-whose-riot/

Wince said...

chickelit said...
Pussy Riot made a ridiculous anti-Trump propaganda video which I linked here.

Here's actual live streaming video of what Trump is up to right now in Trump Tower.

"Oh yeah, you'll scream you big fat ugly cow!."

More smuggled video.

Unknown said...

You don't have to guess, Terry: Shortly after Prop 8, gangs of gays were doing almost exactly that around the country. They were bursting into church services and generally acting like the total douchebags they are: screaming obscenities and trampling the altars and spilling the sacramental emblems.

Since they were attacking Christians, all they got was prayers. I'm sure Fredersen totally supported that kind of behavior, and still does.

--Vance

Laslo Spatula said...

Pussy Riot, doing whatever they can to get another Snatch of fame.

Busy as Beavers, those girls are.

I am Laslo.

damikesc said...

No matter what one thinks of them, one thing cannot be denied about the Solidarity Singers.

They have been REMARKABLY ineffective.

GOP runs the state. Trump won the state.

Good job, kids.

damikesc said...

You know, perhaps we were too quick in condemning Putin for slapping these women down...

pst314 said...

"I was standing filming a man who was ranting about how Jesus would be on the anti-Scott Walker side. This man blows a vuvuzela right in my face more than once. He's yelling at a man who is a Christian minister, but was never given much of a chance to say anything. Then a very angry guy comes up and violently snatches my camera, but can't get it out of my hand. He tries a second time, and he also hits me."
Presumably that is why Pussy Riot feels such kinship with Wisconsin leftists.
--That, and the union thuggery and cronyism.

YoungHegelian said...

Do not assume that just because Pussy Riot opposes Putin & is on the left that they do not share the underlying Russian antipathy towards the rival state that essentially defeated them when they were the Soviet Union, i.e. the USA.

The Russian character runs deep in every Russian, of every political stripe. Some are able to overcome it; most not.

Known Unknown said...

"When I was in college (public university in Illinois) Louis Farrakhan was uninvited from speaking."

Well, you have one. Assuming those in charge were Republicans/Conservatives.

Earnest Prole said...

The Pussy Riot video culminates in human organ trafficking, which of course is a ridiculous anti-Semitic trope.

Bob Boyd said...

The guy who grabbed Althouse's camera then ran away was having his own little one-man pussy riot.

Swede said...

Pussy Riot should be invited back in 2020 to help the Left in Wisconsin.

I highly encourage it.

Jupiter said...

"Their music, when they do play, is punk rock, but that didn't stop them from participating, the next day, at the Solidarity Sing Along at the State Capitol in some anti-Scott-Walker folksinging"

Yeah, I bet the gals in Pussy Riot really enjoy "She'll be comin' Round the Mountain".

tim in vermont said...

They actually did a study in the early days of the century on the effect of comparing Bush to Hitler. It made people more sympathetic to Bush. Maybe if the Wisconsin protests had been even more energetic, shutting down emergency services, etc, then Wisconsin could be even more red than it has become. As Donny Trump would say #SELFDEFEATING

If it weren't for the semi imprisonment aspect of trapping people immobile in cars, and the reckless endangerment aspect of blocking rescue equipment, I would cheer them on.

Jupiter said...

AprilApple said...
"Pussy riot video is excellent. It perfectly captures the cognitive dissonance of the modern progressive.
The Nazi symbols are a nice touch."

Yeah, that video is something. Those gals *really* like taking their clothes off! Not that there's anything wrong with that, I hasten to add. If you've got it, flaunt it.

David Begley said...

Wow. That video is completely over the top and very disturbing. But it is controversial and creates buzz for the group. Clicks and eyeballs. Expect more of this. Like four more years.

YoungHegelian said...

@David,

That video is completely over the top and very disturbing.

I think the words you're looking for are that's sadist pornography, except it's crueler.

Remember when you watch this stuff out of Russia: in the great Russian cultural struggle between the Slavophiles & the Westernizers, the Bolsheviks were on the side of the Westernizers!

Jupiter said...

Interesting. The prisoner in the video is branded with SHE MADE AN ABORTION (presumably a slightly clumsy Russian translation). She then attacks her tormentors, and is shot dead. The people who have tortured and killed her then prepare to sell her organs. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Planned Parenthood would understand. What else are you gonna do with a useless clump of cells?

Jupiter said...

YoungHegelian said...

