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catherine_g's avatar

Excellent article! MAGA has not yet gotten its Leni Riefenstahl and I hope it won't. Autocrats and their supporters from whatever political denomination share a similar fascination for a cultish culture and the belief that there are easy solutions to difficult problems. Envy is valued and praised.

Thank you to The UnPopulist for your excellent work. I hope to read more articles like this one.

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Todd Krainin's avatar

Contemporary strongman aesthetics extend to architecture, too. I was just reading about the construction of Modi’s new retro-Lutyens parliament building in Delhi and how much it echoes Trump’s demand that all new federal buildings be built in neoclassical style.

Now I can understand why Trump favors a style shared by government buildings and Las Vegas casinos. But why is a Hindu nationalist perpetuating the architectural legacy of (Muslim-inspired) British colonialism?

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Shikha Dalmia's avatar

LOL...Interesting observations!

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AustereRoberto's avatar

Great piece! Incredible similarities.

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D2_MightyDucks's avatar

The first picture on the right is of Yeltsin, holding a miniature Russian legislature, with the title "Boris the victorious." If I had to guess it was probably produced after the constitutional crisis in 1993.

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Shikha Dalmia's avatar

Perhaps. And it looks like it was an old Soviet propaganda poster on which Yeltsin's picture was subbed.

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Midge's avatar

That image owes more to the tradition of ikon painting in the Orthodox Church. It’s Boris as St. George, slaying the dragon of the failed communist coup.

A contemporary ikon of St. George for comparison: https://www.monasteryicons.com/product/st-george-and-dragon-icon-510/icons-of-saints?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8vO7w7CI_AIVRBN9Ch05rgzeEAQYASABEgKZbvD_BwE

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RD's avatar

You realize that patriotism looks the same in every country, don't you? Would you consider doing an article on some TRUE communist type antics, like the suppression of free speech by the Biden Administration which censored topics that should have been openly discussed? Things like vaccine injuries, the Lab Leak Theory and the Hunter Biden Laptop, all of which are important discussion topics that were utterly censored and suppressed by the Democrats in true Iron Curtain style?

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Kathleen Michels's avatar

Interesting but Please correct the spelling to "Communist"in the title! From: MAGA's *Conummist* Propaganda: A Photo Essay

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Shikha Dalmia's avatar

LOL! Not a misspelling. Its a portmanteau of conservative and communist.

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invalidname's avatar

Nice, though I thought it was "con" as in "to cheat, swindle, or deceive". I mean, that works too, right?

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AustereRoberto's avatar

Maybe hyphenate it? Flew over my head too 😅

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