Please Don’t Lecture Russia

THIS was the REAL USSR… any questions?

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When I first visited Russia more than 30 years ago, it was still part of the USSR. The idea of any independent or critical press, of open debates in a parliament, or of popular demonstrations against government policies that would bring scores of thousands of people into the streets of Moscow, was inconceivable then. Today, Russia has many critics in the West, who accuse it of sliding back into dictatorship. What is their proposed solution? Usually, it is to criticise Russia and its leaders and try to strong-arm them into adopting policies of greater democracy and alleged greater respect for human rights.

These attitudes stem from a pervasive faith shared by liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in the USA that’s so pervasive, that its greatest believers are totally unaware of how much they’re in thrall to it. They believe that democracy is the only acceptable political system around the world, and that, consequently, the USA should wage a ceaseless ideological crusade, not resting until, at least, all the major nations of the world share the same limitless blessings of a perfect democratic system.

Now, I’m all in favour of democracy myself… I prefer living within a fully-democratic system rather than under a communist, fascist, or repressive theocracy. However, I’m against waging wars to imposing the American, or any other, democratic system, on other nations. I’m equally opposed to a purely-ideological foreign policy that would treat the governments of the world purely according to how Freedom House and similar bodies grade them according to how it assesses their freedoms. This is hardly an anti-American position. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Quincy Adams, and modern Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, and Bill Clinton believed and acted exactly the same way.

Ironically, the history of the West and the USA over the past three-quarters of a century exposes the dangerous folly of such self-righteous fantasies. Britain and the USA only won World War II against Nazi Germany because they were allies with the USSR under Iosif Stalin. I believe that not one in 100,000 Americans alive today knows or remembers that it was the Red Army, not the American or British forces, which liberated the Nazi extermination complexes of Auschwitz and Majdanek in Poland.

Nor did Western pragmatism… or hypocrisy… end with the destruction of the truly-evil Third Reich. Many still hail President Nixon as an American statesman and peacemaker for his détente policy with the USSR and his outreach to China. Not all the repercussions of the Watergate scandal that forced him to resign can take that away. Yet, Nixon, like Reagan after him, supported the two most corrupt régimes on the planet for decades, which ground hundreds of millions of their unfortunate peoples into degradation and despair. These were the kleptocratic dictatorships of Indonesia under President Suharto and Zaïre (today called the Democratic Republic of the Congo) under President Mobuto Sese Seko.

Russia has come an amazingly long way since I first visited it in the spring thaw season of 1982. That doesn’t mean its political system is the same as those of the USA or the major nations of Western Europe. However, it’s no Indonesia under Suharto or Zaïre under Mobutu either. What’s more, the USA never had any trouble getting along with them. All the moral lecturing of Russia by Western critics misses two crucial points.

First, even if Russia were to relapse back into some form of strict authoritarian government… and so far it hasn’t… that wouldn’t make war or conflict with the USA or the West inevitable. The USA, the British Empire, and the communist USSR were reliable and exceptional successful allies to each other throughout World War II. Then, the USA and the USSR successfully steered clear of any direct conflict in the 44 years of the Cold War from 1945 to 1989. It wasn’t easy; at times, they came dangerously close to war. Second, ensuring Russia remains a democracy won’t be a guarantee of peace with Russia, even if such a starry-eyed, ill-defined, reckless, and irresponsible policy such as intervening in Russia’s internal affairs could ever succeed. For throughout modern history, democracies have often waged war on other countries, including on other democracies. The idea that the best guarantee of world peace is a world filled with, and dominated by, democracies is just another myth.

What the USA and Russia really need is a serious dialogue between their top leaderships aimed at defusing tensions and managing real and unavoidable conflicts of interest. Both nations need to work hard on identifying their areas of mutual interest, and expanding them. The last thing American and other Western leaders need to do is to cave into the mounting hysteria from the think-tanks and the armchair strategists churning out their endless morally-outraged columns for the op-ed pages, and embrace a policy of ideological criticism and name-calling against Russia. The two thermonuclear superpowers need to respect each other and improve their cooperation… the peace of the world demands it.

