His Nibs Shows His Attitude to the Left… He Congratulated the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) on its Anniversary and Congratulated Journalist V S Zorin and Actor V M Zeldin on Their Birthdays… Our Patriarch is a Man of the LEFT… God Bless Us, One and All!

Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN)

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V S Zorin (1925- ), Honoured Culture Worker of the RSFSR, a real mensch and a true reporter

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V M Zeldin (1915-), People’s Artist of the USSR

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To Academician V M Fillippov, RUDN Rector, and the faculty and students of RUDN

Dear Vladimir Mikhailovich! Dear teachers and students!

Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on this significant date in the life of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia… the 55th anniversary of its founding. This university is one of the leading higher educational institutions of Russia. It’s highly respected not only here in Russia, but far beyond its borders. Your school had students from nearly 200 countries; many graduates are now prominent scientists, politicians, and public figures. It is encouraging that a number of RUDN graduates are now Orthodox clergy. Expressing hope for the development of constructive interaction between the RUDN and the MP’s theological schools, I wish you all good health, peace, God’s help and success in your works.

Kind regards,

+Kirill Gundyaev

Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias

5 February 2015

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To Journalist and political commentator V S Zorin

Dear Valentin Sergeyevich!

I heartily congratulate you on this remarkable date in your life, your 90th birthday. Several generations of your fellows know you as a great intellectual, writer, and scholar. You appeared on TV and radio, and your numerous articles and works have become an important part of the Russian informational and cultural space. Your professional activity has already entered the history books not only of Russian journalism, but also of political science. You’ve made a significant contribution in establishing trust and good relations between countries and peoples. I wish you good health, peace of mind, creative longevity, and success.

Kind regards,

+Kirill Gundyaev

Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias

Click here for articles by V S Zorin… see why HH holds him in such high regard

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To People’s Artist of the USSR, Holder of the Order “For Merit” V M Zeldin

Dear Vladimir Mikhailovich!

I cordially congratulate you on this very important anniversary, your 100th birthday. The Lord will reward you abundantly for your creative life and longevity. Your professional experience, gleaned from the great masters of the performing arts of the first half of the 20th century, is rich and diverse. Brilliant roles in theatre and cinema brought you deserved national fame, and your high national and international awards are convincing evidence of your creative achievements. It’s remarkable that today you continue to delight many fans of your talent with new works, thereby giving the younger generation a vivid example of fidelity to a vocation and of inspired service to the arts. I wish you good health, good spirits, and God’s generous help in all your good deeds and endeavours.

Kind regards,

+Kirill Gundyaev

Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias

10 February 2015

Patriarchia.ru

MP official website

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/164451.html

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3986961.html

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3987799.html

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The rightwingers amongst us (especially, some of the loudmouthed konvertsy), make a loud noise that the Church and the Republican Party are “natural allies”… you hear this from people such as Whiteford, Dreher, Fathausen and Potapov. Nothing is further from the truth. The above personal messages of HH prove that he holds the Soviet legacy in high regard. Therefore, Potapov’s nasty article about Stalin on the ROCOR official website wasn’t only far off the beam, it’s proof that he’s nothing but a stage-managed marionette in the hands of his employer… an organisation known as a CIA front by everyone in the know (we all know about his links with the notorious John Herbst and the oddbod Moonies at the Washington Times, after all).

We can stand with HH and honour the positive achievements of the USSR and of the Left in general, or we can stand with those whom I named above and stand with godless haters of Holy Rus such as Sarah Palin, Rush Limboob, John McCain, and Ted Cruz. That IS the choice and you must choose one or the other. If you choose to stand with Republicans, you stand with those who want to rip out our very heart and make us votaries of Almighty Mammon, as they are. The Republicans support the schismatic and Uniate war criminals in the Ukraine and Novorossiya… need I say more? You can stand with HH and with Good or you can stand with the Republicans and with Evil. That’s the choice… choose wisely…

By the way, the only reason that a cross is in front of the patriarch’s name is that these are official communications personally signed by him… any other use of it by ordinary sorts such as us is wrong, ignorant, and pretentious… ‘nuff said…

BMD

A View from Moscow by Valentin Zorin… Senseless and Dangerous Address to the Nation: Why Does Obama Consider America Exceptional?

