Medinsky, who found the “creatures” at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, should take a closer look at himself

“Am I a trembling creature, or have I the right to? ..” I remember that Dostoevsky’s hero was tormented by this question for a long time. And I never came up with a definitive answer. It is difficult to say how difficult were the reflections on the same topic of presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. But the result is known. His answer is the last one. For nothing distinguishes a person who “has the right”, a person free from the bonds of mossy morality, from a “trembling creature” so much as the ability to call others creatures.

Vladimir Rostislavovich is not afraid to call a spade a spade – in accordance, of course, with his ideas about the beautiful and the terrible. “The journalism faculty of Moscow State University is full of these creatures from among liberal teachers,” Medinsky slashed, speaking at the presentation of the book by Vladimir Kiknadze, a member of the scientific council of the Russian Military Historical Society (Medinsky himself is the chairman of the RVIO).

The quote is from RIA Novosti. After some time, however, it was corrected and in the corrected form it sounds like this: “The journalism department of Moscow State University is packed with these creatures, also from among, so to speak, students of liberal teachers.” What can be understood as an expansion of the circle of “creatures” condemned by the presidential aide: they include not only liberal teachers, but also their students.

The reason for the statement was, firstly, the place: the presentation took place in a building located next to the Faculty of Journalism, literally opposite it. Actually, Medinsky began with this: “We are located in the very center of our beloved capital, where the percentage of young people who do not understand well (the goals of the special operation. – A.V.) is much higher than the national average. Across the road is the journalism department of Moscow State University, where the guy was hounded.

We are talking about an incident that happened at the faculty some time ago: student Stepan Antropov came to class in a T-shirt decorated with the letter Z and with the flag of the LPR, which was negatively perceived by a number of students. The management of the university, however, fully supported Stepan in this conflict: two students were expelled, and other offenders were reprimanded. This incident seemed to be over. There were no more scandals of the same kind at the Faculty of Journalism. In any case, nothing was heard of them.

However, Vladimir Rostislavovich is still angry for some reason. Either he is dissatisfied with the fact that the remaining students and teachers of journalism, although they are silent, are silent, as they say, without respect. Either he thinks that Stepan’s offenders got off too easy. Whether – and this is probably the closest assumption to the truth – the first and second together, in the aggregate.

It is unclear, however, what a punishment proportionate to the crime should look like. Maybe it was necessary to arrange a public stoning at the monument to Lomonosov, which is the dominant feature of the faculty courtyard?

But Medinsky, as a connoisseur of history, should remember the statement of one well-known historical figure: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone.”

How sinless is Vladimir Rostislavovich himself? The presidential aide has set such a high standard for patriotism that it is not a sin to clarify whether he himself meets these strict criteria. Didn’t he open, for example, in a city that lost a million inhabitants as a result of the blockade, a memorial plaque to the person who arranged this blockade – among other accomplices and allies of Hitler?

“No, no,” you say. It can’t be, because it can never be. Where is Hitler and his accomplices – and where is the patriot Vladimir Medinsky! Let’s not argue and get nervous. Let’s just look in the news archive and find an informational message from June 16, 2016. We read: “In St. Petersburg, on the facade of the building of the Military Academy of Logistics, a memorial plaque was installed in honor of the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army, Baron Karl Mannerheim … The Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky took part in the solemn ceremony.”

It would also not be a bad thing to find out in which regiment he served, where an official repaid his debt to his homeland, fiercely criticizing the journalism faculty for “unpatriotism.” Oh, didn’t they serve? Happenes.

But many teachers and students of the faculty of journalism served. Many even participated in the Great Patriotic War. And they obviously did not fight for the fact that Mannerheim’s lover, who did not sniff gunpowder, called for the cleansing of the university from teachers and students who, in his opinion, were not sufficiently loyal, in an obvious way of cosplay – let’s use this newfangled word – those against whom that war was going on.

“It seems to me that a person who speaks like that about Moscow State University should be very ashamed,” said Pavel Gusev, chairman of the Moscow Union of Journalists. “In my opinion, this is an absolute misunderstanding of what is really happening at the Faculty of Journalism, where thousands of excellent journalists have been brought up, who now work in the main media of the country – on television, in print media, on the Internet.”

In any case, officials holding such important and responsible positions need to be more circumspect, more careful when turning. In such a delicate matter as the fight against “creatures”, the main thing is not to go out on yourself. After all, even President Putin said: “Whoever calls names, that is what they call.”

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28894 dated October 20, 2022

Newspaper headline:
You are creatures, gentlemen.