9 March 2013

Martin Sieff

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_09/Please-don-t-lecture-Russia/

Editor’s Note:

Orthodox people should note that Victor Potapov, Alexander Webster, James Paffhausen, and Rod Dreher have sold out to the American Consumerist Dream and to the American Democratic Fantasy. They’re Sergianists (those who suck up to the powers-that-be for the scraps that fall from the high table) of the foulest and worst sort. They’re part of the “mounting hysteria from the think-tanks and the armchair strategists churning out their endless morally-outraged columns for the op-ed pages, and embrace a policy of ideological criticism and name-calling against Russia”. Potapov was/is an open US government propagandist. Webster and Dreher are “stink-tankers”; Paffhausen is tied to the American Enterprise Institute (one of the most Far Right stink-tanks in the District). In short, these people are traitors to the Orthosphere, and we must treat them accordingly.

You can follow HH and his support of Social Justice… or you can follow the above sell-out jabronies who’re supporters of “Greed is Good” and “The Race Goes to the Swiftest” (that’s what support of the contemporary Republican Party means). I’ve chosen… it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know where I stand… by the way, I’m far from alone…

BMD

America Has No Problems

There are NO problems in America!

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Editor’s Foreword:

This is played for laughs, VERY tongue-in-cheek, which means it’s a total hoot. Rightwingers would repeat it, thinking that Mr Kalder (a Scotsman) is praising the USA. There are many ways to deflate an opponent… Kalder’s method is clever and subtle. Mr Kalder skewers his target whilst appearing to praise them. Hat tip…

BMD

******

Problems, problems, everybody has problems. Look at Russia right now. Those protesters… they’ve got problems. If they don’t get prior permission for their rallies, they’ll now face fines of thousands of dollars. The opposition leaders have problems… the police raided their apartments, seized all their hi-tech gear, and “investigations are continuing”. Pussy Riot has problems. Ksenia Sobchak has problems… jeez… so many problems. Elsewhere it’s worse. Look at Egypt, where the Supreme Constitutional Court just dissolved parliament ahead of presidential elections between two decidedly unlovely candidates… its complete chaos; nobody knows what’s coming next… no wonder the folks are hopping mad! Then, there’s Europe, where the currency is about to slip down the drain. What about Libya, Syria, and Mali? The list goes on and on.

Thank goodness, I live in America, where we have no problems. You doubt me? Why, just look at a few recent news stories and you’ll be obliged to kneel before my Truth. Firstly, have you heard that in New Jersey the authorities just mandated seatbelts for cats and dogs? Oh, yes, my friends. If you don’t buckle up your beast, you get a fine of 250 to 1,000 dollars (8,160 to 32,640 Roubles. 200 to 800 Euros. 160 to 640 UK Pounds) for your callousness and disregard for public safety. That’s right… no longer will Fido be able to ride shotgun, fur flying in the breeze. See what I mean? Would the wise legislators of New Jersey be concerned about the seating arrangements of cats in trucks if they had serious issues, like homelessness, unemployment, or crime to think about? I don’t think so. Then, there’s the pleasant town of Middleborough in Massachusetts, where residents recently voted to approve a proposal from the local police chief to impose a 20 dollar (653 Roubles. 16 Euros. 12.75 UK Pounds) fine for public profanity. That’s right, life in Middleborough is so good that the sound of a teenager saying $#@! or &^%$#! is a big deal. Just try and imagine what kind of utopia the town must be. Oh, wait… you can’t, because you’ve so many problems. However, life is bliss, friends, and soon… with the disappearance of salty language from the streets… it’ll be perfection.

All right, I hear you cry, but what about John Travolta? He’s American and he’s got problems! This is true. Recently, the married Look Who’s Talking star faced accusations of pestering male masseurs for sex, and he was hit with sexual battery claims. This week, meanwhile, the National Enquirer reported that, in the 1980s, Travolta had an affair with his personal pilot, a man named Doug Gotterba. This could cause problems for Travolta in Hollywood, where producers have yet to green-light a film in which the action hero is gay. Compounding the actor’s woes, the Enquirer reports that Travolta’s lover objected to his fat, hairy body. On the other hand, the fact that anybody bothers to report this, and that I spent several minutes of my life reading about it, proves that in America we have no serious problems.

