Russia 3

Matveev's collection of commentary about Syria (including his own boot-licking pro-Obama blather) is very telling. Russia is "like everyone else" wrt Syria.

Wrong, asshole. Russia has literally saved the day. But now that the terrorists are getting their asses kicked, the whole story will disappear from Western MSM, and its Soros-inspired echo chamber, and the concern of Ilya Matveev. 

SeekingAPoliticalHome wrote:

Waiting on American take.

lol. RFEL is Radio "Free" Europe and Radio "Liberty", both tending towards the virulently Russophobic and virulently anti-left. That IS an American take - albeit an extreme right-wing one. 

The other, ZeroHedge, OTOH, is a financial news source with unclear sources. They're all over the map, politically.

The news looks very good - except if you were planning to make a huge profit from thermonuclear war.

ikosmos wrote:

The news looks very good - except if you were planning to make a huge profit from thermonuclear war.

Trumps wants to increase spending on nukes, so there's money to be made.

"Trump thanked Putin for his aid and support in the recent election.  'Heckeuva job, Vlady,' Trump said."

Now, would I just make shit up?  Of course you could always hack my computer and find out. 

Russia withdraws from the ICC.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/16/world/russia-quits-international-criminal-...

Russia was never a member of the ICC. Putin, exactly like G.W. Bush before him, has simply "un-signed" a treaty that his country never ratified. 

Looks like an interesting piece FROM THE LEFT about the characteristic features of imperialism in Russia today.

This should be interesting. The resident, pathological Russophobes and anti-Communists won't know what to do! How can you criticize Russian capitalism when the critique comes from Russian Communists?! The horror!

Quoting George Soros funded neo-liberal institutions won't cut it. Delicious. Which disgusting prejudice will win out? Pathological Russophobia or virulent anti-Communism? Christmas comes early! Because there's nothing quite so amazing as one kind of bigotry overcome by another!

Happy trails!

Communist Party of the Russian Federation: "In Russia we see all the features of imperialism named by Lenin. It is monopolistic, parasitic and decaying capitalism..."

Quote:

At present there is much talk in the world about globalization and globalism. Proceeding from Lenin’s characterization of imperialism, the CPRF has identified the following main features of globalism:
1. Productive industrial capital is being totally enslaved by financial and speculative capital.

2. At the world level “market relations” have turned into an artificial mechanism of unequal exchange and plunder of entire countries and peoples.

3. The global model of “international division of labor” consolidates the appalling social inequalities on the planetary scale.

4. The political influence of transnational corporations and financial-industrial groups aspiring to unlimited sovereignty of actions is increasing sharply.

5. National governments are losing control over the processes in the world economy. Fundamental norms of international law are being revised to create global power structures.

6. Information and cultural expansion is actively used as a form of aggression. We witness growing spiritual uniformity at the most primitive level. National features of countries and peoples are being eradicated.

7. Transnational capital is becoming increasingly parasitic. It enjoys the benefits from the introduction of high technologies while the rest of the world lives in poverty. Scientific and technical progress is stagnating and its quality is deteriorating. The exploitative predatory nature of imperialism is vividly manifested today. Because the profit margin tends to decline capitalism is fighting this trend by stepping up exploitation, financial speculations and military adventures.

The international situation is deteriorating. The USA and NATO are persistently expanding their presence in various parts of the world creating new military bases. Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria have become victims of aggression. The situation in the Middle East has been thrown into chaos. The migration crisis in Europe has been generated. National and religious conflicts are sharpening and raging.

The Russian CP calls for a kind of anti-imperialist unity based on internationalism and a class approach. They are still the second largest party in the State Duma (Parliament), despite the pressure put on them, the marginalization just as in Canada towards the left generally, etc., etc.

Quote:

In Russia the world socio-economic crisis is combined with the internal crisis caused by the restoration of capitalism and the bankruptcy of liberal bourgeois policy. The country has all the features of imperialism named by Lenin. It is monopolistic, parasitic and decaying capitalism. Russia is under growing outside pressure of stronger countries of the world capitalist system. They resort to economic sanctions, political blackmail and military threats.

Inside the Russian Federation the authorities are making further inroads on the rights of the working people. People’s incomes and living standards are falling, unemployment is growing and the majority of the people are sinking into poverty. The ruling circles propose to raise the retirement age and introduce a tax on unemployed people. The 2017 draft budget would cut spending on healthcare and education.

