Open the Gershkovich cell
genuine action towards unity
Wishing you as cool and breezy a Friday as we finally have in the Chesapeake. What a change 48 hours can bring. Last night our sunset was truly marvelous.
The secret is out: I am weak with popular culture after roughly 1990, unquestionably abysmal following the beginning of the new millennium. I get common phrases wrong, misidentify people, and the like. I am good with the sentiment I am trying to cite but just don’t get the pop culture stuff. My kids remain amazed I know anything about the Simpsons at all (confession: I know the four main characters and Abe because the latter comes up in crossword clues about once a fortnight).
You’ve all been unwilling to correct my obvious “Star Trek” attribution error, unlike my teenaged granddaughter and her mother. They pointed out that Captain Jean Luc Picard rather than Captain Kirk (generational thing, though I did watch the Picard series when it appeared decades ago) was known for “make it so” as a signature phrase. None of you put me on report (thank you) but I deeply appreciate the family correction I received last evening on this point. This morning, another wonderful reader noted I said “Vive Le France“ rather that the appropriate “Vive La France” earlier this week. Thank you again, eagle-eyed reader.
I truly read any and all feedback. I am self-aware enough to recognize I get lots of things wrong so do not ever hesitate to bring them to my attention as I endeavor to be correct, even when I fail the first time. Discussions mean give and take as I am far from the smartest person involved in this column.
Sadly, the idea of “give and take” was on display against in Moscow when the Russian court convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich today on manufactured espionage charges. As an NBC reporter noted, virtually no one ever gets out of this situation without a conviction in Vlad’s Russia; one always holds hope that sanity, lack of evidence, and humanity can somehow apply though it never does. Gershkovich received a sentence of 16 horrifying years in a Russian prison.
Authoritarian regimes do not want anyone conducting investigative reporting for fear it could trigger demands for accountability. The falsehood that a foreign government must be conducting the effort ignores the fact that governments have professionals who likely do that so individual journalists are not really needed. Gershkovich had an additional burden of being a heritage Russian linguist as his parents were Jewish emigrés from the erstwhile Soviet Union. That cannot have helped him as it meant a greater probability he had the cultural and language depth to uncover trends involving the Russian cleptocracy so wedded to Vlad.
Authoritarians also like to look as if their demands and the process of addressing them is iron clad strength. In many cases, the demands illustrate weakness of other options but using these sorts of tricks may appeal to some of their supporters. Dictators rarely explain themselves to the likes of us not would we believe them. These are incredibly shallow people obsessed with demonstrating their “power”.
Protecting those unseemly behaviors is at the heart of any harsh authoritarian’s rule: trying to project strength really means dismissing someone asking for accountability. Gershkovich’s arrest probably was inevitable in a state where no one or nothing is to ask questions beyond what the ruler wants to discuss so Wall Street Journal reporters are menacing.
Suspicions abound that Gershkovich will be a pawn in a prisoner exchange. This case certainly fits that pattern as a high visibility U.S. person faces arrest, ultimately goes on trial (in WNBA star Brittany Griner’s case several years ago it was drug charges rather than espionage but the specifics of the charges seem interchangable), the sham trial results in a lengthy conviction, and the Russians start dangling some major prisoner the west who holds as bait for a swap. Nothing new here as we have seen it for years. One of the readers of this column has been part of our negotiating team as often as I have brushed my hair.
Amidst this diplomatic dance the two capitals pursue, FPOTUS Trump resurfaces. In May, the presidential candidate opined that he could get Gershkovich out of prison easily because of his friendship with Vlad though he indicated this would occur once he reassumes office. The quid pro quo nature of the reported remarks was noteworthy for a day or so.
If FPOTUS Trump wants to illustrate unity for this nation, he would do well to leverage those purported ties with Vlad to assure Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, another prisoner held for several years on similar charges, come home now. Americans in Russian or Chinese or North Korean or Iranian jails on false charges manifest that danger of freedom lost as Americans wail on about freedom at home. It behooves us to do all we can to bring justice for these individuals as soon as possible.
I am skeptical that Vlad or Xi or Kim would reward the FPOTUS for his friendship. These are not men motivated by friends. Trump’s admiration for dictators is his prerogative but it is antithetical to the rule of law and participatory governance Americans believe in.
If he has the power, however, then exercise it now. This is about the imprisoned Americans rather than a political campaign or personal benefit. I would demand the same of any Democrat or any other leader.
Thoughts on this topic or any other are welcome. Please circulate to friends if you find this of value. Thank you for reading this column. Thanks to those who subscribe to Actions Create Consequences.
Have a restful, restorative weekend. Be well and be safe. FIN
Doina Chiacu and Tim Reid, “Trump says Putin will free jailed US reporter for him”, reuters.com, 24 May 2024, retrieved at https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-putin-will-free-jailed-us-reporter-gershkovich-him-2024-05-23/
Georgi Kantshev, “Evan Gershkovich Sentenced to Sixteen Years in Russian Prison After Wrongful Conviction”, wsj.com, 19 July 2024, retrieved at https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/evan-gershkovich-russia-trial-dbabd6e3?mod=world_lead_pos3