Posted on 09/12/2013 9:31:16 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Americans shouldn't let Vladimir Putin's opinions get under their skin because the Russian president is a one-time KGB officer whose primary interest is nationalism, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday.
"While we have to deal with him as the president of Russia, we don't have to respect his views. We don't have to respect his opinions," said Gingrich, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire."
"And frankly, we should laugh at him when he tries to lecture America about exceptionalism, because he ain't exceptional. He's just one more in a long tradition of dictators and thugs."
Putin rattled some Americans, including high-profile figures in Washington, when he argued in a New York Times op-ed against U.S. military intervention in Syria. In the final paragraph, he took issue with the idea of America being the proverbial shining city on a hill.
"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," he wrote. ....
The former House speaker pointed to Putin's history as a former intelligence officer for the KGB, where he worked from 1975-1992.
Gingrich also argued Putin was behind the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the conflict in Chechnya has killed thousands.
He expressed doubt the opinion piece was even written by Putin, saying it was likely penned by a Washington speechwriters.
"You can go through and read that document and you could find at every single stage find that it's a lie," Gingrich said. "For us to take it seriously is a sign that we have forgotten who Vladimir Putin is."
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
I usually like Newt, but his piece posted here is too obtuse IMO.
Bootlicker.
You must be drunk.
Good one. But don’t you think that (watch this original thought) “Putin is a murderer and a thug heading the KGB which still operates and wants to revive the Soviet Union”?
And how about those patriotic boilerplate phrases about “American exceptionalism”?
Prove that he is a billionaire. He is not.
Figures released during the legislative election of 2007 put Putin’s wealth at approximately 3.7 million rubles ($150,000) in bank accounts, a private 77.4-square-meter (833 sq ft) apartment in Saint Petersburg, 260 shares of Bank Saint Petersburg (with a December 2007 market price $5.36 per share[353]) and two 1960s-era Volga M21 cars that he inherited from his father and does not register for on-road use.
“Start pumping out those pro-fed.gov articles - you know, the ones extolling exceptionalism and dismissing interesting parallels to other murderous regimes.”
Care to tell me what parallels America has to a murderous regime?
You sound like one of those Alex Jones conspiracy nuts.
Good grief. 0bama destroying American liberty is a heinous crime, but Vladimir Putin's atavistic program in Russia which is accomplishing the same thing is "championing his nation's interest." Please listen to what you're saying. Russia is heading back down into the abyss. When they emerge they will be our full frontal enemy all over again.
And in the rare occasions we do get some no-nonsense, straight-arrow leaders (Palin, Cruz), who echo America’s past moxie and past greatness, the putrid culture goes all out and targets them for destruction.
And that programme was laid by the NKVD and the KGB, and continues to this day, in which Vladimir Putin was a full participant. The ridicule of traditional American morality and virtue and the destruction of iconic American heroes was the fundamental staple of KGB disinformation.
Actually, the Alawites, are considered to be non-Muslims by most Muslims, even the majority of Shiites. Supposedly, the Alawite sect considers Plato and Socrates to be prophets and celebrates both Easter and Christmas, which doesn’t sound very Muslim to me. The Alawite version of the shahada - the Muslim profession of belief - is apparently “There is no God but Ali”. That would be like a Christian sect replacing the Holy Trinity with Peter.
It’s well known that Putin has billion hidden in Switzerland and Lichtenstein. He looted his country just like the oligarchs under Yeltsin who personally picked Putin to be his chosen successor.
“You sound like one of those Alex Jones conspiracy nuts.”
And Jones gets his talking points straight from the Kremlin. My money is on Semantic being an avid reader of Prison Planet.
Putin’s father was in the NKVD and his grandfather was Lenin’s cook!
Cain would have been blown out early if Newt had so made an allegiance with him.
I wanted to like Cain, I admit I suffered from unwarranted white guilt.
The entire thing left me feeling dirty and abused.
so = not
Gnight.
Not to mention Russia promotes 9-11 truthers. The same people who say the CIA is really responsible for gassing Syria also say the CIA blew up the world trade center!
“I wanted to like Cain, I admit I suffered from unwarranted white guilt.
The entire thing left me feeling dirty and abused.”
Lucky I’m not even white (I’m Hispanic), so I don’t know what kind of white-guilt you guys allegedly feel. I have a feeling though that most supporters of Cain or Allen West aren’t suffering from liberal maladies like “white guilt” though.
Agence France Presse — English
September 15, 2001 Saturday
“Moscow had warned US of possible terrorist strikes: FSB
Russian intelligence services had warned Washington several times in the past of the possibility of terrorist strikes on US soil, the head of the service, Nikolai Patrushev, said Saturday, quoted by Interfax.
“We had clearly warned them,” said Patrushev, who is head of the FSB ‘Russian Federal Security Bureau). He added that their US counterparts “did not pay the necessary attention” to their warnings.”
Alawites consider themselves to be Shiite muslims.
Why did the Russians allow Tamerlane Tsarnaev to travel to Russia and back to the USA in 2012 if they knew he was a terrorist and not actually a Russian agent?
Whether Shiites consider Alawites to really be Shiites, well that could well be another matter.
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