Which brings me to the Ku Klux Klan… you may have heard that a branch of the racist organisation wants to “adopt” a stretch of highway in Georgia, for which they would receive a little plaque thanking them for cleaning up the road. I’ll concede that this is a problem. Racists still exist. On the other hand, we can see improvement. Once upon a time, the KKK terrorised and murdered blacks, and people with links to the KKK infested the Democratic Party at the highest level. For instance, Hugo Black, Roosevelt’s first appointment to the Supreme Court joined the Klan in the 1920s, President Harry Truman was an ex-Klansman, and onetime Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd… who filibustered the Civil Rights Act for 14 straight hours in 1964… only died in 2010. In 2008, however, the Democratic Party nominated a black man for president, and he subsequently won. KKK membership today consists largely of morons, sometimes married to their cousins, who meekly ask the state for permission to pick up litter on the highway. As it is, Georgia turned them down. America’s making great progress.

Lastly, you may have heard that America has a few economic problems. Nevertheless, this is a myth. How do I know this? Well, the president’s been spending a lot of time with his celebrity friends lately. In June alone, he attended at least six parties and dinners, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Mariah Carey, Julia Roberts, and the lady with the long face from Sex and the City. He even gave Jon Bon Jovi a ride on Air Force One! Now, cynics might say he only wants their money, but I know better. The president enjoys downtime with friends, like the rest of us. It’s just that he has richer and more beautiful friends! Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, my friends. Good luck with your problems. We don’t have any.

15 June 2012

Daniel Kalder

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120615/174053572.html

13 December 2011. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words… “His Master’s Voice”… Bart with His American Paymaster at the Phanar

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The above image shows Bartholomew Archontonis with his American paymaster, US Vice President Joseph Biden. As all know, Biden’s violently anti-Orthodox, anti-Serbian, and Anti-Russian. The Phanar can do nothing about that, though. It’s been ground under the CIA’s heel since 1948, when an American-fomented coup ousted Patriarch Maximos Vaportzis in 1948. Vladyki Maximos was pro-Russian and an ally of the MP; the Americans feared his pro-Social Justice, anti-Free Market views. Supposedly, he “resigned” due to “ill health”… he lived for another 24 years, dying in exile in Switzerland in 1972. His replacement was the pro-American lickspittle Athenagoras Spyrou (who was the EP’s bishop in the USA) of Unhappy Memory (he who kowtowed to the Pope of Rome, amongst other things). Lest anyone forget, Athenagoras was a US citizen and US President Harry Truman allowed him to fly to Turkey for his installation in the US Presidential VIP aircraft… that’s a hint to you about the extent of American involvement (and interference) in this affair (and explains a great deal about the aberrant behaviour of the EP since then). In short, the present ecumaniac EP’s an American creation, founded to further the Cold War aims and designs of the USA. Things haven’t changed much since then, as the above image testifies.

You can stand with His Holiness or you can stand with Bart. I’ll confide that many Greeks, including the Athonite Fathers, stand with us… not with Bart. Where do you stand?

NB:

By the way… no OCA bishop was officially present for the installation of the GOAA Metropolitan in Pittsburgh. This WAS a direct slap at the OCA… was it an indirect slap at the Centre, too? Perspirin’ minds wanna know…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Albany NY 

22 August 2011. A Friend Sent This on to Me…

We’ll Never See This Again

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more, important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House. The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence MO. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there. When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a US Army pension reported to have been 13,507.72 USD (393,000 Roubles. 9,362 Euros. 8,183 UK Pounds) a year. Congress noted that he was paying for his stamps, and personally licking them, so, it granted him an “allowance” and, later, a retroactive pension of 25,000 USD (727,000 Roubles. 17,328 Euros. 15,145 UK Pounds) per year.

After President Eisenhower‘s inauguration, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service agents following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale”. Even later, on 6 May 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honour on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise”.

As president, he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food. Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale (e.g. Illinois). Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. To tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!”

I say that we should dig him up and clone him!

