• Polish journalist suspended for calling 'Imagine' a 'vision of communis

    From Friedreich Pleitgen@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 28 00:22:06 2024
    XPost: rec.sport.olympics, uk.politics.misc, aus.politics
    XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

    WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish state broadcaster on Saturday suspended a television journalist who, during the Olympic Games opening ceremony,
    reacted to a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” by saying it was a
    “vision of communism.”

    TVP, the broadcaster, issued a statement Saturday saying that the
    journalist and sports commentator, Przemyslaw Babiarz, would not be
    allowed to comment on air anymore during this summer’s Games.

    Lennon’s song asks to imagine no heaven or hell, no countries, and no possessions.

    “This is a vision of communism, unfortunately,” Babiarz said during the
    grand opening ceremony along the Seine River in Paris on Friday evening — comments that immediately triggered controversy for those watching in
    Poland.

    TVP said in its statement announcing his suspension: "Mutual
    understanding, tolerance, reconciliation — these are not only the basic
    ideas of the Olympics, they are also the foundation of the standards that
    guide the new Polish Television. There is no consent to violate them.”

    State media has been an ideological battleground in Poland for years. It
    was used as a mouthpiece by the right-wing populists who governed Poland
    from 2015-23. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a centrist politician whose
    broad coalition took power in December, acted quickly to remove their
    control of the airwaves.

    Conservatives and their allies still reeling from their loss of control of state media denounced the decision, among them conservative President
    Andrzej Duda and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

    “The truth will defend itself! Your actions will be remembered and
    censorship will fail," Morawiecki wrote on X.

    Some commentators on the political left said they felt the punishment was
    too harsh.

    Poland was under Soviet-imposed communist rule from the end of World War
    II until 1989, an era that still evokes great emotions.

    Many of the same Polish conservatives also condemned the mixing of LGBTQ+ themes with a Last Supper tableau during Friday's grand ceremony.

    https://news.yahoo.com/news/polish-journalist-suspended-calling-imagine- 192822016.html

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  • From Blueshirt@21:1/5 to Friedreich Pleitgen on Sun Jul 28 15:44:38 2024
    Friedreich Pleitgen wrote:

    WARSAW, Poland (AP) The Polish state broadcaster on Saturday
    suspended a television journalist who, during the Olympic
    Games opening ceremony, reacted to a performance of John
    Lennon's 'Imagine' by saying it was a "vision of communism."

    A vision of a world of peace... a bit naive maybe, especially
    for a multi-millionaire, but a worthy dream.

    Way better than a bunch of frogs side by side, hand in hand
    standing together!

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  • From Norbert@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jul 29 10:32:12 2024
    It could be construed as a vision of communism, and Lennon was cavorting
    with all sorts of wannabe revolutionaries at the time.

    But did Lennon really yearn for a world with no possessions or religion?
    I don't think so.

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  • From pamina58@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jul 29 11:13:47 2024
    Maybe John just meant to share everything and not have anyone fighting
    over religion...
    Granted, he could have done a lot more with sharing his stuff...

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  • From Norbert@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jul 29 16:55:37 2024
    I think John was just under the spell of Yoko and all the grimy,
    unwashed, wannabe street revolutionaries she had always been attracted
    to in New York.

    The pre-LSD, pre-Yoko John Lennon wouldn't have given the time of day to
    the likes of Hoffman, Rubin, and John Sinclair. He had bigger fish to
    fry, more attractive women to go to bed with, and better music to work
    on.

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