Brutal snub to dead composers rattles Putin
As the war in Ukraine rumbles on and Russia continues to be squeezed by sanctions, Vladimir Putin is now whining laughably that his country is a victim of so-called cancel culture.
Figures from the world of the arts and entertainment are the usual victims of these dubious witchhunts, often after saying the wrong thing on Twitter (the ‘wrong thing’ on Twitter usually means advocating anything less than full Communism).
A whole country being ‘cancelled’ is a new one on me, and certainly an escalation in an ugly practice usually limited to comedians claiming they’re unable to get bookings.
Most right-thinking people have nothing against Russia itself but a great deal against its preening president. The cancellation of Putin would make the world a vastly safer and happier place and millions are queueing up to do the cancelling (a queue so long it would evoke misty-eyed nostalgia in Putin for the Soviet era, which seems to drive so many of his crazed actions). He claims opponents of the war - or whatever he calls it - in Ukraine are trying to cancel the works of composers like Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. They’re all long dead, so I’m not sure what form this ‘cancellation’ is taking. Plus, I’m certain I heard at least one of these composers’ works in a question on University Challenge the other day, so he’s talking rubbish. Hopefully the Russian president will soon have more to worry about than the listening habits of classical music fans, such as the sudden prospect of unemployment in a hostile job market. Then he’ll know what it’s like to be ‘cancelled’.
‘The queue to ‘cancel’ Putin is so long it would evoke misty-eyed nostalgia for the Soviet era, which seems to drive so many of his crazed actions’
Last week we ran a story about swans returning to Bow Bridge Marina in Wateringbury following an oil spill. An accompanying photo of Sue Frankland-Haile rleasing them should have been accredited to Ian Wilson. We would like to apologise for this oversight.