Editor’s Note:

I’ll observe that two men came from Missouri… actually, one man and one worthless putz. Rush Limbaugh isn’t fit to be mentioned in the same sentence as Harry Truman. Rush’s supporters are lobotomised, violent, and mindless. Rush is a vacuous boob, yet, his supporters become physically violent if they’re countered with an intellectual argument. I’ll be blunt; virtually everything on his show is pure fabrication… it’s sheer fantasy, cacophony, and foolishness.

When you compare Harry and Rush, one thing becomes clear… Harry’s selfless service is laudable, Rush’s godless, grasping, and soulless greed isn’t. Harry Truman didn’t take what was his by right, Rush steals everything that’s not nailed down, and calls it “Free Enterprise” (it’s certainly “free”, for it costs him nothing, and it’s “enterprising”, for he’s quite assiduous in his gluttony and voracity). The sooner that we take Rush out, shoot him, and dump his carcass in the ocean, the sooner that the world can breathe a sigh of relief. He’s not simply a simpering shill for the oligarchs (he’s that, to be sure), but he’s a Göbbels… he has a hold upon his listeners in a very demonic and troubling way.

You can admire Harry (even if you don’t agree with him) or you can admire Rush Limbaugh. The two are mutually-exclusive… the first was a good (although flawed) man, the second is an evil charlatan who uses his talents in a demonic way to enrich himself and implant lies in his audience. I prefer Harry… what about you?

BMD

19 August 2011. P&G Fatcat Threatens President Obama

Lou Pritchett… corporate buccaneer, apologist for the Five Percenters, and High Priest of Mammon the Great. Reflect well on this… greedy bastards such as Pritchett scare Warren Buffet and George Soros… THAT should tell you something. This POS would slit his mother’s throat for a dime… this is the sort of godless filth that Paffhausen, Dreher, Potapov, Webster, and Freddie M-G want to ally the Church with. If you CANNOT serve both God and Mammon, what does that say about the individuals named?

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Editor’s Foreword:

One of my correspondents passed this on to me… I’ve pasted it as is… I warn you… this is nasty stuff. However, you HAVE to know what’s out there. These people intend to hold a knife to your throat… they’re serious… they’re ruthless and without any human feeling whatsoever. THIS is what America has degenerated into… read this, heed this, and be prepared to fight these bastards. Otherwise, the lights WILL go out in our time…

I warn you… this letter is illiterate, unfocused, rambling, and, sometimes, it makes no sense whatsoever. Yet, this is the narrative heard in more than one McMansion in more than one gated and bermed “upscale residential community”… it’s chilling in its absolute self-centredness and ignorance. READ AND HEED THIS! THIS is what they’re truly like, kids… you KNOW what to do next November.

BMD

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Please notice that this asshole is sitting on the stern of a yacht, probably his own. He’s wearing a jacket with what appears to be a yacht club emblem on the pocket. This makes me want to barf. When was the last time he actually got his hands dirty actually working to produce anything but to line his own pockets? He still seems to be a soap salesman.

James Morgan

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NB

The bracketed materials in italics are Mr Morgan’s interpolations…

Chilling Letter from P&G Executive to Obama

By Lou Pritchett, Procter & Gamble

A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT  

**THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING**

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America’s true living legends (sic)… an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher, and one of the world’s highest-rated speakers (sic). Successful corporate executives everywhere recognise him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as “partnering”. Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President of Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble, and, over the course of 36 years, made corporate history (sic).

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You’re the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. (GWB would qualify here too, as would his dad!) You scare me because you didn’t spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you’re not an American. You scare me because you’ve never run a company or met a payroll. (I think Harry Truman and Ike would also qualify, as would Nixon, all career military, and/or politicians.) You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and “class”, always blaming others. (Humility and “class” never got anyone elected president in this country, hardly ever.) You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail. (Bold statement, but if Obama bailed out banks and insurance companies that prey on the people, why is he such a radical? Please explain.) You scare me because you’re a cheerleader for the “blame America” Crowd and deliver this message abroad. (Many of us would “blame America” for killing thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis, as well as for keeping over 100 military bases in other countries where they’re probably not needed and are resented by the locals. Check out Okinawa sometime!)