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The US President violated a tacit, but indispensable, rule of diplomacy and politics, namely that “the greatest use of language is to hide our thoughts”. In his recent address to the nation, Barack Obama said that America was an exceptional nation, and, therefore, had exceptional rights. That wasn’t a slip of the tongue in the ardour of eloquence Obama is so fond of shining upon his audience, nor was it a figure of speech. Obama’s statement wasn’t an accidental gaffe. No, the American President said what he meant and what the American political élite think, yet, until now, they’ve avoided saying it aloud. One reason why they avoided doing that may be that, in modern history, at least so far, only one political figure proclaimed the exceptionalism and superiority of one nation. His name was Adolf Hitler. I’m not drawing any direct analogies here. However, the greatest tragedy of the Second World War proved the extreme danger of claims of exceptionalism. Therefore, to pretend not to notice the escapades of the American Head of State would be inexcusable. Even more so as it comes from a country little more than two centuries old, which is a very short time historically… why, it has no grounds whatsoever for such claims.

Those whom the Americans themselves call “robber barons” amassed the accumulated wealth in America. The famous American writer Mark Twain brilliantly expressed their timeless creed… “To get rich… dishonestly if we can, honestly if we must”. Couldn’t help themselves, indeed! Separated by two oceans from the centres of world politics with their endless and bloody wars, the remote young republic stepped out into the forefront after World War I, having grown fabulously rich on that war. Its geographic location saved it from Hitler’s invasion, which left many Old World countries devastated and ravaged. Again, this war showered down gold on America. Such ill-gotten fortunes became the basis of America’s post-war might. The chance to monopolise atomic weapons, secretly produced with allied help, made the heads of the US political establishment go dizzy, bringing on dreams of a Pax Americana. However, subsequent events quickly dashed those hopes to pieces.

Subsequent failures in the post-war military-political strategy devised by Washington sages dealt tangible blows to the self-instilled idea of American exceptionalism. A series of fiascos and defeats… the painful military defeat in Vietnam, the loss of the “backyard” south of the US border, the humiliating failure of the Iraq adventure, the increasingly uncontrollable Middle East, the 2008 downfall of Wall Street giants triggering a global economic crisis, an astronomical national debt of 17 trillion USD (548 trillion Roubles. 17.7 trillion CAD. 18 trillion AUD. 12.6 trillion Euros. 10.7 trillion UK Pounds)… “American Exceptionalism”… where are you? In this awkward situation, there’s nothing else for the Americans to do but to try to not only convince the world, but also themselves, that they are, indeed, exceptional.

That’s senseless and dangerous!

28 September 2013

Valentin Zorin

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2013_09_25/Opasnoe-i-besperspektivnoe-zajavlenie-Obami-5739/

 http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_09_28/Futile-and-dangerous-address-to-the-nation-Why-does-Obama-call-America-exclusive-9627/

A View from Moscow by Valentin Zorin… US Elections: The Bets are Laid

Get out and vote… the Neanderthal rightwingers are going to… but don’t lose heart, we DO outnumber them.

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The presidential election campaign in the USA reached a pivotal stage; it’s a decisive week that‘ll determine who’ll lead America in the next four years. The Republican National Convention nominated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to run for president, along with his choice for VP, Paul Ryan to run against Democratic Party nominees Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The Republican leadership is gambling on political hawks, enablers of the American military-industrial complex. This choice sets the tone for the campaign. Mitt Romney is a successful businessman, fabulously rich, one of the pillars of Boston’s financial community. However, recently, during the current election campaign, it came out that the Republican presidential hopeful is dodging taxes by stashing funds in overseas banks. Nevertheless, those who back him are unperturbed. He backs their aims, he suits them; he’s “their guy”.

