Just when you thought their 15 minutes of fame was up, the women of Pussy Riot have made their way to Capitol Hill and into the hearts of (some) US lawmakers. They also posed for pictures with Hillary Clinton, which promptly ended up on her Twitter page.
The Pussy Riot did not come to the Hill empty-handed, however. They conveniently brought with them a list of their fellow Russians who they would like the US government to put under sanctions for “human rights violations.” Their list included — surprise surprise — one of the judges who presided over their 2012 trial for inciting religious hatred. It was a charge filed after they screamed an obscenity-filled rant aimed at the Russian government and religious leaders on the altar of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in central Moscow.
Joining these “artists” for a press conference on the Hill today were Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Congressman Steve Cohen D-TN). Previously, Republican Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) had expressed strong support for Pussy Riot, reported the National Journal.
Said Senator Blumenthal today:
They are also giving a face and voice to a vile and vicious violation of human rights by the Russian government and the persecution — not prosecution — but persecution of dissent and free statement in Russia.
One must wonder whether the Senators had any clue what these women did that brought the Russian authorities to press charges against them, or whether anyone who attacks the current Russian government is automatically a hero in Washington.
Let us recall that these women ascended the altar of the privately-owned Cathedral of Christ the Saviour during church services clad in bright clothing which masked their identities. The “punk prayer” they screamed contained the following lines:
Holy shit, shit, Lord’s shit!
Holy shit, shit, Lord’s shit!
St. Maria, Virgin, become a feminist…
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, you better believed in God!
Do these Senators believe that religious services held on private property should be open to the antics of those who violently oppose that particular faith? Neo-Nazis have a right to barge into synagogues in Connecticut? Satanists into Christian churches in Arizona or Texas? Any prosecution for such behavior is “a vile and vicious violation of human rights,” as Senator Blumenthal said?
Might Hillary Clinton do a sing-along to the “punk prayer” in the National Cathedral in Washington?
Let us also recall the other antics of these women that apparently was not subject to prosecution in Russia:
These have included the painting of a male phallus on a St. Petersburg Bridge, the staging of a public orgy at the Timiryazev Museum in Moscow involving nudity and (apparently) full penetrative sex (Tolokonnikova was a participant though heavily pregnant), the throwing of live cats at the staff of a McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow, the overturning of police cars apparently on one occasion with a policeman inside, the firebombing of property with petrol bombs, the staged hanging of an immigrant and a homosexual in a supermarket, the projection of a skull and crossbones onto the building housing the Russian government, the spilling of large live cockroaches onto the stomach of a pregnant member of the group (Tolokonnikova again) and the theft of a frozen chicken from a supermarket, which was stuffed up the vagina of one of the women members (apparently Maria Alyokhina, Tolokonnikova apparently was also present).
Do these Senators endorse such public “protest”? Would Senator Flake stand beside a group of Arizona “activists” who engaged in such activities? Would Senator Ted Cruz stand before Texas Christian conservatives and endorse the invasion of their churches (and supermarkets) by such “protesters”? Will constituents ask these questions and expect answers?
Or are these activities only OK in foreign countries where the government is out of favor in Washington? Do these Senators wonder why the rest of the world marvels at the double standards and hypocrisy of the US government?
Photo/Twitter.
