Putin's Popularity, Explained (Putin, Russians are Conservatives)

The Interpreter ^ | December 14, 2015 | Matthew dal Santo

[marvel5]

The main point is, however, that Russia's 'conservative turn' since Putin's return to the Kremlin in March 2012 — widely deplored in the West as a creeping authoritarianism with roots only in the wiles of Putin's mind — may be closer to the world view of Russia's conservative and patriotic majority than most Western governments would care to admit.

In foreign and economic policy, Russia's post-Soviet government may never have cleaved as close to the views of the majority as it does now. That's the view of Igor Okunev, a vice-dean at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, whom I spoke with recently in Moscow.

'Historically, the Russian government has always been more liberal than the Russian population. Unlike Gorbachev and Yeltsin, what I think Putin has decided to do is accept this and use it as the basis for his support. That's been his strategy since the protests of 2011. That was when he decided to abandon the liberal minority and embrace the conservative majority.'

[MeganC]

You never poke a bear with a stick. You shoot the damn thing right in the head!

[greene66]

Well, Putin stands up to the global-warming cabal, the homo-fascists and their depraved agendas, and also bombs ISIS. And as a leader, puts his nation’s interests above whatever globalist claptrap is being pushed.

That alone makes him a hell of a lot more impressive than the cowering, pajama-boy idiots America has been cultivating in our corridors of power.

[marvel5]

If you read the article, Putin did not say that Stalin deserves statues in his honor; in fact, he deliberately refused to take a position on the matter before the Moscow City Council. Saying that Stalin deserved statues as much as Cromwell implies that neither deserves statues, since Putin obviously views Cromwell in a negative light.

By the way, if Putin is enamored with Stalin, why did he bestow Russia’s highest award, “The State Prize,” on Solzhenitsyn, and why has he made “Gulag” required reading in Russian high schools. Why did Solzhenitsyn, arch foe of Stalinism, praise Putin’s governance?

As to the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” quotation,
here is what Putin actually said:

“We should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and co-patriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself.”

Putin has said many times that he was referring to the fact that 25 million Russians woke up in a different country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was not mourning the end of communism.

In fact, Putin has said otherwise. “In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute, Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 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. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/02/putin_warns_us_to_eschew_socia.html

[1rudeboy]

And he makes the trains run on time! Don’t forget.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I am so tired of this namby-pamby "don't poke the bear with a stick" routine.

Is Russia going to invade Turkey already, or just shoot themselves in the foot by cutting off the natural gas?

I guess if Russia gets less money, less for Putin to steal.

[1rudeboy]

Have I gone through with this about you before? The Gulag Archipelago is not required reading in Sov...er, sorry, Russian schools. Some sort of edited version of it is.

[1rudeboy]

Well, Putin stands up to the global-warming cabal, the homo-fascists and their depraved agendas, and also bombs ISIS. And as a leader, puts his nation's interests above whatever globalist claptrap is being pushed.

Yeah, he sure stomped on Turkey when his jet got shot down.

[marvel5]

Some sort of “edited” version is an abridged version prepared by Solzhenitsyn’s widow and collaborator. I would be willing to bet that most Americans who have read “Gulag” did so in an abridged version, rather than the 1800-plus pages of the original three volumes, although I have read
read the full “Gulag” twice.

[justa-hairyape]

Putin just indicated he can work with Trump. Unlike all the leftist loons in the US.

[Stepan12]

I can't expect Putin to act against Russia's best interests.

The Russian people can't imagine Putin to act against Russia's interests either. This stands in stark contrast to Pres. Obama's behavior vis a vis the interests of the United States.

[novemberslady]

bkmk

[Organic Panic]

People respect power. People respect action. People respect men.

Obama is a choom smoking wimp. He is not respected.

[1rudeboy]

I'll have to read the abridged version myself to get the "government approved" view of things.

The one thing I can't wrap my mind around is: why should I pay to get the neo-Bolshevik revision?

I hope to find a copy in a public library, eventually.

[marvel5]

I should think Solzhenitsyn’s widow’s imprimatur would be enough for anyone.

Or do you think Mrs. Solzhenitsyn’s is a “neo-Bolshevik?”

Have you read all three volumes yourself?

