They Do Not Move
by Beth Ann Huber published in The Zero Point
Let’s go.
We can’t.
Why not?
We’re waiting for Godot.
~Samuel Beckett
The Plot: Vladimir and Estragon are two desperate souls who are waiting for Godot, an allusive figure whose potential existence promises enlightenment but who never actually arrives. As they hold out hope for meaning and purpose, they find solace in latching on to any distraction offered to them. Shall we insult each other? Lets. Should we hang ourselves? Lets. And yet they do not move.
What follows is true
Scene: University classroom; Seminar on Apocalyptic Literature. March 1, 2022.
Beth: Did you have a good weekend? (mumbling characteristic of sleep-deprived 19 year-olds). So, what do you think of this whole Russia/Ukraine thing? (silence). Are you concerned at all? (Deer. Headlights.)
Action: They look frightened, as if they had been caught not having read something that they were supposed to have read.
Brave Student: Is it in the book?
Scene: Same classroom; Discussion of Ling Ma’s Severance; April 12, 2022.
Beth: …and they’ve been brainwashed by the mechanistic behaviors of everyday existence into believing they are meaningfully alive…believing it so much that they themselves have created the reality they perceive. It’s kind of like this whole Q thing with Russia and JFK and Dallas, right? In the news? Let’s go.
Action: They do not move. We can’t.
Beth: You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? Why not?
Brave Student: We get our news from you. We’re waiting for Godot.
Question: If Russia kills thousands of people in Ukraine and nobody is there to see it, has it really happened?
Question: If they never knew, is it less sad?
Second Act Plot Twist: Vladimir and Estragon don’t remember having been there together the day before, waiting. Familiar physical objects once held dear — a pipe, a watch, an atomizer — are vanishing one by one. Godot does not arrive, but perhaps tomorrow? Let’s go. They do not move.
Scene: CNN Presidential Candidate Interview; March 2012.
Mitt Romney (R): Russia is, without question, our number one geopolitical foe.
Media: Harharharhar
Scene: Presidential Debate between Romney and Obama; October 2012.
Barack Obama (D): The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years. ***
Media: Harharharhar
Scene: The Tucker Carlson Tonight Show; Various dates.
Tucker (R) (2019): Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?…And I’m serious. Why do I care? Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which I do.
Let’s go.
Tucker (R) (2021): Why would we take Ukraine’s side and not Russia’s side?…I mean, I’m for democracies in other countries, I guess, but I’m really for America, and I think that our interest is in counterbalancing the actual threat, which is China.
We can’t.
Tucker (R) (2/2022): Does Putin eat dogs? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? So then why does permanent Washington hate him so much?
Why not.
Tucker (R) (3/2022): Why in the world would the United States intentionally seek war with Russia? How could we possibly benefit from that war?
We’re waiting for Godot.
Joe Biden (D) (3/2022): For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.
Question: If Republicans are the party of Lincoln, why don’t they want half of my students to vote?
Question: If Republicans are the party of Evangelicals, why don’t they want the rainbow half of my students to live?
Question: Why don’t my students seem to know they are in grave danger?
Samuel Beckett’s Biography: The Irish-born French citizen resided in German-occupied Paris during World War II and became a member of the underground resistance. He went into hiding when he learned that the members of his group had been arrested by the Gestapo. He returned to Paris in 1945, where he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his resistance work and where he penned Waiting for Godot, En attendant Godot.
Scene: 4-chan; Telegram; Various times
Q (drop 15; 4-chan 11/17): We have the goods on [Putin and other heads of state — the cabal]. That’s part of the reason why some things that tie back to foreign heads of state will remain classified…we are taking back our great country (the land of the free) from the evil tyrants [Putin and cabal] that wish to do us harm…
Great! Please, can we go now?
Qanon (4-chan 12/17): Russia has historically been the perceived arch-rival and pure nemesis of the United States for over seventy years……. On the other hand, Putin rejects the [New World Order] — the global government plan of the cabal and promotes national sovereignty — two things in common with [Donald J Trump]. Putin has also supported the revival of Christian faith within Russia and frequently emphasizes its importance for a moral and sustainable society.
No, I’m sorry. We cannot leave.
Qanon (Telegram 2/22): Putin is straight gangsta [awesome, tough]…[mainstream media] is totally losing their minds right now.
But why?
Qanon (Telegram 3/22): …The Ukraine invasion is just a movie — not real.
We are waiting for…something
Conclusion: In a 2008 piece for NPR, Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize , wrote:
What is a witness if not someone who has a tale to tell and lives only with one haunting desire: to tell it. Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.
After all, God is God because he remembers.
Works Referenced
Blake, Aaron. “Tucker Carlson goes full blame-America on Russia’s Ukraine invasion.” The Washington Post. 8 March, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/08/tucker-carlson-goes-full-blame-america-russias-ukraine-invasion/
Carlson, Tucker. Tucker Carlson Tonight. 25 November, 2019; December, 2021; February, 2022; March, 2022.
Gilbert, David. “Here’s Why Qanon Believes Vladimir Putin is the Good Guy.” Vice. 2 March, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/93bgxd/qanon-russia-putin
Kaplan, Fred. “No Apology Necessary.” Slate. 3 March, 2022.
Q. “Drop 15.” The Storm is Here Archive. 1 November 2017. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11MhW-P-9el9dg_cTjutwtIiQGMfL8jfH3SOaLZSBV2g/edit#gid=1596710080
Vorel, Jim. “Reminder: Qanon Loves Putin, and Believers Continue to Pray for Violence in the U.S.” Paste Magazine. 9 March, 2022.
Wiesel, Elie. “A God Who Remembers.” NPR’s All Things Considered. 7 April, 2008. https://www.npr.org/2008/04/07/89357808/a-god-who-remembers?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160702&fbclid=IwAR3L6RsNgVYehmdUbxPaD-9HOtt0hjmQqvciIAgMRYT_3P9BioPRo_1cu7c
***Note: Obama was justified in believing that the Cold War was “over” given his 2009 policy to “reset” relations with Russia, a policy that was still successful at the time of Romney’s declaration.
