Posted on 03/17/2018 5:17:22 PM PDT by goldstategop
The Soviet nomenklatura simply transferred their allegiance to the new state. Unlike Eastern Europe, there was no true decommunization in the sense of completely repudiating the Soviet past.
The victory in the Great Patriotic War is where there’s a national consensus and feeling of genuine national pride but after that the consensus breaks down.
There’s regret over the loss of the big country and the promise to restore it attracts chauvinists to the likes of Zhironovsky, who promise to restore the Russian Empire.
Nostalgia, while a strong feeling has limits.
Putin’s legitimacy is ever more reliant upon a positive historical view and understanding of Stalin. I slept under a portrait of Stalin next to a Virgin Mary icon in an apartment I stayed in for several weeks. There you have the spiritual schizophrenia of modern Russia in a nutshell.
Stalin statues are en vogue too. Especially after annexation of Crimea, which revived Soviet glory sympathies to fever pitch.
Benevolent? Autocrat? Easy to say when you are not forced to live under his thumb after having been a spoiled Westerner which is what we are if we have had the privilege to live in this country...
Russians would be a lot richer if they weren’t plundered by Putin and his oligarch cronies whose wealth is stored and laundered in globali$t Western banks and insitutions. Whose estates and investments are in London, Miami, Switzerland, and the like.
Are you even American?! “Benevolent autocrat” is so un-American a statement to make.
Putin is supprted by the russian people in the same way We supported Eisenhower & Reagan. All three had 60%+ approval ratings.
The Soviet past is melded with traditional Russian culture.
Your description of post-Soviet Russia conjures up the image of the mythical chimaera - a composite creature. Modern Russia is a composite country.
The statement fits because Russia is not exactly a full-blown dictatorship nor it is a pure democracy. I agree, Russia would be a better country if it had a democratic ruler. It doesn’t.
Which brings me to the point of Sunday’s election: Putin has eliminated all viable challengers leaving people without someone else they could see themselves coalescing behind.
Its an election ostensibly democratic in form but lacking in substance.
Ballot Box stuffing Kicks Off In Russia
It is not a composite country. It is very fragile and filled with anguish which is ever more palpable the longer you stay. (And draining to be honest...its no wonder problems like alcoholism while improved is still pretty bad in parts.)
And that is where Putin’s popularity comes from: fear of falling apart...
But they also need to realize they are capable without him...they need faith in themselves. Russians lack it right now. And that is why Putin is still there.
Putin’s approval rating is 80%. He has always paid close attention to his popularity.
At the same, Russia is entering the post-Putin era because he is a lamb duck and the Russian Constitution currently limits the President to two consecutive terms.
Nothing prevents him from changing the Constitution to eliminate term limits or to serve again as Prime Minister. He has plenty of time to decide on his options if he wants to remain in office after 2024.
They are capable without him.
To become a real country, they need to take an honest look at the past and decide who they are.
Putin in many ways, is a transitional figure. Whether that leads to real change in Russia after he is gone, remains to be seen.
Boris Titov would make a decent leader, IMHO, and I hope to see him run again.
The paper ballots will be hacked. Invisible ink.
The also-rans will get around 10%.
Every one has been campaigning since December.
Putin is running as an independent but he has been endorsed by all the Kremlin-aligned parties.
this is about as valid as the Iraqi elections where Saddam Hussein would win 97% of the vote.
You forgot the quotes around the first two words.
The Presidential term limit in the Russian Constitution is nowhere near as strong as is our 22nd Amendment. It's basically meaningless as it only prevents serving a third consecutive term as President, as opposed to the 22nd Amendment's lifetime ban after two terms. Putin already showed this during his tenure as Prime Minister (i.e., de facto President).
“” “” Stalin was an absolute tyrant and mass murderer. Putin is a benevolent autocrat and under him there’s no mass terror or purges.”” “”
You are talking for deaf ears.
Rose is with the people who want the left to take back Russia.
Her ‘anti-Stalinism’ is fake and distraction.
She is a typical McCrazie.
Who’s votes are counted in Russia any more? Putin is the de-facto President of Russia until he dies. In fact - didn’t he “turn over” an election to another fellow several years ago to appease the law that he later changed to allow him to no longer have any form of term limits?
The President is limited by the Russian Constition to two consecutive terms.
Under the Dmitri Medvedev administration, the Constitution was amendment to lengthen the presidential term from four years to six years.
Putin got around term limits by serving an intervening term as Prime Minister from 2008-2012; after that he ran for President in 2012 and won and this year, he is standing for a second consecutive term as President.
In 2024, this would render a lame duck, right? Not so fast - he could stand down for an intervening term or more likely, have the Constitution amended to abolish term limits altogether.
The question of whether Putin can safely retire is whether a successor gives immunity for his acts while in office. And the Russian elite would have to agree on a successor who has Putin’s blessings.
A peaceful transition to the post-Putin era won’t become clear for sometime yet.
Is it you?
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