The Russian CP is making plans for the anniversary of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution in their country. They remain faithful to the aims of that revolution, which is peace and social justice for all. Good on them.

Quote:

Dear comrades,

Next year the CPRF, together with all the fraternal parties and movements, will mark the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The victory of the proletarian revolution in Russia in October 1917 was the key event of the ХХ century. It radically changed the course of humanity’s development. Thanks to the Great October Revolution the world’s first socialist state came into being. It provided an inspiring example for the working people of all countries who rose to fight the yoke of capital. The October Revolution found its continuation in the deeds of the builders of Socialism, in the heroism of anti-Fascists, in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany and militarist Japan, in the collapse of the colonial system, the inspiring Cuban Revolution, the courage of Che Guevara, Salvador Allende and Hugo Chavez and today’s successes of China and Vietnam.

Geoff wrote:

Russia remains the only country in the world that can offset, somewhat, the power of the US, which is all the more urgent, given that Trump will be führer for the next four years.

I don't relish the thought of cutting Putin any slack (too bad the CP wasn't in power, instead). However, I'm not sure what else to propose as an alternative right now. If there is one, I'm all ears. 

China should be added to that. What we are talking about, and certainly the Russians understand this, is a changed multi-polar world in which there is no hegemon barking orders to the rest of the planet. And I think a strengthened left, in all countries including Russia, would be a plus.

For Canada, our moribund, pro-imperialist "peace" movement really needs a new direction and improvement. Of any political movement in this country, the peace movement really needs strengthening with what the Russian CP has called an anti-imperialist approach. And they include, in their own country,  the United Russia (and Putin) as part of the problem.

Putin has some solid foreign policy. Brilliant, truth be told. My own view is that this is a complicated result of many factors - one of which, I like to think, is a residue or leftover from the Soviet era when that regime helped many, many countries in a truly disinterested manner. But foreign policy aside - Putin is just as conservative as the loud-mouthed Russophobes in the Western regimes and their captive MSM. I don't pretend to understand all of Russian politics - and it is a mistake to use some cookie-cutter left/right approach - but it seems to me that the same neo-liberal pressures push Putin to implement austerity domestically, just as the neo-liberals in Canada [whether they call themselves Conservatives, Liberals or NDPers] do the same here.

swallow wrote:

Good comments from the Russian CP - the Russian government is right-wing and imperialist. 

Do you agree with them, ikosmos?

Not so fast, smart ass. Do you or do you not agree with the analysis of the Russian Communist Party?

The Russian communist party analysis makes some great points. I'm most interested to read the strong dissent from the imperialist agenda of the current Russian government. 

Is the CP analysis, in your view, valid on this point? Or is it "MCCarthyism" and "Russophobia" since it is critical of the current government? 

It's not my style of rhetoric, but I'd agree with the general line on everything in those 2 paragraphs. There's no question at all that the US is agressively imperialist all over the globe, and that the Russian revolution was formative for the 20th century. I've been to ultiple demonstrations against US intervention going back to my high school days.

Now do you want to answer my question, or just call me "russophobe" some more? 

Thank you.

[eit to add - for answering, not for that Assad bit just edited in]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/world/europe/austrias-far-right-signs-...

The Freedom Party leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, reported the signing of the agreement with United Russia, Mr. Putin’s party, on Monday on his Facebook page, where he also disclosed that he had visited General Flynn a few weeks ago in Trump Tower in New York.

“Internationally, the Freedom Party continues to gain in influence,” wrote Mr. Strache, a dental technician who has led the party since 2005.

...

The Freedom Party, founded in the 1950s by ex-Nazis...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Reinthaller

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Peter

josh wrote:

from the film The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo: "Isn't it interesting how fascists always steal the word freedom." 

Well "freedom" can mean whatever one attributes to it. Consider - "Support the troops". What the hell does that actually mean? That the armed forces of a country deserve proper funding, pensions when they retire, and social respect for their difficult job? Maybe. Does it mean that whatever foreign policy they are expected to carry out - including the invasion of another country - they should be "supported"? Maybe. In the current political climate, this is the default. The phrase "support the troops" is empty, deliberately so, and can mean whatever we want it to mean. It is, therefore, meaningless ...

