‘You’re My Hero!’: Ben Stiller Hobnobs with Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine

[Woody]

Ukraine First! 

 

 

 

Comedian Ben Stiller met fellow actor and current president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday to return attention to the ongoing, eight-year-old war between that country and Russia on the occasion of World Refugee Day.

“You’re my hero!” Stiller can be heard exclaiming while shaking hands with Zelensky in a video of the meeting published by the president on his Instagram profile.

“You quit a great acting career for this,” Stiller remarked, to which Zelensky replied, “not so great as yours!”

 

Like Stiller, Zelensky began his career in comedy as part of the Kvartal 95 comedy troupe. He went on to star in that collective’s most successful venture, the television show Servant of the People, in which he played a schoolteacher who accidentally becomes president of Ukraine after his students film him ranting about the sorry state of the country. Zelensky went on to found a political party named after the show and win the presidency in 2019 – then considered a “pro-Russian” candidate whose poor grasp of the Ukrainian language became a campaign issue.

Russia has fueled a proxy war between pro-Moscow separatists and the Ukrainian government in the eastern Donbas region since 2014, the same year strongman Vladimir Putin colonized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, with little material reaction from the Obama White House. In February, however, Putin expanded the war by sending official Russian troops into Ukraine and bombing the capital city and its suburbs, panicking the world and prompting multiple economic crises due to limits on supplies of oil, fertilizer, and wheat, among other goods.

 

The latest stage of the Russian invasion has prompted a refugee wave across Europe, affecting neighboring Poland most severely. The United Nations estimates that over 5 million Ukrainians have fled into Europe this year. At its peak, the war sent nearly 8 million Ukrainians across the border, but the U.N. estimates 2.6 million have returned home.

Stiller was named a “goodwill ambassador” for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the organization’s refugee agency, in 2018, and made the trip to Ukraine this weekend in that capacity. In addition to meeting with Zelensky, Stiller marked World Refugee Day by visiting Ukrainians in Poland. In a statement published by the UNHCR, Stiller asserted, “seeking safety is a right and it needs to be upheld for every person.”

“In so many parts of the world, war and violence devastate people and leave lasting traumatic effects. Wherever and whenever it happens, nobody chooses to flee their home,” Stiller said. “Protecting people forced to flee is a collective global responsibility.  We have to remember this could happen to anyone, anywhere.”

 

“The war in Ukraine is driving the fastest and one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II,” UNHCR strated. “Families have been torn apart and the trauma of war will have a lasting impact on many of those forced to flee their homes, including women and children, who represent some 90 percent of those forced to flee.”

Stiller also visited some war-torn suburbs of Kyiv, telling Zelensky, “I feel it’s hard to understand what’s actually going on here if you haven’t been here.”

Zelensky thanked Stiller in a statement posted alongside video of their meeting on Instagram.

“Ukrainians feel the support of the whole world, many famous people. And Ben Stiller’s visit once again confirms this. Your trip to Irpin and Makarov, meetings with our people say a lot. We appreciate that you are here at this difficult time for our country,” Zelensky wrote.

 

Ukrainians leaders appeared to have a busy itinerary this week as footage surfaced on Tuesday of another American visitor, Attorney General Merrick Garland, making a surprise visit to the country to discuss potentially prosecuting war criminals in the Ukraine war. War crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are considered peremptory norms – universal crimes that every court in the world has jurisdiction to prosecute, meaning a U.S. court could in theory prosecute a Russian soldier for a crime committed in Ukraine that did not occur on U.S. soil or involve any Americans.

“The United States stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s continued aggression and assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Garland said in a statement, according to the Department of Justice. “America – and the world – has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine.”

“There is no hiding place for war criminals. The U.S. Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” he promised. “Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.”

 

 

 

Garland met with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova but does not appear to have met with Zelensky at press time.

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[Thebowflexbody]

Ben Stiller and HipKat are both 5'7".  Shorties.

[Thebowflexbody]

CAN YOU SAY ENDLESS WAR???

[Nuke]

This has nothing to do with Zelensky or Ukraine, but, every time somebody says something about Ben Stiller, I can’t help remembering, here’s a guy that loved Andrew Cuomo and blew him with that Emmy congratulations speech. So I can’t help but feel he’s not the greatest judge of character. 

[Thebowflexbody]

Love Stiller's movies and think he's funny.  Don't give a shit about his world views...

[TonyasTaters]

[SackMan518]

Catturd just released a montage of Stiller with Cuomo, Spacey, and Weinstein. Apparently he has nice friends. 

[jc856]

“Gaylord Focker, you are now out of the circle of trust!”.

