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The Dispatch

Dispatch – March 27-April 1

Did you ever experience that uncanny moment when your dreams (or nightmares) that you’ve been communicating with your entourage have suddenly and miraculously materialized? The pride of being something of the prophet mixed with the disturbing reality of your imagination is a curious moment to experience. That was the moment that Georgia’s rulers were living this week, but there are some suspicions that the materialization of their premonitions did a lot to do with smoke and mirrors, especially of the kind preferred by the spooks and the judiciary. Or are we imagining things?


This is Jaba with the Dispatch from Georgia, where imaginary turns material.


OWNING THE FAILURE It takes a certain kind of person to appropriate failures. In politics, where the game is to pin one’s failures on others as quickly as possible, those people are considered suicidal – at least as far as their careers are concerned. You can say whatever you like about Georgia’s current rulers, but they have not yet displayed a particular penchant for self-destructive behavior. On the contrary, they would like to stay on top for as long as possible, whatever the means. It was then somewhat surprising that having been forced by Tbilisi’s boiling streets into a rather humiliating retreat from their loony “foreign agent” laws, the Georgian Dream came back – after a brief confusion – with the full charge. The bill, its leaders have argued, albeit defeated for now, has served its purpose. The agents and spies are now unmasked – those are politicians, media, non-governmental types on the western payroll, and, of course, some youths whose heads have been stuffed fool of nonsense of Satanism and democracy in places that bear names of known Satanists, like Ben Franklin. The protest participants, including journalists, were dragged to courts early to have their hearings start at 4 am the next morning. The police officers – who are often the only witnesses – even said they detained people because “they were standing on the road” and “have been cursing at no one in particular.” Why is this sudden appropriation of failure, this persistence in error? One would say the GD has built itself a convenient (even if not very convincing) plausible deniability shield by letting a spinoff MPs group – ironically called “People’s Power” – initiate the defeated bill. There is a temptation to explain the inexplicable behavior by the need to please the Moscow masters (they seemed pleased indeed, promising to resume flights and take more wine if good behavior continues). President Zurabishvili went for the “temporary insanity” defense by saying the government’s policy has been “schizophrenic.” We are inclined to think that Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze follows the unperishable advice of General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett from the iconic BBC show “Blackadder”: “if nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.” But will it?! And at what cost?

PERFECT CRIMINAL Getting back to our opening point, the ruling clique seemed pleased with themselves, once a person charged with throwing a petrol bomb during the protests turned out to fit at least some of the “satanist” criteria: he has piercings, tattoos, and is attired (rather lightly) in following the goth subculture sartorial preferences. It is no less important; he is just 21 years old, so he is within the group of protesters whose sudden emergence on the streets took the party by surprise. He also does not have a Georgian-sounding last name and comes from a modest family where his parents are separated. So – young, queer-looking satanist from a broken home with a minority last name. A godsend for the party that has been mixing conspirational, xenophobic, and anti-Western aesthetic into a veritable petrol bomb and tossing it at Georgia’s European future. Said GD leader Kobakhidze, a (German)-trained lawyer about the suspect: “man who abandoned straight-and-narrow” with “confused orientation in many ways.” So much of a godsend to gleefully received that the opponents suspect the “fall guy” was hand-picked through a collaboration of “political technologists” at the government’s service concocting their black magic and implemented by the political masters directing the state security services. A heavy charge, which is near-impossible to prove, but which seems nonetheless considered eminently possible in this atmosphere of polarization, evident shortages in judiciary independence, and the state capture that underwrites and accompanies every step of the repression. And while the petrol bombs were something of a novelty for the Georgian protests (gracefully, no one was seriously hurt), where does one draw the limit for civic protest in the circumstances like these? Georgians would have to find that answer for themselves. In the meantime, their open eye with painted eyelashes became the latest symbol of protest. In your eye, Sauron!

“Manhood has a thousand guises, thousand faces” – a quote from the classical poet used by the European Georgia party to create an iconic poster in defense of detained youth. Photo: Guram Muradovi/Civil.ge

TALKING WITH THE ENEMY With all that talk of polarization, some in Georgia try to seek the other way, risking ending up in a crossfire. A liberal-minded video caster tried to have a friendly chat with a pro-Russian firebrand, an ardent supporter and one of the organizers of the July 5 gay pogrom. The initiative raised some eyebrows and even more slaying swords in the liberal bubble. In the meantime, eminently more professional and respectable Radio Liberty launched the series of “talks” between Russian “visitors” of the Georgian capital and some Georgian civic readers. The jury is still out on whether this groping in the dark is of any use or whether it is counterproductive. Yet, the attempt and goodwill are there, and if there has been something lacking in Georgia’s recent politics is common sense, common decency, and good faith. It is surprising, though, that Georgians would rather try and bridge the abyss than shake hands across the aisle.


The week ended with President Salome Zurabishvili giving the ruling party some major – and well-deserved – thrashing. She was quickly reminded by the ruling party leadership that her election came as a result of not her own public appeal but through muscular support from one wealthy oligarch. Mme President still tiptoes around Mr. Ivanishvili, and while this condition persists, correct words serve to palliate the public itch for justice but not make things right. “President has not yet crossed the red line,” said GD Kobakhidze…or hasn’t entirely stepped up to her role, we may add.

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