Ditto for freedom. Nice word. But the truth is always concrete. So anti-fascists should be concrete about what they mean. Freedom of the press, of opinion, of travel. Freedom from a polluted environment. Freedom from war. etc.

Actually, I quoted G W F Hegel as quoted by Plekhanov and Lenin. 'The truth is always concrete'.

Russian President's year-end (FOUR hours long*, extemporaneous) press conference.

Never mind the content, which is fascinating. Just the fact that the Russian President does this, over and over again, is impressive. What Western leader does this? I mean, hours of off-the-cuff, detailed, sometimes humorous, answers to all and every question thrown at him.

The Duran wrote:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his end-of-year press conference on Friday, commented on Donald Trump’s victory, allegations of Russia’s interference in the US election, and responded to the recent comments made by Barack Obama, where he stated that “Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave” knowing that “over a third of Republican voters approve of Vladimir Putin, the former head of the KGB.”

Russian President V. V. Putin: "“I don’t know who would be rolling in his grave. Reagan, I think, would have been glad to see the representatives of his party winning everywhere [in the election]. And he would have been happy for the president-elect, who subtly sensed the mood of society and campaigned in this paradigm. He [Trump] fought till the end even though nobody believed, except for us, that he would win.”

The last item is a joke. Putin is having a bit of fun with the endless, stupid, unsubstantiated claims about Russian interference in the US election, etc.. It's particularly amusing as the US regime has "interfered" with the internal politics of more countries than you or I have had hot breakfasts. And that includes war, bombing of Presidential Palaces, assassination (maybe even a recent Russian diplomat!), regime change, blockade, starvation, economic warfare, political interference, "color" revolutions, NGO subversion, information warfare, etc., etc..

Incidently, Putin was never head of the KGB. That is just a lie, repeated endlessly - this time by Nobel laureate US President Barak Obama.  Not that other political leaders didn't come from such a background: Yuri Andropov in the SU and George Bush Sr. in the USA, as just two examples.

.........................................

* Almost four hours long. Can you imagine any of the "intellectual heavyweights" like Trudeau, May, or Obama handling a four hour press conference on their own? aha ha ha ha!

Michael Moriarity wrote:

I agree with you about Trudeau and May, but Obama is very smart, well informed and articulate. He easily compares to Putin in those categories. However, he has much less freedom of action than Putin, given his subservience to the real rulers of the U.S.

I've read that President Obama relies upon a telepromter like his predecessors. He certainly doesn't have any practice at doing this sort of thing. Putin, OTOH, does it every year, in a variety of venues, and faces some very unfriendly questions at times.

If Putin can do it, then Obama and the rest of the Western leaders can and should do it. Why not? That's what we should be asking.

ikosmos wrote:

Russian President's year-end (FOUR hours long*, extemporaneous) press conference.

Never mind the content, which is fascinating. Just the fact that the Russian President does this, over and over again, is impressive. What Western leader does this? I mean, hours of off-the-cuff, detailed, sometimes humorous, answers to all and every question thrown at him.

The Duran wrote:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his end-of-year press conference on Friday, commented on Donald Trump’s victory, allegations of Russia’s interference in the US election, and responded to the recent comments made by Barack Obama, where he stated that “Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave” knowing that “over a third of Republican voters approve of Vladimir Putin, the former head of the KGB.”

Russian President V. V. Putin: "“I don’t know who would be rolling in his grave. Reagan, I think, would have been glad to see the representatives of his party winning everywhere [in the election]. And he would have been happy for the president-elect, who subtly sensed the mood of society and campaigned in this paradigm. He [Trump] fought till the end even though nobody believed, except for us, that he would win.”

The last item is a joke. Putin is having a bit of fun with the endless, stupid, unsubstantiated claims about Russian interference in the US election, etc.. It's particularly amusing as the US regime has "interfered" with the internal politics of more countries than you or I have had hot breakfasts. And that includes war, bombing of Presidential Palaces, assassination (maybe even a recent Russian diplomat!), regime change, blockade, starvation, economic warfare, political interference, "color" revolutions, NGO subversion, information warfare, etc., etc..

Incidently, Putin was never head of the KGB. That is just a lie, repeated endlessly - this time by Nobel laureate US President Barak Obama.  Not that other political leaders didn't come from such a background: Yuri Andropov in the SU and George Bush Sr. in the USA, as just two examples.