[SackMan518]

Ben Stiller's hero Zelensky just ordered the arrest of a popular pro-Russian blogger. What a pro-Democrat guy he is! (If Democracy suddenly became Stalinesque.)

 

[HipKat]

23 minutes ago, SackMan518 said:

Ben Stiller's hero Zelensky just ordered the arrest of a popular pro-Russian blogger. What a pro-Democrat guy he is! (If Democracy suddenly became Stalinesque.)

 

Wait, he arrested a guy who's pro the country that invaded and massacred 10's of thousands of his civilian citizens??
Wow, what a jerk....

[Herodotus]

12 minutes ago, HipKat said:

Wait, he arrested a guy who's pro the country that invaded and massacred 10's of thousands of his civilian citizens??
Wow, what a jerk....

Evidence? You have Joe no More Covid Biden, you have the CIA which admitted it's making shit up, and you have the Ukronazis who are definitely making shit up.

[LiterateStylish]

1 hour ago, Herodotus said:

Evidence? You have Joe no More Covid Biden, you have the CIA which admitted it's making shit up, and you have the Ukronazis who are definitely making shit up.

And Russia that tells all truths, right?

[HipKat]

1 hour ago, LiterateStylish said:

And Russia that tells all truths, right?

Well, MAGA's have proven to be a little unclear on what's truth and what's not

[Herodotus]

3 hours ago, LiterateStylish said:

And Russia that tells all truths, right?

You whataboutism has been noted so for the infinity+1 time on this subject, I have yet post a Russian website on this war or to cite one, and the reason? They are lying.  However, I know the western media and Ukraine are lying as well.  The Russian war crimes and attrocities shit is disinformation and propaganda.  Sure, investigate it but don't trust what anyone with a horse in this race is saying about their own horses or anyone else's horses or jockeys or you are going to step in a fresh, steaming pile. . . .

[shiva2999]

4 hours ago, LiterateStylish said:

And Russia that tells all truths, right?

Whattaboutism.

One side's behavior, real or not, is not excused by the other side's behavior.

What you have done is admit personally to acting badly, while merely accusing others of acting the same way.

Not logical and not cool.

[jc856]

This might be a dumb question, but what better guy to ax it than me?

here it is: Isn’t propaganda, one of the most important components for war? 
 

I mean, it’s essential, in a way, ain’t it? 

[Herodotus]

28 minutes ago, jc856 said:

This might be a dumb question, but what better guy to ax it than me?

here it is: Isn’t propaganda, one of the most important components for war? 
 

I mean, it’s essential, in a way, ain’t it? 

Yes and no.  One the biggest dangers of propaganda is when you begin to believe your own bullshit even when it flies in the face of reality.  We convinced ourselves and our allies in 2002 and 2003 that two things were fundamentally true.  

1. Saddam had WMDs

2. Saddam was allied to Al Qaeda.

The press fell asleep at the wheel on that one.  They didn't ask, why would a strong man authoritarian secular despot want religious fanatics in his country? Saddam was a secular socialist on many things.  Women, Christians, and minorities (so long as they did not rebel) had rights.  Al Qaeda was and is right wing religious reactionaries who haaaaaated secularism.  The press was also asleep at the wheel about the wmds.  The Iraqis flooded the UN inspectors with evidence that they had destroyed their wmds.  Instead of questioning the US Narrative the Iraqi narrative was called propaganda.  

In the Russo-Ukrainian war from day one we have been told the conflict was unprovoked aggression.  Nobody talks about Maidan Square.  Nobody talks about eight years of NATO training Ukrainian radicals and nationalists.  Nobody discusses enough the biochemical weapons labs America and NATO established in Ukraine.  Nobody talks about 14,000 dead Ukrainians shelled by their own government. 

There are of course whispers though.  The French media has reported that many in the Donbass do not want to be a part of Ukraine and view the Ukrainians as occupiers.  This, of course, is taboo in this country because we have guns and nuclear war to sell.  

The media is again asleep at the wheel and when the consequence could well be nuclear fueled extinction the fundamental danger of propaganda is when you start believing your own bullshit even when reality does not agree with you.

[jc856]

I’m not sure Cheney believed in wmd’s, he believed he could stabilize the region for a steady flow of oil and better control.

once they got Powell on board, the rest is misery…

[Herodotus]

Just now, jc856 said:

I’m not sure Cheney believed in wmd’s, he believed he could stabilize the region for a steady flow of oil and better control.

once they got Powell on board, the rest is misery…

He did not start out believing his propaganda but over time I think he and Don Rumsfeld and others ultimately bought into what they were saying.  Telling a lie is what politicians-elected, appointed or otherwise- do.  Trump, Biden, Bush, Obama, Clinton, no matter they lie.  It's to be expected.  The scary thing is when they buy into the lie they are selling because that is when they become a true believer and that is when they become a hard liner.  A politician is one who tells lies but knows they are lies and knows what the truth is and where he has put it.  A hardliner is a politician who buys into his lies and zealously opposes any who question his lies.  

