Month: September 25, 2020 3:40 am

“Wow! Very impressive!” is how Myron Kuropas in his recent column here described the “Ukrainian-Americans for Biden” ad on these pages which nearly 350 signed, including Republicans. (And me.)

For years, Dr. Kuropas was a top officer in the Ukrainian National Association (UNA); he is a lifelong Republican activist. Where he writes that President Gerald Ford appointed a Ukrainian as White House special assistant for ethnic affairs, he fails to note that person was him. He also writes that Sen. Bob Dole had a Ukrainian on his staff: that too was Dr. Kuropas.

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the full-page ad in support of Donald Trump’s re-election (September 20). The ad’s claims mirror those repeated by the late Stephen F. Cohen and other political “realists,” overstating the role that America had in instigating the war in the Donbas. They’re also often quoted by Russian propaganda, or hard-line ideological allies of Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, Nicolas Maduro, and others.

Something about the ad was fishy, so I decided to investigate, starting with the image of the ruined church. It turns out that’s a Russian Orthodox monastery destroyed by Ukrainian “Cyborgs” in 2014.

Dear Editor:

A recent letter (August 16) trashed “American capitalism” and lauded BLM. Sonia Kowal tolerates no criticism of BLM and says detractors “betray their deep ignorance of American capitalism.” She then takes the vast but predictable leap: the truly enlightened know that capitalism is based on “prejudice” and “structural racism.”

What she espouses might be good for her company, but it betrays not a hint of knowing what capitalism is or what the leaders of BLM have admitted: that they are “trained Marxists.”

Dear Editor:

Several points in the advertisement placed by the Suburban Council of Ukrainian Voters (September 20) require clarification. Despite President Petro Poroshenko’s rhetorical flourish about “blankets,” in fact, during the years of the Obama-Biden administration, Ukraine received $5.7 billion in aid that included training for Ukrainian special-ops and other forces, the provision of essential tracking equipment, valuable intelligence and security support, non-lethal weapons and a small number of lethal weapons. Among the aid was $3 billion in loan guarantees to help sustain Ukraine’s economy.

Dear Editor:

I was startled to find a full-page ad from “Ukrainian Americans for Trump” (August 30/September 6 issue) with a photo of the president with his trademark thumbs-up salute. Unlike in the ad several issues back by “Ukrainian Americans for Biden,” which listed the names of well over 100 supporters, this one listed no names whatsoever, but it did provide a website for more information. I went on that website as well as on several others for this organization, but could not find a single name listed.

Dear Editor:

Regarding the column by Orest Deycha­kiw­sky (issue dated August 30/September 6), in the past there may have been good reasons to support the Democratic Party, but as I see it, not anymore. Sure, John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, put a man on the moon, but Barack Obama put a man in a female bathroom. JFK told Russians to go home when they came close to Cuba with their nuclear missiles, while Mr. Obama canceled the nuclear bases in Europe that were intended to hold the Russian aggressor at bay.

Dear Editor:

I write in response to Myron Kuropas’s column (August 23) not because I question his knowledge of early 20th century Ukrainian American history but because he seems to be stuck there, inferring that today’s Ukrainian American Democrats and supporters of Joe Biden are socialists. This makes no more sense than saying that Republicans who vote for Donald Trump are fascists and white supremacists. Both accusations are equally ridiculous.

Never have we had a president so unable to put together a stable group of Cabinet members and advisors or formulate a coherent foreign policy toward Ukraine or any of our allies. Never have we seen anything like the growing list of felony convictions of presidential associates while prominent members of the president’s own party publicly declare their vote for the opposing candidate. This is the party of Trump now.

Dear Editor:

My parents escaped communism. Under communism, someone could get a knock on the door at any time; someone could be taken away for questioning; opponents of Communists might never return.

I am a veteran. I believe there are many people in America who are brainwashed, and that there are Ukrainians in America who unwittingly have become communists because of the mass media.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor that react to articles published on its pages. Opinions expressed by letter writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

Letters must be signed (anonymous letters are not published) and the city from which they are sent will be published under the author’s name. However, the daytime phone number, e-mail address and complete mailing address of the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Andrij Parekh, a cinematographer and director of Ukrainian and Indian descent, was awarded an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series” on September 20 at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards for his directing work on the HBO series “Succession,” particularly his directing of the episode “Hunting.”

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Parekh noted: “I am deeply honored and not the least bit humbled by this award. This distinction has been bestowed on my birthday, so thank you for this charmed gift. I want to thank HBO, and Jesse Armstrong, and Tony Roche, and Adam McKay, and the entire ensemble and cast. The show has been a professional dream, starting as its cinematographer. And now this.”

NEW YORK – Prof. Alexander Motyl of Rutgers University has recently published “Bits and Piece: Fragmentary Memoirs” as a Kindle e-book.

As the author writes in the foreword, “I’ve never wanted to write a memoir, and, as ‘Bits and Pieces’ demonstrates, I haven’t. These ‘fragmentary memoirs’ consist of a handful or two of semi-biographical essays and interviews, interlaced with my drawings, poems and paintings, and with a novella (which may have more to say about me than the non-fiction pieces) thrown in for good measure. Some things are discussed in great detail; others are passed over in silence: readers will have to decide which. All memoirs are selective remembrances full of inconsistencies, lacunae, and contradictions; this one is no different.”

KYIV – Eugene Czolij, president of the Kyiv-based NGO Ukraine-2050 and former president of the Ukrainian World Congress, was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 15th edition (2021) of “The Best Lawyers in Canada” in his legal practice areas of corporate and commercial litigation, as well as insolvency and financial restructuring law.

For its 15th and largest edition to date, Best Lawyers gathered more than a million evaluations to compile its listing of the top 6 percent of legal talent in Canada.