Katrina vanden Heuvel hates America
Sorry she looks like the devil wife!:)
Posted on 04/27/2007 6:10:54 PM PDT by A. Pole
Are the people themselves complaining as they are in Russia? I doubt they'd ever want to go back to communism or that they long for the good old days of one party bosses calling the shots.
People are not complaining as much but we should notice that Russian “shock therapy” was really terrible. However majority of Poles negatively consider whole transformation process, they remember corruption, rigged every single privatization and the fact that communists not only were not punished but also preserved a lot of influence in the country. Nobody else but communists gained the most financially.
But most are glad to have thrown off the old system right? That was really my point in making the comparison between other Eastern European countries and Russia when I read that so many in the Soviet Union wouldn’t mind going back to the way it was.
Sorry she looks like the devil wife!:)
A.Pole is still banned. There are different kinds of banning; some last one to three days, some for 2 or 3 years. I still don’t understand why A.Pole was banned.
Sure, people are glad that we are no longer communist country. I think that in Russia most of them don’t wont SU back either. Russians have different mentality, they have no problem living poorly without democracy if only their country is powerful. That is why they support Putin, he gives them such illusion.
So many Freepers cannot be wrong about him and I think nobody understand why he was banned. Hopefully moderator will reconsider this strange decision.
It isn’t a choice between one or the other, it’s the fact that privatization was done incredibly poorly benefitting only those close to the corridors of power...just like in Russia. Many now associate capitalism with blatant theft thanks to these privatization schemes.
Welcome to the New Way.
Your analysis is flawed because your perspective is
anti Russian not anti Soviet Union.
BIG DIFFERENCE!
You hit the nail square on its head on this one, D.
God bless Putin. I was always opposed to Moscow until he came along.
My sentiment exactly, cousin. Yeltsin was a disaster for Russia. Under him, a narrow interest oligarchy took over and so-called "reformers" practically auctioned off all of Russia, so much so that one US Sentaor gleamed saying that Russia can't even make its own light bulbs!
He placed Russia's wealth into foreign hands, which in any normal country would have been considered treason.
He violated agreements with then Federal Republic of Yuggoslavia and stalled delivery of missiles capable of taking out NATO war planes at 5,000 ft or higher, while publicly, for domestic ocnsumption, railing against bombing of (predominantly) Serbia.
He was finally, and suddely, removed (probably under threat from the military) and retired rather than killed (probably under pressure from the US that no harm be done to him).
At this point I do even believe that his PR stunt on a Russian tank was a staged circus corehgraphed by our three-letter agenices. He was id'd as a western puppet and he received all the support and means to carry out what he was hired to do.
Let's not forget that he was a loyal communist for many years when it was benefitial to his career.
When he was basically fired from his shamless job, his popularity rating in Russia was mere 6%.
One of the first things Vladimir Putin did was to get ready of the Russian oligarchs whose loyalties were never to Russia.
What exactly do you support from Moscow that you were opposed before Putin appeared?
Big difference but current regime is still thuggish. On other hand, your support for Russia originate from common Orthodoxy. To gain your trust, it was enough for Putin to attend few masses. So your analysis is flawed… :)
Putin was not?? I’m not fan of Yeltsin at all, I can even understand that Putin is better. However he is still a thug and his political background, I mean former KGB apparatchiks are even worse.
Roman Abramovich belonged to Yeltsin favorite group of oligarch and today he stand firmly near Putin. The same with many other Russian oligarchs.
Roman Abramovich belonged to Yeltsin favorite group of oligarch and today he stand firmly near Putin. The same with many other Russian oligarchs
You are absolutely right on both accounts. However, the state has a duty to protect itself. Yeltsin's loyalties were to those outside of Russia. Big difference.
No one gets to be a top dog in any country and remain a saint. It requires eliminating competition. I remember Gorbachov's visit to the US and someone's comment what a "nice" man he was. I thought "how can someone become the chairman of the Soviet Presidium and the Communist party by being a 'nice guy'"? Nice guys are eaten for breakfast.
President D. Roosevelt once said "they may be thus, but they are our thugs" or words to that effect. And that's the crucial difference. Thugs that work for foreign masters are traitors. Thugs that serve national interests are often considered patriots and even heroes.
My point was not to paint Putin as a "nice guy" but as someone who works for the interest of Russia, unlike Yeltsin did.
I agree with most of your comments, however at this point I see it from completely opposite perspective. Both Yeltsin and Putin don’t care about Russia or the nation. The difference is that Yeltsin didn’t care even stronger. Finally, what is the difference if one gave power to oligarchs and second to former KGB apparatus? I would say that second solution coerce some order and that is what we witness today. But in the end, we cannot say that such solution can be considered to be for the interest of Russia. This is impossible to build modern and successful country on such ground.
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