A politician who is lying can get treaties done and get compromise done and get meaningful legislation that actually helps people done.  A hardliner drinks his own poison laden kool-aid and leads the nation to ruin and gets those who question him labeled as enemies of freedom and our democratic way of llife.  

A major problem with Joe Biden is he has told so many lies that he sincerely does not know where he put the truth and another is that he and his administration is buying into its lies and propaganda. The sad thing is too few people are willing to call him out for his lies and it may take mushroom clouds for them to wake up to see the error of his propaganda. 

[HipKat]

15 minutes ago, jc856 said:

I’m not sure Cheney believed in wmd’s, he believed he could stabilize the region for a steady flow of oil and better control.

once they got Powell on board, the rest is misery…

Not to mention preferred government contracts for KB&R long term in the Middle East

[HipKat]

5 minutes ago, Herodotus said:

He did not start out believing his propaganda but over time I think he and Don Rumsfeld and others ultimately bought into what they were saying.  Telling a lie is what politicians-elected, appointed or otherwise- do.  Trump, Biden, Bush, Obama, Clinton, no matter they lie.  It's to be expected.  The scary thing is when they buy into the lie they are selling because that is when they become a true believer and that is when they become a hard liner.  A politician is one who tells lies but knows they are lies and knows what the truth is and where he has put it.  A hardliner is a politician who buys into his lies and zealously opposes any who question his lies.  

A politician who is lying can get treaties done and get compromise done and get meaningful legislation that actually helps people done.  A hardliner drinks his own poison laden kool-aid and leads the nation to ruin and gets those who question him labeled as enemies of freedom and our democratic way of llife.  

A major problem with Joe Biden is he has told so many lies that he sincerely does not know where he put the truth and another is that he and his administration is buying into its lies and propaganda. The sad thing is too few people are willing to call him out for his lies and it may take mushroom clouds for them to wake up to see the error of his propaganda. 

Which lies exactly has he told and then, for extra credit, who in recent times has told more that had a much more profound effect?

[jc856]

46 minutes ago, HipKat said:

Not to mention preferred government contracts for KB&R long term in the Middle East

KB&R? Not familiar with that one.

you mean Halliburton?

[jc856]

54 minutes ago, Herodotus said:

He did not start out believing his propaganda but over time I think he and Don Rumsfeld and others ultimately bought into what they were saying

Um, just wondering. Have you ever told a lie so many times, you began to believe it? I’m not talking about something you were taught, I mean something you made up that you know isn’t true. I haven’t. I’m not saying I haven’t lied. I have. For instance, I tell everyone and their brother that my penis is 10”, when I clearly know it’s only 9 3/8ths inches. 
 

but I’ve never told a lie I believed. I’m not stupid, ya know…

Ok, I used to tell everyone I fucked a tiger. I did not. It was my dog, Big Psycho.

 

[Herodotus]

1 hour ago, jc856 said:

Um, just wondering. Have you ever told a lie so many times, you began to believe it? I’m not talking about something you were taught, I mean something you made up that you know isn’t true. I haven’t. I’m not saying I haven’t lied. I have. For instance, I tell everyone and their brother that my penis is 10”, when I clearly know it’s only 9 3/8ths inches. 
 

but I’ve never told a lie I believed. I’m not stupid, ya know…

Ok, I used to tell everyone I fucked a tiger. I did not. It was my dog, Big Psycho.

 

Lets see, when I was in high school I had a classmate named Louis.  One day he was skipping school and one of his friends, we'll call him Thomas as that was his name, was causing trouble for an incredibly old substitute teacher, and she said "young man what is your name?" Tom responded, "Louis, Louis Jones (I am not using his last name)."   So the next day our regular teacher returns to class and says, "Louis, I understand you got into some mischief yesterday." Now this  part of the story is word for word what happened, but I have been telling this anecdote so long (more than 20 years now) that I cannot remember if this next part is an embellishment because if you knew Louis you'd believe he would say this, or if it really happened, Louis responded by telling her, "Man Mrs B Money I couldn't have been in trouble yesterday, I was skipping."

[HipKat]

2 hours ago, jc856 said:

KB&R? Not familiar with that one.

you mean Halliburton?

Kellogg Brown & Root. Funny thing is I was an iron worker foreman for Kellogg and for Brown and Root before they merged in the late 80s.

Halliburton is the parent company