"Remember when you watch this stuff out of Russia: in the great Russian cultural struggle between the Slavophiles & the Westernizers, the Bolsheviks were on the side of the Westernizers!"

Yeah, Russia is a fascinating funhouse-mirror of Western ideas. Presumably, the American Left regard former KGB agent Vladimir Putin as a Right-Wing fascist. Of course, he still regards them as useful idiots.

Jupiter said...

Vladimir = Owns-the-World, more or less. A lot of Russian mothers seem to regard that as a good name to hang on their boys. I don't believe there is a feminine equivalent. Sexist bastards.

n.n said...

Social liberals.

FullMoon said...

Fredor "mis-remembers":

Speaking at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois on May 30, 1988, for example,
Farrakhan followed the pattern of other recent speeches, claiming to be offering con&ation
but at the most emotionally-charged moments of his speech, challenging, taunting
and threatening Jews. The Evanston Reziezu (June 2,1988) reported that ‘He risked inflaming
feelings again with his characterization of the Holocaust as a punishment visited on Jews
for failing to keep a special covenant.”
Farrakhan spent most of the final hour of this speech discussing the Jews. He said
he wanted to address the Jews in the audience, and asserted that he was disturbed at being
seen by Jews as a “new black Hitler.” Jews had suffered so much under Hitler, he said,
that “to make Farrakhan a black Hitler is to plant the seed of murder in the heart of every
Jewish person .”
Farrakhan stated-in an effort to “explain” his notorious “Hitler was a great man”....

jono39 said...

You only need to watch two minutes of this crude propaganda to understand why Donald Trump was elected President of ALL Americans, including the morons who made this Agitprop.

Darrell said...

Pussy Riot--from the same clown that gave us FEMEN--is the creation of handful of Russian men-- idiots that want a return to classical communism. They aren't very educated and they cherry pick the work of socialist authors from the early 1900s--to the 1930s to create a nonsensical mess. From their statements, they longs for the days of killing. They started out running porn and prostitution in Russia and moved to the internet. They've ruined the lives of thousands of Russian women in porn--there are stories that the girls they brought in were not there voluntarily. These groups have nothing to do with human rights or democratic freedoms. The FEMEN stunts were to generate free publicity and lead people to their porn sites. The Pussy Riot stunts were for the same reason, because one of the Russian clowns thinks he is a rock god and they play his music. Putin had cut a deal with the Orthodox Church to stop the intrusion into their Masses by Pussy Riots and FEMEN, in exchange for them toning down their anti-Putin rhetoric. Putin warned them to stop, but they didn't. Jail was the next stop after legal trials. You might want to look for some of the groups videos where they go to a supermarket and stuff a 5-pound chicken up their snatches in front of shoppers. Speaking truth to power. That should be a crime against humanity--not to long ago shoppers would never be lucky enough to see a chicken in the store in Russia, much less buy one.

Ipso Fatso said...

"When I was in college (public university in Illinois) Louis Farrakhan was uninvited from speaking." Freder Frederson

Freder my boy, why is it that when I drive by the headquarters of the Final Call on 79th Street (which I do fairly regularly)in Chicago, you are not outside protesting Farrakhan's unfair treatment by your school? I also have not seen you outside Mosque Maryam at 73rd & Stony Island. Man some supporter you are.

Ipso Fatso said...

BTW, Northwestern University is not a public school, FYI.Freder was referring to U of I, which has branches in Champaign, Chicago and Springfield, or maybe Illinois State, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois or Northern Illinois. I may have missed one or two.

MacMacConnell said...

I hope Trump's victory tour comes to Madison.

Freder Frederson said...

When, exactly, was the last time the Christian won the lawsuit and didn't get destroyed by the state and the left?

Gee, I don't know. Oh yeah, Hobby Lobby.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Actually, I think "Make America Great Again" is a great song, catchy tune and lyrics, very ironic. My guess is that Trump would probably like it if he ever listened to it, he sometimes (well, not often) has a sense of humor about himself. Pussy Riot's other new song, "Straight Outta Vagina" is even better.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

If the subject is "people being rounded up and incarcerated" the first one comes to mind is the poor dude video maker that Hillary said caused the Bengazi attack.

Nancy Reyes said...

Pussy Riot got into the news for desecrating a church. True, it was a Russian Orthodox church, who has ties with the government, but a church nevertheless. So excuse me for thinking they are not the heroines they make themselves out to be.