Joe Lieberman on the need for vigilance:
[Lieberman] urged Americans to be especially vigilant in reporting any leads to authorities in the coming days.
“This is a classic ‘If you see something, say something’ moment,” he said. “If you see suspicious behavior, call the police immediately — and that includes if you see suspicious behavior by someone who is a friend or family member.”
Mr. Lieberman, I think you might have enjoyed meeting Pavlik Morozov.
Pavel Trofimovich Morozov (Russian: Па́вел Трофи́мович Моро́зов; November 14, 1918 – September 3, 1932), better known by the diminutive Pavlik, was a Soviet youth glorified by Soviet propaganda as a martyr. His story, dated to 1932, is that of a 13-year old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was in turn killed by his family. It was a Soviet morality tale: opposing the state was selfish and reactionary, and loyalty to the state was a higher virtue than family love. His story was a subject of compulsory reading, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length opera and six biographies. The cult had a huge impact on the moral norms of generations of children. There is very little original evidence related to the story, much of it hearsay provided by second-hand witnesses. According to modern research, the story (denunciation, trial) is most likely false, although Pavlik was a real child who was killed. Morozov’s story was the basis of Bezhin Meadow, an unreleased film from 1937 that was directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
But… what do you do if you see suspicious behavior from the police? 😦
Get out of there before your camera cell phone is confiscated?
Вася на полу лежит,
Весь от крови розовый
Это папа с ним играет
В Павлика Морозова
It’s funny, except it’s not…
Precisely… Lieberman’s ramblings are on the same intellectual level and they do not even have amusement value. When I saw Joe’s comments, I immediately recalled that poem, which was quite popular in Soviet kindergartens…
Yeah. By the time I was a kid, the mythological Pavlik Morozov was less a propaganda icon than a standing joke, at least around my part of town. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw Lieberman’s comments.