A lot of today’s journalists are too young to remember first-hand the days of the Soviet Union, and President Ronald Reagan giving his famous “Evil Empire” speech; instead, they recall Mitt Romney being ridiculed for suggesting that Russia was America’s No. 1 geopolitical foe. “Hey Mitt, the ’80s called …”
Today’s reporters face the difficult task of presenting President Trump as Putin’s puppet while at the same time avoiding Reagan-era trigger words like “evil.” Add the fact that Russia has been in the headlines for almost a year now, and writers are finding they need to get a little creative.
Maybe they’re getting a little too creative? The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush gave this a spin in describing Putin’s offer to provide the president transcripts of his meeting.
Kremlin clearly trolling Trump but it's um interesting that photos/readout could be provided by Cyrillic autocracy not western democracy
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) May 17, 2017
@GlennThrush "cyrillic autocracy" jesus dude red scare a little more why don't ya
— ?? (@RealPaulKagame) May 17, 2017
@GlennThrush did you just make up a fake term to make Russia sound scarier pic.twitter.com/5yybpibxc5
— Aric Toler (@AricToler) May 17, 2017
@AricToler @GlennThrush Possibly was trying to use Byzantine but hit the character limit and thought "meh, close enough"
— Matthew Bodner (@mattb0401) May 17, 2017
@GlennThrush Do you know what words mean?
— Chris Hagel (@MullingHagel) May 17, 2017
@GlennThrush Cyrillic…is…the…alphabet…
— hannah gais (@hannahgais) May 17, 2017
"Cyrillic" is an adjective used to describe a type of script, not a synonym for "Russian." pic.twitter.com/cxaWhDJp8G
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 18, 2017
@GlennThrush This is a bit awkward, but I think both the saint and the script came from Greece.
— poemless (@poemless) May 17, 2017
It was a good effort, though — if the press is going to cover the Trump-Russia connection exclusively, it’s inevitable that everyone is going to get sick of hearing the “R” word.
As Twitchy reported, TIME released its latest cover Thursday, and someone put a lot of effort into depicting the takeover of the White House by … something that’s not the Russian equivalent.
This is cool & all, but someone should tell @TIME that’s not the Kremlin. Don’t think we’re being taken over by a really gorgeous cathedral https://t.co/Cl7lI4mGro
— ScarletRegina (@ScarletRegina) May 18, 2017
New cover of @TIME magazine: the White House/Kremlin pic.twitter.com/OTR17V54mW
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME Why use the image of St. Basil's Cathedral tho??
— Red State blues (@flummoxedHQ) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME So, Trump is converting to Russian Orthodox? Because That's St Basil.
— jprepo1 (@jprepo1) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME HAHA thanks Time bringing God back to the White House ?
— DogGone (@HardlyApathetic) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @aseitzwald @TIME I doubt I need to say this, but that’s not the Kremlin.
— Joshua Shapiro (@jashapiro) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME That's St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Near Kremlin, more recognizable than Kremlin, but not the Kremlin.
— Nikolai Svakhin (@Nikolai3d) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME Not part of the Kremlin though media folk like you get it metonymically wrong often, Товарищ ??
— Naseer Ahmad (@manfromatlan) May 18, 2017
People keep saying this is the Kremlin and it's driving me nuts! It's Saint Basil's Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/eoosP6JCtm
— Yashar (@yashar) May 18, 2017
Except for it's not the Kremlin that's pictured here but St. Basil's Cathedral that stands next to the Kremlin. https://t.co/Y42nhw5Ruk
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) May 18, 2017
@NatVasilyevaAP How many Americans would recognise the Kremlin?
— The Roscoe (@77roscoe) May 18, 2017
@77roscoe Has anyone banned Wikipedia in the US?
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @mikiebarb @TIME The WH is becoming…..Russian Orthodox?
— Christian John (@cjinbrooklyn) May 18, 2017
@BraddJaffy @TIME The cathedral is now a museum…I am sure the graphics artist was just doing what was told to do?
— Pete Rich? (@petemsgt1787) May 18, 2017
That’s how things work in a Cyrillic autocracy, not here in America. Besides, the fix wasn’t so difficult.
@BraddJaffy @TIME For fucks sake pic.twitter.com/9g7mlQAlIC
— Julie Ann Johnson ☭ (@Julie_Johnsoned) May 18, 2017
Dang … even the fact-checkers at MAD let this one slip past:
@BraddJaffy @prichardsonla @TIME Note, this is a near duplicate of Mad Magazine cover from last year. pic.twitter.com/dzkJw741a5
— Carter Hall (@CarterHall_) May 18, 2017
In other news, TIME reports that the president has misspelled “counsel” twice in ten days, so there.
Merriam Webster just corrected President Trump again https://t.co/s9o0tlvXWO
— TIME (@TIME) May 18, 2017
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Related:
OOPS! Washington Post Express mans up to error on women’s rights cover https://t.co/Ix5SkdlwnA
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 5, 2017
