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Victor Davis Hanson: Our Brezhnev, Our Pravda, Our Soviet Union. . .Like the late-stage Leonid Brezhnev, Biden is now a president in name only. What is next for our increasingly Soviet state?
American Greatness ^ | 11 Jul, 2024 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 07/11/2024 5:10:11 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Leonid Brezhnev led the former Soviet Union as General Secretary of the Communist Party until 1982. But like most Russian apparatchiks who excessively smoked, drank, and gained weight, he aged prematurely. Also like them, his disabilities never led to his abdication.

By Brezhnev’s late sixties and early seventies, he was too ill to travel abroad or make public appearances. Indeed, his debility left the Soviet Union without a real leader for the final six or seven years of his tenure.

Brezhnev got away with it because the Soviet state-controlled media doctored photos and videos to attest to his supposedly vigorous health and constant hands-on involvement.

“Journalists” sent out false communiques. They spun narratives that Brezhnev was robust, hale, and working long hours on behalf of the Russian people. Any dissenting journalists who sought to report the true, sad state of affairs were in danger of losing their jobs, freedom—or even their lives.

Instead, the “reporters” of Pravda (“Truth”), the official print megaphone of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, wrote lies about Brezhnev’s busy workdays. Pravda’s handlers spun fables about the respect (and fear) the rest of the world held for such a dynamic leader—even as Brezhnev became an ill virtual recluse.

The cynical Russian people shrugged because they had long been accustomed to their lying media and the falsehoods they peddled. And besides, Brezhnev was a doctrinaire Stalinist communist. So his job was not to rock the boat or upset the Russian communist hierarchy.

Instead, he reigned over the penultimate Soviet “era of stagnation,” while an ossified communism increasingly destroyed all incentives and hope, leaving the Russian people poor, cynical, and helpless.

Something similar has happened to a calcified America under President Joe Biden. Like the late-stage Leonid Brezhnev, Biden is now a president in name only.

(Excerpt) Read more at amgreatness.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: biden; fjb; marxism; media; msm; vdh; victordavishanson
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To: texas booster

21 posted on 07/11/2024 6:26:55 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Wow ... that’s a keeper :-)


22 posted on 07/11/2024 6:28:24 AM PDT by Jane Long (The role of the GOP: to write sharply-worded letters as America becomes a communist hell-hole.)
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To: Jane Long

I had that poster in my bedroom at the time.


23 posted on 07/11/2024 6:29:24 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Rummyfan
One day, the same reporters who swore Biden was a virtual Socrates behind closed doors and then suddenly just confessed he was not when their lies were no longer operative will sing the praises of our new comrade leader—the brilliant, accomplished, eloquent, and articulate Kamala Harris.

This is exactly what's going to happen. The trick for the Deep State is to keep Joe's image afloat as close as possible to the election, after which they can dispatch him and install Heels-Up. The drive-by media will then print glowing stories of how "democracy" has been saved.

Their hope is to have Kammie's "honeymoon" phase with the public as short as possible to ensure victory in November.

Then of course, there's always the task of replacing Biden's name on the pre-printed ballots with hers.

24 posted on 07/11/2024 6:39:24 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (The country bounces along like Custer on the way to Little Big Horn, thanks to Dear Leader)
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To: Rummyfan

“Indeed… what is next”?!

Who knows what craziness we’re going to see the rest of this year but next year is going to be chaos and turmoil like we’ve never seen. IMO


25 posted on 07/11/2024 6:44:38 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: texas booster

26 posted on 07/11/2024 6:45:48 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: MtnClimber

The real question is who is actually running the country?
Jill Biden, Obama, or someone else?


27 posted on 07/11/2024 6:52:00 AM PDT by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: marshmallow

Good post.

The American people of today are very different from the ones who went through the Depression and won WW II.

No matter who win’s the election, we’re in for chaos and turmoil like we’ve never seen.

I think some states will be leaving the Union starting next year.

