From Russia With Love...for Free Enterprise

Urquhart Media, LLC ^ | March 9, 2009 | Dan Proft

[illinoisgop438]

"Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state."

Who issued this warning to the U.S. about the state's usurpation of economic life? Some Poindexter from a free market think tank? A Republican opponent of hope?

How about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The above was from a speech he gave in Switzerland recently.

Less than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Prime Minister of Russia is calling on the U.S. to restrain its economic interventionism.

This is like Nick Nolte coming up to you in a bar and saying, "Hey buddy, don't you think you've had enough?"

With the Dow Jones off 20% since Barack Obama's inauguration, the market is clearly signaling that we have been over-served with federal elixir.

Such wealth destruction, however, is of little consequence to Obama as he blithely moves on to his next binging opportunity: health care.

Obama has previously stated that his ideal health care solution would be to nationalize the health care industry, another 15% of our economy, and create a government-operated, so-called "single-payer" system.

Obama cannot get that through the front door so his plan-price controls, additional mandates on small business, and further wealth redistribution-is to get the essential component parts through the back door under the guise of comprehensive reform.

Socialism is called "stimulus". Arbitrary bailouts are done to "create or save" jobs, we are not sure which. And all federal interventions are presumptively "reforms".

During his speech in Switzerland, Putin also had this to say, "In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state's role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated."

It's nice to see someone was paying attention.

[ETL]

"the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century" -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...
"World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin's State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'
http://www.hooverdigest.org/053/beichman.html

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From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
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Russia, China flex muscles in joint war games
Reuters: Aug 17, 2007

CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China staged their biggest joint exercises on Friday but denied this show of military prowess could lead to the formation of a counterweight to NATO.

"Today's exercises are another step towards strengthening the relations between our countries, a step towards strengthening international peace and security, and first and foremost, the security of our peoples," Putin said.

Fighter jets swooped overhead, commandos jumped from helicopters on to rooftops and the boom of artillery shells shook the firing range in Russia's Ural mountains as two of the largest armies in the world were put through their paces.

The exercises take place against a backdrop of mounting rivalry between the West, and Russia and China for influence over Central Asia, a strategic region that has huge oil, gas and mineral resources.

Russia's growing assertiveness is also causing jitters in the West. Putin announced at the firing range that Russia was resuming Soviet-era sorties by its strategic bomber aircraft near NATO airspace.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29030120070817?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
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From the Russian News and Information Agency:
July 27, 2006
"'I am determined to expand relations with Russia,' Chavez, known as an outspoken critic of what he calls the United States' unilateralism, told the Russian leader, adding that his determination stemmed from their shared vision of the global order.":
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060727/51913498.html
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Venezuela Set to Develop Nuclear Power With Russia
September 29, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy — a move likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429441,00.html
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Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships
Nov 25, 2008
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela – Russian warships arrived off Venezuela's coast Tuesday in a show of strength aimed at the United States as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. The deployment is the first of its kind in the Caribbean since the Cold War and was timed to coincide with President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Caracas — the first ever by a Russian president.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22Venezuela%27s+Chavez+welcomes+Russian+warships%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz2

More Yahoo search results for Russia and Venezuela connections:
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu_X30pZJCJEAfCtXNyoA?p=Russia+Venezuela+bombers+tanks+arms&y=Search&fr=404_news

[ETL]

Yushchenko: Russia blocking poisoning probe
By Bonnie Malkin and agencies, September 12, 2007

Mr Yushchenko before and after the poisoning

"Mr Yushchenko, a pro-European politician who wanted to bring his country out of Russia's shadow, fell seriously ill on September 6, 2004 as he was competing in presidential elections against a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, now prime minister.

After months of tests in an Austrian clinic, it was determined that he had ingested a massive amount of the poison dioxin.

Although he survived, his face was left bloated and pockmarked, and he has had to undergo regular treatment to rid his body of the toxin.

In an interview with Le Figaro he said he believed the dioxin used to disfigure him was made in a Russian lab.

Mr Yushchenko did not directly accuse the Russian government of being behind his poisoning, but he did say he had 'practically put all the pieces together' and the attempt against him 'was not a private action'. ..."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1562838/Yushchenko-Russia-blocking-poisoning-probe.html

[WoofDog123]

“”World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin’s State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the ‘greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.’”

In a lot of ways, the way the soviet union fell was a disaster. this was not an orderly event, and that alone was disastrous.

were nukes sold? reports have been circulating almost since the ssr’s were independent that they were. Iran and DPRK were often named.

total economic chaos and essentially the looting of state assets in 90s - this was a disaster, and certainly turned sentiment towards return to authoritarianism.

end of mostly bipolar political world - how many freepers miss the rationality of the cold war vs. the current state of world affairs, especially the state of affairs in the 80s? Just the impact on US politics alone would be immense, to toss one idea in. I do wonder how the cold war would have intersected with the rise of fanatic islam as seeded by wahabbists.

More generally, an unplanned and disorderly collapse of an empire often does not have good outcomes for quite a long time, if ever.

Note that I am speaking from the viewpoint of the realpolitik interests of the United States.

These are just thoughts - open to civil contrary opinions.