U.S. President Donald Trump reverses the concepts of good and evil, delivering a devastating blow to human rights, religious liberty, and democracy.
February 24, 2025
“Bitter Winter” is proud to have never published a single piece of fake news. Even readers who may disagree with some of our opinions normally acknowledge it. Occasionally, we are accused of “lying” by voices coming from rogue states and their allies—such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation (RF)—or professional “cult”-hunters. In several cases, rogue states and their lackeys, and professional “cult”-hunters are essentially two sides of the same coin. This criticism is what journalists call a piece of news given twice. Since rogue states, their lackeys and professional ‘cult’-hunters are masters of deceit and producers of serial lies, when they say that “Bitter Winter” “lies,” a wise reader may take it to mean that “Bitter Winter” is totally accurate on both facts and evaluations. It is basic logic. If a liar says you lie, this means that you tell the truth.
“Bitter Winter” is also proud of having always resisted the temptation—a common one in journalism and beyond—to cross boundaries and abandon its core mission of defending freedom of religion, belief, or creed (FoRB) and human rights in favor of ad-libbed political commentary. We always made it clear that, whenever we seem to comment on politics or support a particular party, personality, or political side, it is purely a matter of appearance. Our focus remains exclusively on FoRB and human rights, with politics only entering the discussion when, if, and because politics, ideologies, and ideocracies—regardless of their nature—undermine these essential liberties.
On the third anniversary of Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, it is important to remind readers of what “Bitter Winter” stands for, as well as the grave toll that Russia’s deadly aggression has had on human rights—and, as “Bitter Winter” documented from the outset, on religious liberty. We cannot remain silent in the face of the blatant distortion of facts made by US President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine, especially since such statements deeply impact the general understanding and respect for fundamental human rights and FoRB.
Those who read “Bitter Winter,” not to mention other writings of the undersigned, know how we and I deeply admire the constitutional history and traditional commitment of the United States to freedom in general and freedom of religion or belief in particular. If anything, we have been accused in the past by Russian, Chinese, and “anti-cult” critics of being prejudicially pro-American, and even (a classical and easy accusation since the Cold War against any critic of Russia and China) of being on “CIA’s payroll.” Certainly, we cannot be accused of being anti-American. Indeed, we are not ashamed of being called friends of the United States. It is part of the duty of friends to admonish each other against mistakes and moral failures, from which nobody is unfortunately immune.
During a press conference at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on February 18, 2024, after signing a series of executive orders on various issues, Trump dared to claim that Ukraine started the war—despite the clear fact that it was of course Russia that initiated all through an invasion. “You should have never started it,” he said. In response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s protests on February 19, who said Trump was living in a disinformation bubble created by Russia, Trump repeated his claim via social media, accusing Ukraine of lacking democracy (a point he had already insinuated during the previous press conference) and calling Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections.”
These are absurd, unfounded, and malicious statements that blur the line between good and evil. Worse, they show a profound inability—or perhaps an unwillingness—to instinctively distinguish what is right from what is wrong. They rely on sophistry and falsehoods rather than truth. Even a child could easily refute Trump’s claims, and the fact that the leader of the world’s most powerful country is peddling such falsehoods casts serious doubt on his moral capacity to deal with reality.
Trump’s role in the crisis sparked by Russia’s fatal aggression in Ukraine is significant, not because he is the master of the world, but because the policies he dictates have a massive influence globally. On February 19, Trump even mocked Zelenskyy as “a modestly successful comedian” during a speech at the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, a statement that was also caught on camera and later repeated via his Truth social account. While Trump seems to forget that his own acting career did not earn him an Academy Award for his cameo in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” or his starring in “The Apprentice” TV series, the intent behind his remarks is clear: to undermine Zelenskyy’s credibility and demoralize an entire nation.
This entire charade is little more than a distraction, akin to the worst B-movie horror seen on a low-quality TV channel. The real issue here is that refusing to acknowledge that Russia invaded a sovereign nation—murdering civilians at will, torturing thousands, creating millions of refugees, destroying infrastructures and cities, and threatening to use nuclear weapons—demonstrates a colossal moral failure. Russia’s characterization of Ukrainians as Nazis and Satanists to justify an unprovoked war, supported by some Russian religious top leaders (many of whom have ties to professional “cult”-hunters), exposes a colossal moral collapse.
Not recognizing that, while liberty, transparency, and democracy should always be upheld, a country at war—in this case, one invaded by a superpower—needs (or is even compelled to) sometimes to temporarily limit certain hallowed political liberties and aspects of sacrosanct free speech to cope with an exceptional crisis, is a colossal moral failure. Martial law and the postponement of elections in times of war, invasion, mass death, and destruction is not dictatorship—sometimes, it’s a necessity. To casually sip Diet Coke—reportedly Trump’s preferred beverage—among cherished friends at Mar-a-Lago is not the same as desperately searching for clean water in the ruins of bombed Mariupol. Not understanding this is a colossal moral failure.
Zelenskyy was elected President of Ukraine on April 21, 2019. Among the first to congratulate him was President Trump. Vladimir Putin, a former military serviceman and KGB official, has governed Russia from 1999 to 2000 as Prime Minister, from 2000 to 2008 as President, from 2008 to 2012 once more as Prime Minister and again as President from 2012 to the present. He has changed the constitution twice: in 2012 to extend presidential terms to six years, and again in 2021 to allow for more presidential terms. As Russia’s longest-serving leader since the fall of the Soviet Union, he can now remain in office until 2036, when he will be 84. Is Ukraine the state governed by a “democratic dictator” or is it Russia? Not answering this simple question is a colossal moral failure.
Refusing to co-sponsor a draft G7 declaration and a UN resolution that reaffirms Ukraine’s territorial integrity and demands Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, as Trump’s administration has done by blocking the documents, is a colossal moral failure.
The People’s Republic of China has consistently supported Russia’s aggression against Ukraine—a conflict in which troops from PRC-backed Communist North Korea have also participated—while shamefully offering itself as a “neutral” party for peace talks. Allowing the PRC, a well-known violator of human rights and FoRB, to exploit the present disgraceful situation is a colossal moral failure.
Of course, human actions are never black or white only. They are nuances of different colors, and shades of grey when evil is performed. However, black and white do exist, and refusing to recognize them, to fight evil and defend good, is a colossal moral failure. And a fraud.
Source: bitterwinter.org
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