Normal, good and decent people are fed up to the max and will demand and gladly welcome separation from these bastards.


28 posted on 07/11/2024 6:53:22 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: laplata
Normal, good and decent people are fed up to the max and will demand and gladly welcome separation from these bastards.

True, but difficult to get on the ballot. If upstaters could separate from downstate New York, it would win in a landslide.

29 posted on 07/11/2024 6:55:02 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

Good point. That’s pretty much how it is in most Red States.

We’re in such deep trouble that no one can know how it’s going to transpire.


30 posted on 07/11/2024 7:03:48 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: laplata

“I think some states will be leaving the Union starting next year.”

I know it feels like 1860 but we may actually be stuck in the days of the Missouri Compromise (1820s) where everybody knew there were differences that could not be resolved long term—but almost everyone wanted to delay the day of reckoning as long as possible.


31 posted on 07/11/2024 7:10:31 AM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: cgbg

“I think some states will be leaving the Union starting next year.”

I know it feels like 1860 but we may actually be stuck in the days of the Missouri Compromise (1820s) where everybody knew there were differences that could not be resolved long term—but almost everyone wanted to delay the day of reckoning as long as possible.


One of the factors of the demise of the Soviet Union was that states began to ignore the heavy central authority. Remember Lech Walesa? We are seeing some of this good news now.

But we don’t want to dissolve our federal government. We want to correct it. We want MAGA.

Trump is an important decision point in our future.

But WE are going to have to get involved in the fight in some way shape or form.


32 posted on 07/11/2024 7:18:03 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: cgbg

That is an excellent point. And most are hanging on to hope that things can be resolved and get better. But this time is different because we can never co-exist with people who want us utterly destroyed.


33 posted on 07/11/2024 7:21:37 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: PeterPrinciple

Everybody can do everything they can—but irreconcilable differences are irreconcilable differences at the end of the day.

Almost every major institution—not just government but private and non profit—has been taken over by the enemy.

The best solution will be to create new institutions which share our values.

That is not going to be a quick process.

The first baby step is to stop defending institutions that have already been taken over by leftists.

A lot of folks around here are struggling getting a handle on that.


34 posted on 07/11/2024 7:31:23 AM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: cgbg

That is not going to be a quick process.


and that is the point that needs to be said often.

It is going to take a generation of “small things”.

But everyone wants a magic bullet.

https://crossidiomas.com/magic-bullet/
The phrase “magic bullet” refers to a simple solution or remedy that can solve complex problems quickly and easily. It is often used when referring to medical treatments, but it can also be applied to other areas such as business, politics, or personal relationships.

......

The origin of this idiom can be traced back to the early 20th century when scientists were searching for a cure for syphilis. The German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich discovered a chemical compound called Salvarsan that could kill the bacteria causing syphilis without harming healthy cells. He called it his “magic bullet” because it was so effective and targeted only the disease-causing cells.


35 posted on 07/11/2024 7:37:35 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

Someone else.


36 posted on 07/11/2024 7:38:18 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Trump defeated the entire Philistine Army using the jawbone of an ass, the ass being Joe Biden.)
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To: Dr. Franklin

The Muslim brotherhood, via 0bama and Valerie Jarrett.


37 posted on 07/11/2024 7:41:25 AM PDT by OKSooner (Oh, the mad fools!)
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To: MtnClimber

Read the article. Hanson is 100% dead on. My only question is: do we laugh...or do we cry?


38 posted on 07/11/2024 7:55:48 AM PDT by woweeitsme
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To: MtnClimber

What is next?

Destruction.


39 posted on 07/11/2024 7:58:48 AM PDT by Scott from the Left Coast (We have not yet achieved peak crazy)
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To: MtnClimber

no doubt about it. we have fallen as a people, now very far from God, and as a people and nation are being Judged. nothing new, old Israel (and it’s fake jewish kings and priests) was the archetype nation.


40 posted on 07/11/2024 8:52:44 AM PDT by dadfly
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