A Righteous Russian, &c.

On a noble placard-bearer; a fight over George Washington; the wisdom of Anthony the Great; and more

The astonishing Anastasia Kucherova, in the middle of the Ukrainian Olympic team (Photo: La Capitale)

Now and then—in fact, with some regularity—some of us like to speak of “the other Russia.” The Russia that is not Putin and dictatorship and imperialism and invasion. Etc.

I was amazed and gratified to make the acquaintance of Anastasia Kucherova. I made it via a report by Colleen Barry for the Associated Press.

Here is how the report begins:

Anastasia Kucherova, a Russian living in Milan, voiced her opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine with a highly symbolic, if anonymous, act: carrying the Ukraine team placard during the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Huh. Have some more:

Kucherova was swathed in a long, hooded silver puffer coat, her eyes covered with dark glasses—like all the other placard-bearers for the 92 nations competing in the Olympics. The Ukraine sign was illuminated for the crowd to read.

It was not by chance that a Russian exile bore the placard of the Ukrainian team.

At first the country assignments were going to be random, but later the choreographer asked whether the volunteers had preferences, and Kucherova chose Ukraine.

She feels very strongly about her native country’s invasion of Ukraine. To Colleen Barry, of the AP, she said many moving things. At the opening ceremony of the Olympics, she had her fingernails painted in the Ukrainian colors: blue and yellow.

Eventually, she “outed” herself. She told one and all that she, a Russian, had asked to carry the Ukrainian placard. She knows that this can mean harm to her loved ones in Russia. Obviously, she had to weigh that.

“But what I think is that if I, living in a democratic country and enjoying all the freedoms—if I am scared, this means that the regime has won.”

Russia is not all Putin, remember. There are thousands in prison in Russia right now, because they voiced opposition to the assault on Ukraine.

In Soviet days, Russia, along with the other “republics,” was more than the Kremlin. So it is now.

***

I’m not sure that Oliver Cromwell said “warts and all”—but it has come down to us that way. Sir Peter Lely was painting Cromwell’s portrait, and Cromwell admonished him not to present a sanitized version. Cromwell wanted his portrait painted “warts and all.”

That’s how I think history should be presented.

A report from the AP—another one—begins as follows:

An exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington must be restored at his former home in Philadelphia after President Donald Trump’s administration took it down last month, a federal judge ruled on Presidents Day, the federal holiday honoring Washington’s legacy.

We then learn this:

The city of Philadelphia sued in January after the National Park Service removed the explanatory panels from Independence National Historical Park, the site where George and Martha Washington lived with nine of their slaves in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.

Issuing the ruling was Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, born in Philadelphia in 1948. She was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush.

Judge Rufe began her opinion with a quotation from Orwell—from 1984:

All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.

Said Judge Rufe,

As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto “Ignorance is Strength,” this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not.

I think of my late friends Ed and Janet Klum—schoolteachers who loved American history and traveled all over the country. When they first visited Monticello and Williamsburg, the guides made no mention of slavery. Or if they did, it was in a laughably anodyne way. Ed and Janet spoke up about this. Through the efforts of people like them, the presentation of history got more honest.

(By the way, Ed is the dedicatee of my 2016 collection Digging In. The dedication reads, “To Ed Klum: scholar, athlete, musician, teacher, coach, gem.”)

Let me return to that AP report, for just a minute—to quote one sentence:

Last week, a rainbow flag was taken down at the Stonewall National Monument, where bar patrons rebelled against a police raid and catalyzed the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

You may not like the rainbow flag. But don’t you think, if ever there was a place for one, it would be …?

***

Let’s have a little mail. On Monday, I published a Q&A with Clay Risen, who works on the obituaries desk of the New York Times. An excellent conversationalist, he is.

A friend of mine writes,

I started reading the obits while I was interning at a hospital in San Francisco and was witnessing the fragility of life. If patients I had encountered were discharged or otherwise left my orbit, I was able to “keep track of them” and learn about their lives through reading their obits in the San Francisco Chronicle. I was able to enjoy the past accomplishments, find out about family members, or simply have a way to “say goodbye.”

I stopped working in hospitals over 40 years ago, but somehow the habit stuck. I like to think that I appreciate the life stories (as you do), and I do not have a morbid view of the world.

Hear, hear.

***

On Sunday, I published a piece called “ ‘What Should I Do?’: Advice to young conservatives, and others.” I mentioned something along these lines: when others change, but you don’t, they may accuse you of changing.

A friend writes with a quotation from St. Anthony—Anthony the Great, who lived from 251 to 356, approximately. Yes, he is thought to have lived 105 years. He was a Desert Father of monasticism.

He is quoted as saying something like this: “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad, for you are not like us.’”

🎯

***

I began today with Ukraine and Russia and will end with the same. Jason Kenney, you know. He is the Canadian conservative who held several cabinet posts—including minister of defense—and was the premier of Alberta. I did a Q&A with him earlier this month.

A few days ago, news came that Ukrainian forces had regained some of their territory. Mr. Kenney’s response, I thought, was perfect—perfectly worded:

Thank you so much for joining me today, my friends. All the best.