You scare me because you want to change America to a European-style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. You scare me because you want to replace our healthcare system with a government-controlled one. (So did Teddy Roosevelt!) You scare me because you prefer “windmills” to responsibly capitalising on our own vast oil, coal, and shale reserves. You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg that provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use “extortion” tactics against certain banks and corporations. (Let’s hear it for the banks and corporations! They’re sure are working for the middle class, eh?) You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. (GWB’s wild and irresponsible spending proposals in Iraq and Afghanistan helped get us into this mess!)

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. (You could say the same thing of most of the presidents.) You scare me because you falsely believe that you’re both omnipotent and omniscient. (Where does Obama actually say this?) You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. (Fox News does?) You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh’s, Hannitys, O’Reillys, and Becks who offer opposing conservative (sic) points of view. (None of them is actually “conservative”. Gore Vidal’s one of the last real conservatives.) You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. (In what way did Obama’s predecessor actually “govern?”) Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in eight years. (I haven’t felt safe under an American president since the times of St Ronald! He was the one who started the gutting of the middle class.)

Lou Pritchett

This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.

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Editor’s Afterword:

THIS is what passes for thought amongst the Five Percenters. Firstly, one has to be clear on terminology. These people are NOT conservative… trust me… Burke, Bismarck, and Stolypin would disown the lot of them. In European terms, Mr Pritchett and his favoured shills Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, and Beck are Liberal Radicals (one can smell the reek of Locke and Montesquieu). They’re Liberals because they favour the dismantling of traditional society and its hierarchies, replacing them with a “meritocracy” that rewards the most rapacious and inhumane segment of society (like Mr Pritchett). They’re Radicals in that they advocate a purely monetarist and economic standard in human affairs (thus, being devotees of Marxian social theory in an inverted and distorted fashion).

Libertarian is merely a polite term for “Rightwing Anarchist”. In such a world, the government is a toothless and powerless Gummi Löwe (Rubber Lion) that only exists to protect the oligarchs from the consequences of their actions. These people have faith in such crackbrained shibboleths such as the “gold standard”, “Creationism”, and “lower taxes = freedom”. Their point of view is simple… if you lack money, you’re a helot. If you have money, you’re a full citizen. That’s the long and short of it all.

The obtuseness of this is breathtaking. Mr Pritchett castigates Mr Obama for not having served in the military. Hmm… Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck, who Mr Pritchett spoke of approvingly, were all cowards who ducked service in the forces. Mr Pritchett praises our present healthcare system, which is a corporate-dominated system where “death panels” routinely deny people compensation for treatment so that HMO execs can whoop it up in Palm Beach in the depths of winter. We pay twice as much for healthcare as does the average EU country in order to enrich HMOs and lawyers. Mr Pritchett… do you want to supersize that order of Humble Pie?

Finally, note this:

You scare me because you falsely believe that you’re both omnipotent and omniscient.

Hmm… what happened when Michael Steele criticised Rush Limbaugh? Mr Steele said:

Rush Limbaugh’s an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh’s whole thing’s entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary. Yes, it’s ugly.

Kingfish Rush thundered back:

Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?

Mr Steele had to retract his words in public. His sin was telling the truth about Kingfish Rush. He said:

I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. I went back at that tape and I realised words that I said weren’t what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not. … [Limbaugh] is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice. I truly apologise.

What did Mr Pritchett say? He said:

You scare me because you falsely believe that you’re both omnipotent and omniscient.

My, my, my… that applies in spades to Pritchett’s hero Rush Limbaugh! Isn’t it rich when the boobish “conservatives” shoot themselves in the head when they think that they’re shooting at us? The RNC canned Michael Steele because he failed to kiss Kingfish Rush’s naked bum ON ONE OCCASION. That’s what Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers, and Five Percenters like Pritchett wanted. Don’t forget the oligarchs pay Kingfish Rush 150 Gs A DAY. Do you make that in a YEAR? Some tribune of the plebs!

In short, Pritchett is chock fulla beans… we have the vote. Use it. If we don’t, we’ll have no one but ourselves to blame for our chains…

BMD