Broken broom

The dispassionate monitors in the control room testified to the incredible: the most experienced journalist, Natalya Metlina, tried to rewrite the introduction to her author’s program “Broom” and could not do it!

With shaking hands, she flipped through the tablet, and, confused, again and again uttered the hateful: “Will the Coordination Council be able to...” The participants in the program had long since left the studio; the only people left in the hall were the grandmothers from neighboring houses who had been invited for money - professional clappers.

Time after time, the presenter with a decisive step walked out to the empty ottomans standing on the stage and began with emphasis: “Won’t those who were elected to the Coordination Council forget...”

In the end, Metlina began to shake. The broom is broken. Not embarrassed by hundreds of old extras, she shouted in a broken voice: Fuck...! Demshiza, damned! Bl..., bl...!

“God’s dandelions” looked at the TV academician with fear and sympathy. She was their idol and nurse.

But let's go back to the beginning of this story.

When I, as I know, was included in the “stop list” of federal television channels, I was invited to NTV, in a program dedicated to the elections to the Coordination Council, I was surprised.

- Why guess? - answered political scientist friends, Kulistikov is an old fox. He realized that he had gone too far with his Proctology of Protest. The TV channel was ruined. Apparently, he decided to wash himself off - to portray a pluralism of opinions.

With this working version I went to Ostankino. Seeing among those invited Oksana Dmitrieva, the mother of all soldiers Valentina Melnikova, Leonid Gozman, Ilya Yashin Boris Nadezhdin, I was amazed at how wise my friends were in solving the riddle so quickly.

The dramaturgy of the upcoming Talk Show also became clear in the hall. Hundreds of tired old clapper women, constantly servicing one program after another, sat in an amphitheater. A dozen ugly ottomans of varying heights were placed in a semicircle on the stage.

The program participants were divided into those who decided to be elected to the Coordination Council, and those who had to angrily and ironically condemn them for this action.

It was supposed to be an intellectual fight - the most wonderful and popular show of our time.

The guests sat down, the extras stopped chewing. Stern commands were heard in the hall, and the Broom jumped onto the stage. With an iron gait, she walked to the center of the site and carried it off in a fashionable tone. I mean, a broom.

This is where the first failure occurred.

Well, if you want to quarrel two groups of speakers, answer, why show material that will inevitably unite them? The screen showed the usual NTV crap. These were the so-called “cuts”.

Any more or less skillful director is able, having received video material from a wedding, to edit the material in such a way that the viewer will be horrified by how much the groom hates the bride!

Imagine, if you film “Tesak” in a T-shirt, intercut the picture with footage from the courtroom, show a couple of tear-stained women’s faces, what will you feel? That's right, you will feel how great the power of the television media is over the consciousness of citizens. In short: give me a lever, and I will turn your Earth, your faith, along with the rattle of your choices!

The broom began to throw shit. And this united the two groups into a single whole. What happened on stage was what Professor Buzin cleverly and sensibly said in the same program: society has passed the stage in which it is divided into interest groups. They diligently interfered with him, so today various oppositions are ready to unite in order to bring down the most terrible, most important enemy - the thieves.

Both the left and the right, nationalists and imperialists, monarchists and democrats declared that they were ready to create a collegial legitimate body representing the rights and point of view of the opposition.

And let today the point of view of only 100,000 people be legitimized, in other words, the elected body has the authority to represent only the opinion of these hundred thousand, and the obligation to report for its activities only to them, but a new process has begun!

Before the eyes of the whole country, a miracle is happening: people are forming bodies of Civil Society: authorized and legitimate. The authorities are afraid of this unification to the point of stomach cramps.

The broom swept the chalk professionally, with monstrous pressure. It was clear how difficult it was for Natalya Metlina to tell a lie. Participants in the program were shown material where Kasparov, filmed from not the best angle, shouted in a grazing falsetto: “This is OUR country!” Using editing tools, the scream was repeated three times. The stands with the old ladies simply burst out in righteous anger. It became clear how easy it is today: using television to mobilize a crowd into action. It is also clear what kind of action is intended. But when the presenter tried to declare Kasparov a US citizen, this was met with such fierce resistance from the program participants that the story with the world champion was not allowed to air. Moreover, the cartridge case was fired: Kasparov has already proven in court the absurdity of this statement.

The situation was completely out of control. Now a close-knit team sat in front of the presenter, united in ideas about the role of NTV, about NTV’s place among the media, and at the same time about NTV’s presenters.

“You betrayed your profession!” - Ilya Yashin threw in the face of TV academician Natalya Metlina. "You're lying!"

Leonid Gozman cheerfully dismissed all attempts to recruit himself as an enemy of the Coordination Council. Oksana Dmitrieva was surprisingly inarticulate this time, but did not give up her position. But the Soldier’s Mother showed such will, such determination and wisdom that it became clear why our army was, is and will be forever invincible.

The handle of the broom cracked. She did not captivate the audience with either her intellect or her impudence.

And then, the one who swept threw his last reserves into battle.

Like two clowns from the audience were called into the circus arena. The handsome and ruddy one sat on one side of the failed barricades, and the pale and nervous one sat on the other.

As it was immediately discovered, each of them already had microphones installed in their buttonholes. This pleasant accident allowed them to get involved in the battle immediately. But it turned out to be more difficult to recoup the spent silver coins.

The handsome eyes kept moving towards his nose from continuous lies. He ardently argued that on the opposition TV channel “Dozhd” the debates are worthless and the participants there gather are worthless.

This thesis was warmly supported by Broom: “Nymph”, put her in a swing, does the brush give her? – she asked passionately. - And their glaze is lousy. And on NTV - no matter what the coffin, it’s a cucumber.”

It was clear that the freedom and sincerity of the Dozhd journalists seriously hurt her. Broom was desperately jealous of her colleagues who did not exchange their profession for money.

The second clown didn't even have to mow down. His eyes did not express anything at all; they were boring and banal, like underwear buttons.

The ambush regiment did not work, the attack floundered.

The broken broom found the strength to announce the end of the program and leave the stage with an iron tread.

Participants were asked to leave the hall. Only the extras remained. It was necessary to finish filming what was not finished, collecting interruptions, and, of course, to finish telling what was left unsaid to the still warm ottomans. Then the scene described at the very beginning occurred.

Immanuel Kant once said: “Two things surprise me: the starry sky above and the moral law within us.”

Morality is a quality immanently inherent in a person. We always know what the right thing to do is. Another thing is that a person does not always find the strength within himself to do this. Woe to the one who went against his own conscience. Then even steel “Brooms” break.