How Vladimir Putin "Won"
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Tyranny | Vladimir Putin — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Pretty much what you would expect:
. . . "The election was not fair and failed to meet standards for democratic elections," concluded the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe in a joint statement. Nothing was left to chance to ensure a high turnout. In Moscow your correspondent spotted several "tourist" buses stuffed with people from far-flung regions. They voted early and often. The buses were guarded by men in black leather coats and ski hats who, every few minutes, would let a small group out of the vehicle to cast their ballots. They would move to the next polling station and repeat the exercise. The "leader" of the group said the men were workers from a nearby factory. But, despite strict instruction to keep silent, some admitted that they were free labourers and came from as far away as the Kemerovo region, some 3500 km from Moscow. "We have been going around polling stations since lunch time," grumbled one man, "and they have not paid us yet".
In the event that I haven't mentioned it enough, it really is time for us not only to rethink our policy regarding Russia, but to actually implement the rethought policy.
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How Vladimir Putin "Won" 15 Comments (0 topical, 15 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
then we should also consider retooling our policy toward Washington state, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Illinois. Just kidding (well.....)
OK, seriously, yes I agree, it is high time we quit giving legitimacy to that thug-state that has, especially now, no more merit than Fidel Castro's regime.
It is perhaps even more important that we keep a watchful eye (possibly thru NATO) toward making sure Russia does not become able to re-annex the Eastern European states where some truly wondrous transformations have played out in the last 15 years.
Stare decisis is fo' suckas -- Feddie
That one poster on Iran had it right. Regime change Moscow, and charge them their oil reserves for the service.
Im not even being funny. Russians have had a king for as long as they have had a nation, and they seem to enjoy it. Id hate to classify a whole nation as being good slaves, so somebody should prove me wrong.
By the by, they had on BBC international some of the opposition party leaders in Russia, and they are retards. If anyone saw the interview you know what Im talking about. The reporter asks why its important to oppose Putin, and the lady answers 'Yes its important to oppose Putin.'.
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D Hunt 4 Prez
- retards... The reporter asks why its important to oppose Putin, and the lady answers 'Yes its important to oppose Putin.'
How is that different from what our own Democrats do with Bush? Didn't Kucinich say that if he becomes president, the first thing he'll do is impeach Bush?
Maybe there's such a thing as Putin Derangement Syndrome.
Look, why are so worked up about Putin? He's waging a real war on Islamic terrorists, he's promoting conservative social values and the Orthodox Church, he's cracking down on crime and corruption, and he's taking measures to bring up his country's birthrates and restore national strength. Sounds like a right wing guy to me.
After all, if we care about democracy and human rights, it's Western Europe that bans right wing political parties (like the Vlaams Blok), punishes dissidents against multiculturalism and outlaws free speech (like Italy did to Oriana Fallaci), and tries to eradicate Europe's Christian heritage. It was Putin, after all, who told a council of European leaders that their highest priority was to "preserve the Christian character of Europe" which I'm sure made the socialists in power gag. I can't help but think it's easy to criticize authoritarianism from the right while ignoring left wing abuses of power.
I find it interesting that Putin's crackdown on the march of dissidents not long ago received massive media coverage (when most of the marchers were actually from the National Bolsheviks, whose charming logo is a combination Nazi flag and hammer and sickle). Meanwhile, a march by the Vlaams Belang to protest the Islamization of Europe was crushed by policy and European MP's assaulted, with barely a peep from the mainstream media or even the conservative media.
Besides, we claim to despise the Euroweenies who are handing over their country to Islam. Say what you will about Putin, but he's preventing that. Would we prefer he be a socialist who meekly presides over the extinction of Russia the way the Western Europeans are doing?
There are plenty of threats to America's continued existence. Mass immigration, the rise of Islamism in Europe, and the war in the Middle East are real problems, not an authoritarian Russian who's trying to save his country from a desperate situation.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
and I appreciate the thoughts. The genie is out of the bottle in Russia because the free market economy is there to stay and the Internet isn't going anywhere. They're not China by any means, and China's system is unsustainable, anyway. At some point, either by changes in the oil market or because of other issues, United Russia won't look so bulletproof anymore and the people will move on to something else.
Opposition parties need time to mature in a young democracy, too. Garry Kasparov is a great man but The Other Russia is a mess, trying to be such an absurdly big tent that it can't even function as a party. Gennady Zyuganov had to admit that the Russian Communist Party doesn't have enough members to send observers to all the nation's polling stations, opting instead to choose a few major cities. Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party is Russia's answer to the LaRouchies. Yabloko just needs time to gain traction.
I was actually somewhat relieved that the vote totals for United Russia weren't in the 80% range but actually close to what opinion polls had predicted. Small comfort, maybe, but at least it wasn't the wholesale results fabrication that some thought the Kremlin had ordered.
Putin really is the bad news bear. The problem is that he is an extremely popular bad guy, with something like an 80% approval rating if you believe the Russian press. Of course, if you didn't approve ...
MOlsen6
Proud supporter of McCain '00 and McCain '08
A lot of Russians want to return to the gold ole' days. Putin is the guy to do it.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
of any era in Soviet history, which is a narrow set of choices but still interesting. It was a time of economic stagnation but Brezhnev was relatively aloof compared to his predecessors, caring more about his collecting foreign cars than doing his job.
Looks like he's well-read on how Democrats handle elections in this country. Remember the reports of homeless people bused around to vote?
the real problem is that United Russia has so many overzealous members, to say nothing of the siloviki (the KGB/FSB alumni good-ol'-boy network that is the ruling class), that people are acting on their own initiative without needing any directive from the Kremlin. This is actually more dangerous than just a strong president consolidating his power.
Dude...U dont hold the election till UR sure of the result...
Well, fraud isn't how Putin "won." He would've won anyway (no sarcastic quotes needed), this is yet another case of completely unnecessary ballot box stuffing. Mystifying to our minds.
What would the rethought policy look like, what areas would it effect, and how would it deal with Putin's popularity and highly effective xenophobic rhetoric? We may disagree with Putin, we may disagree with his policy, and his hollowing out of democratic structures may make him an enemy of democracy; but Russians, encouraged by Putin's political technologists, support his vision of a strong, proactive, defiant Russia. It seems like most options would create a backlash against the Western intrusion, and harping on that intrusion is why Putin is so popular, so our interference would have a positive feedback effect on his regime.
Also, of course, Russia has petro-dollars that make them resistant to the economic pressure that often defines American diplomacy (as it did with Russia in the 90's).
How does one reconcile a foreign state's popular will and sovereignty with American efforts to make said country more friendly? What does that policy look like? It would have to be more judo than sumo wrestling.
but he clearly is compared to Putin.
Oz
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