In any case, you can hardly deny that Putin personally bestowed Russia’s highest award, the State Prize, on Solzhenitsyn and it is freely available in numerous editions to all Russians.

[nickcarraway]

Lol. Conservative in the U.S. meaning of the word? Conservatives support Iran? So maybe Obamais a conservative? Are conservatives throwing Christian Armenians uunder the bus to help Muslim Azeris?

The mind boggles.

[GeronL]

ridiculous

[Farmer Dean]

What’s with the guy on the left in the gray suit?Never seen a mulatto before?

[1rudeboy]

It is you. The last time you suggested that Russian students read the Gulag, I corrected you. Now, I am correcting you again.

[drop 50 and fire for effect]

“Conservative” and “liberal” in the Russian context mean very different things than they do here. Conservatives in Russia do not respect God given individual liberty, nor do they support limited government.

Putin’s “conservatives” support an oligarchical and centralized government, politically powerful Church, and an overtly crony capitalist economic system where your political connections determine economic success.

It is palatable to a Russian people that value stability over Liberty, but not something Freepers should admire.

[ETL]

Putin's "conservatives" support an oligarchical and centralized government, politically powerful Church

Putin: Defender of Christian Faith and Morality?

September 2014

(excerpt from a long, detailed article)

First and foremost, in any review of the basics regarding Putin, the most outstanding fact is that he is a creature of the Soviet KGB, a truly diabolical organization nonpareil, which stood for murder, terror, and grand deception.

It was the Soviet Communist Party's tool for the brutal suppression of religion, including the persecution of Christians: denying them jobs and education; spying on and entrapping them; arresting and imprisoning them; torturing them in unspeakable ways; desecrating and demolishing their church buildings; infiltrating their agents into churches to subvert them. The KGB destroyed thousands of Christian churches, monasteries, convents, and schools, and slaughtered millions of Christians.

But it did not destroy the churches utterly. There remained an underground church, whose members were always at risk of discovery, arrest, torture, and martyrdom. Above ground, the KGB took control of the Russian Orthodox Church, which became a very useful organ of the Soviet atheist state.

In January 2009, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, better known as Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was elected, from a short list of three candidates, to be the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the highest position of authority in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The election was called to fill the post that had been left vacant by the death of Patriarch Alexy II, who had headed the ROC since 1990.

Documents from the KGB archives have confirmed what sensible observers had long ago deduced from his actions: that Patriarch Alexy II (also spelled Alexi or Alexei) was a long-serving KGB agent (code-named Drozdov, "Blackbird"), in other words, a traitor to his Christian brethren and the God he claimed to serve. Putin's KGB/FSB was taking no chances with his replacement. All three candidates - Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk (code-named Topaz), Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk (code-named Ostrovskii), and Metropolitan Kirill (code-named Mikhailov) - also have been reliably identified as agents of the KGB/FSB.

Russia expert David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times (of London) and the Wall Street Journal, wrote of the election in 2009 for Forbes:

According to material from the Soviet archives, Kirill was a KGB agent (as was Alexei). This means he was more than just an informer, of whom there were millions in the Soviet Union. He was an active officer of the organization. Neither Kirill nor Alexei ever acknowledged or apologized for their ties with the security agencies.

Because Patriarch Kirill is of central importance to the myth of Putin as the Saul-to-Paul, Christian persecutor-to-Christian champion, it behooves us to more closely examine the man. He has publicly presided over, and provided official benedictions and exhortations for, Putin's cynical and Stalinesque exploitation of Russian nationalism and Russian Orthodoxy. Josef Stalin, who had very nearly consummated the annihilation of the Russian Orthodox Church begun by Vladimir Lenin, reversed course in 1941. The reason? His erstwhile partner in crime, Adolf Hitler, had turned on him and had invaded Russia.

Stalin, needing all the help he could get, cut a deal with ROC Metropolitans Sergius, Nikolay, and Alexy. In exchange for their support in rallying the Russian people, he would cease (temporarily) the persecution and allow the reopening of churches and theological schools. In fact, Stalin's Soviet government paid for the rebuilding of many of the churches. The ROC was thus placed even more firmly under the control of the NKVD, which was later to be reorganized and renamed as the KGB. ..."

much more at link

http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/19162-putin-defender-of-christian-faith-and-morality