"Schmo": Yiddish for stupid person
In a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "Putin’s anti-Obama propaganda is ugly and desperate," Paula J. Dobriansky and David B. Rivkin Jr. tell us:
"[T]he famous nationalist comedian Mikhail Zadornov regularly deploys the term 'schmoe' — a slang Russian prison acronym for a person who is so debased he deserves to be defecated upon — alongside Obama’s name. 'Obama schmoe' has become ubiquitous enough to be scrawled on the runway of Russia’s Latakia air base in Syria.
. . . .
Winning the global battle of ideas is an essential part of fostering a stable democratic world order. Consistent with our core values, the United States must lead in challenging Moscow’s racist propaganda and highlighting the moral narrative of democracy, tolerance, human rights and rule of law."
Never having been arrested in Russia (over the years, I have tried very hard to avoid this - I would hate to be defecated upon), I was unaware of the Russian prison acronym "schmoe."
On the other hand, I am quite familiar with the Yiddish word "schmo," which means "stupid person."
Moreover, Obama is indeed a "schmo" (the Yiddish meaning) for sitting back complacently and watching Putin annex Crimea and take control over Syria's airspace.
And former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a "schmo" (the Yiddish meaning) for presenting Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov with a red "reset button" in 2009, mistakenly inscribed with the Russian word "peregruzka," meaning "overcharged."
And both Obama and Hillary are "schmos" (the Yiddish meaning) for pursuing, together with their P5+1 ally Putin, an unsigned nuclear agreement with Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei.
"Winning the global battle of ideas is an essential part of fostering a stable democratic world order"? Elegant English, however, the "global battle of ideas" has also been shaped by the world view of Obama as a 98-pound weakling who has trashed US credibility and deterrent power. Putin is "desperate"? You could have fooled me.
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