A 42-year-old member of the US House of Representatives, reputed to be eloquent, Paul Ryan won the affection of business tycoons thanks to his calls for limits on government regulation of the economy, cutting social programmes, and introducing more tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. Media releases portray Ryan as a competent economist, sorely needed in the wheezing American economy. In reality, volubility seems to be his main and only asset. He has no practical or theoretical knowledge of economics. In nominating presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the Republican National Convention offered no clear-cut election programme. Whilst underscoring their commitment to traditional American values in their speeches, both nominees emphasised the need to increase military spending and reinforce the tax cuts for the rich initiated by the Bush administration. A telling detail that testified to Romney’s intention to continue Bush’s failed policies rejected in the last election was the fact that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (George Bush’s brother) was one of those whom the Republican leadership instructed to support Mitt Romney at the convention. By the way, Jeb Bush played a dubious role in George Bush’s victory in the 2000 election.

The Republican leadership needed to invoke the political legacy of one of the country’s most disastrous presidents in order to woo Big Business’ support, especially, the military-industrial complex. As for the majority of American voters, the Republicans are trying to appeal to the overall public discontent about the current economic situation in the country. In America, they say that people vote with their wallets. As wallets grow thinner and thinner day by day, of course, some blame this on those in power. As it happens, the Republicans think that they see an opening… they’re betting on economic issues. It’s what they’re banking on; it’s their main hope. What will win in the end? Will it be the storyline broadcast by a powerful and lavishly-funded propaganda machine, or, will it be the common sense inherent in most Americans? It’ll become clear fairly soon.

8 September 2012

Valentin Zorin

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012_09_05/Stavki-sdelani/

A View from Moscow by Valentin Zorin… USA in Final Stretch for the Finish Line

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The presidential race in the USA is entering the home stretch. According to tradition, American presidential elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday every leap year. There’s no provision to this effect in the American Constitution, and no one at Harvard, on the Capitol Hill, or in the omniscient press, could tell me where this centuries-old tradition came from. It’s just traditional, that’s it. This year, the hapless Tuesday falls on 6 November. On that day, Americans will decide who’ll run the country over the next four years… incumbent President Barack Obama, or Republican hopeful Mitt Romney. At present, no one can predict the outcome of the election with any certainty. Even though Obama’s currently leading in the race, he’s ahead of Romney by a narrow margin, which might shift by 6 November.

One thing is clear; after suffering an ignominious defeat four years ago, the Republicans are doing everything possible to regain power. It has still not put forward any constructive coherent political and economic programme, the Republican leadership is resorting to wild criticism of the current administration; it gets substantial support from major financial institutions, industrial conglomerates, and the military industrial complex. Thanks to this support, the Republican election fund exceeds the resources raised by the Democrats nearly twofold. Given that money makes all the difference during American elections, the amount of it could be decisive for the election outcome. The candidates’ election headquarters handle sums approaching a billion dollars. Candidates for seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their campaigns. During the last elections, to get a seat in the House of Representatives cost more than a million dollar each and much more than that was needed to secure a place in the Senate.

Clearly worried about the financial superiority of the Republicans, Obama said, in response to a question, with unprecedented frankness for a Washington official, “The money might be coming from the oil companies, or, it might be coming from Wall Street. We don’t know. They’re not saying, and the cash spigots are open“. However, American business never gives money for nothing. The Republicans pledged to extend the régime of tax benefits for the wealthy, introduced by the Bush administration, which expire on 13 January next year. Republican leaders insist on ramping up the arms race, which means fabulous profits for the military industrial complex. Multimillionaire Mitt Romney’s their top choice for pursuing these goals, as they say, he’s “their guy”. While opting in favour of the Republicans, American business circles isn’t putting all of its eggs in one basket. They’re not writing off President Obama completely. Obama retracted his promise of four years ago to make serious reductions in military programmes and put an end to the arms race, which is a heavy burden on the US economy. Wall Street believes that to be a “credit” to him. The American “Two-Party System” has long and faithfully catered to the needs of those in power. It’ll continue to do so, no matter what the outcome of the 6 November elections will be.

21 July 2012

Valentin Zorin

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012_07_18/81979377/