Gongol.com Archives: August 2025
August 22, 2025
Politico has published a story with a peculiar headline: "US to take part in Russia's answer to Eurovision". Eurovision, of course, is the enormously popular musical contest based in Europe, and the Russian contest in question is Intervision, a Eurovision knockoff put on by the Russian government. ■ Russia was kicked out of Eurovision in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine. The rival state-run contest is Russia's attempt to legitimize its own cultural standing in the world. ■ Any decent American should be ashamed of taking part in a knockoff contest under such a terrible cloud. It's not like the Russian contest existed prior to the war of aggression against Ukraine; it's a consequence of the war, and anybody taking part should be ashamed to bring it any reputational standing. ■ It's also important to ask, "Under whose authority is an American being sent?" When Politico says, "The United States is taking part", do they mean that the State Department is sending the singer, or that it is more like a self-appointed committee of five people exercising terrible judgment? ■ It's a bad look either way, whether any official activity is involved or not. But it's doubtful that there's anything official going on. What agency or department would even pick a representative? And the reporting should be clearer about that before saying "The United States" is doing anything. ■ Don't lend credibility to the non-credible. If the Russian government wants to carry out a second-rate singing contest, that's one thing. Even NBC can do that, and it doesn't have any state power behind it. ■ But if an activity is plainly not worth legitimizing -- like an attempt to rehabilitate the cultural image of a country bent on conquest through means like 80 attacks on maternity units in hospitals -- then reporting should be clear about the remainder of the world contributes to that credibility. ■ Are there official acts involved? If so, how high do they go? Has a low-level bureaucratic functionary somewhere rubber-stamped a bad idea, or is the Secretary of State trying to send a message? These distinctions matter. In a case like this, no engagement is a good idea, but the private acts of weak citizens are very different from decrees from the White House.