 

.........................................

 

* Almost four hours long. Can you imagine any of the "intellectual heavyweights" like Trudeau, May, or Obama handling a four hour press conference on their own? aha ha ha ha!

Impressive for a fascist thief.

ikosmos wrote: Incidently, Putin was never head of the KGB. That is just a lie, repeated endlessly 

Don't sweat it. Its probably just some harmless confusion with acronyms. It is well known that Putin was a career officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and serving 'with distinction' for 5 years in East Germany.  

The KGB was restructured in 1991 following the involvement of its leadership in the failed putsch against Gorbachev. The different component units of the KGB were spun off into different organizations, which themselves underwent multiple realignments through the Yeltsin years.  

The principle security agency which emerged from this restructuring was the Federal Security Service (the FSB) which has primary responsibility for internal security issues, including counter-intelligence, border security, counter-terrorism, etc. In 1998, Yeltsin appointed Putin as head (Director) of the FSB, where he served until he was appointed Deputy PM. 

KGB ... FSB... to most observers it seems to be a case of "potayto, potahto".

The Obama administration is close to announcing sanctions and other measures to penalize Russia for its attempts to interfere in U.S. elections this year, the Washington Post reported Tuesday night, citing anonymous U.S. officials.

The measures would include economic sanctions and a diplomatic censure, according to the report. The White House would also use covert actions "that will probably involve cyber-operations," the Post reported. 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/report-obama-prepares-sanctions-ru...

Right. Sanctions on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of cyber-warfare and such. Obama is really going out with a bang.

Talk about trying to poison the well for the next guy. He'd make a good terrorist in Aleppo. (They recently, literally, poisoned the water supply for Damascus.) Obama's doing more for setting things back in his last 60 days than in his first 600.

ikosmos wrote:

Obama: A small room the size of a shoebox with hand-selected journalists that even have their names on the back of their seats ...

versus

Putin: ... holding court with over 1,400 journalists firing questions at him for hours [four hours, fyi] on end, and he is answering them on the fly ...

You can't simply attribute this to "subservience to the "real" rulers". These guys are in a different class. And the difference puts Obama in a bad light. He's a lightweight.

Without getting into the magic of big theatre, here is another take on that event:

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/12/28/most-powerful-men-in-the-world-t...

It is worth reading in its entirety. One excerpt doesn't do it justice, but ...

Quote:

Putin views Trump’s victory as the triumph of a particular world view: “a large number of Americans share our ideas of what the world should be like” and even of “right and wrong.” The phrase “traditional values” is crucial here: the instrumentalization of some vague idea of past greatness is something Putin and Trump share. Putin is no more likely a proponent of “traditional values” than is Trump: the Russian president is divorced and has long—long before his divorce—been rumored to be romantically involved with a gymnast-turned-politician, with whom he may or may not have children. The story of the affair originated in Putin’s hand-picked press pool, which consists of one journalist—like the story of Putin’s pivotal role in the American election, it may or may not be true but it is what he wants people to believe. Putin’s attitude toward women is remarkably similar to Trump’s. The Russian president once expressed admiration for former Israeli president Moshe Katsav, a convicted rapist. “What a powerful man he turned out to be!” Putin said in 2006. “He raped ten women! I never would have expected that from him! He surprised us all! We are all envious!”

In the last few years, the Kremlin has framed the battle for global domination as a conflict between a “Western civilization” rooted in the idea of human rights and a “traditional values civilization.” Putin’s “traditional values” campaign has included a virulent antigay offensive, an insistent effort to raise the birth rate in order to save the 145-million Russian nation from extinction, and, most important, a systematic discrediting of any idea that is viewed as connected with contemporary Western culture. This is where Putin sees a kindred spirit in Trump, with his flailing against political correctness and his defense of Christmas against a fictitious threat. “Traditional values” becomes a catchall term for an imaginary past—which goes a long way toward explaining Trump’s seamless symbiosis with the American Christian Right.

I think Reagan would rejoice in the victory of his party and would be happy for the newly elected president, who had a fine understanding of societal mood and worked in that paradigm 

Trump, Zombie Reagan and Putin in a loving embrace.  Too bad that "fine understanding" left Trump down 3 million votes to his opponent.