Free Republic

The artistic genius behind the highly acclaimed conservative satirical site The People's Cube has been arrested and released on $8,000 bail for putting up pro-Israel posters to combat a pro-Islamist conference at George Mason University. He now faces the prospect of five years in prison for allegedly committing a "class 6 felony."Beloved satirist Oleg Atbashian (who has contributed to PJ Media) has gotten in trouble for defying authorities before: "Back in my Soviet dissident days, when I was collecting signatures in defense of Andrei Sakharov, I was screamed at, threatened, and lectured by the KGB and Communist functionaries," Oleg says. "What I never imagined was...

I might as well have told them that life in the USSR was similar to life in New York, where people had to learn to keep their mouths shut and to look over their shoulders before saying anything remotely political.

Video at the link. On May 12th, 2015 I was invited to speak alongside Governor Rick Perry at a Lincoln Dinner organized by Okaloosa Republican Executive Committee in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. I was supposed to warm up the crowd for the Honorable Rick Perry, but the order of appearances was switched at the last moment; Perry gave his keynote speech first, and then I stepped in, thanking the Governor for warming up the crowd for me. I titled my speech What surprised me in America: an immigrant's account of the good, the bad, and the ugly. There was no...

In this episode of the Conscience of Kansas radio program I talk about the issue of Sharia law being rejected by Oklahoman voters and the laswsuit brought for by CAIR. Next, we talk to Oleg Atbashian, director of the Peoples's Cube and author of the new book, "Shakedown Socialism." We invite you to listen and comment.

Parts I and IIThe Taxpayers' March on Washington as seen through the eyes of an ex-Soviet immigrant.Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red SquarePart IOn September 12, 2009, I took part in the largest anti-big-government demonstration in the history of mankind. To borrow an expression from Joe Biden, the Taxpayers’ March on Washington was clean and articulate. It was clean because over a million earners of American wealth didn’t litter or destroy things and generally behaved...

Obama and his ilk continually fall for the myth that those living under dictatorships are united against American "aggression." (This is part five of a series. Read parts one, two, three, and four.)at Freerepublic:  parts one + two , part three, part four Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red Square. part five: We Are the Children: Sing in Unison to Save a Dictator If the American society is constantly torn apart by ideological confrontations,...

Obama's policy on Iran and Honduras is to respect the sovereignty of the dictator, not the people. (This is part four of a series. Read parts one, two, and three.) at Freerepublic:  parts one + two , part three Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red Square. part four: Whose Sovereignty Is Obama Respecting? In his speech to graduate students in Moscow, Obama opined: State sovereignty must be a cornerstone of international order. … States...

(This is part three of a series. Read parts one and two.) at Freerepublic: both parts are hereObama Regresses to Cold War Mythology … and Switches Sides Obama’s Quest into the Magic World of Anti-American Mythology Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red Square. part three: A U.S. President, Raised on KGB Propaganda The former chief of Romania's espionage service sees an American president fully invested in the lies he helped disseminate along with the...

Obama Regresses to Cold War Mythology … and Switches Sides Oleg Atbashian, a writer and graphic artist from Ukraine, currently lives in New York. He is the creator of ThePeoplesCube.com, a satirical website where he writes under the name of Red Square.     The world needs post-Cold War thinking. But Obama is stuck in a world of parochial clichés. (This is Part 1 of a series.) http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-regresses-to-cold-war-mythology-and-switches-sides/ Why is this president always doing the opposite of what needs to be done?Instead of supporting Iranian protesters, he snubs them. Instead of snubbing the ousted Honduran would-be dictator, he invites him to...

On the eve of the celebration of the birth of the United States, Oleg Atbashian looks at our history through the competing lenses of progressivism and progress. Refusing to get bogged down in the merits of relativity, he finds freedom where equality fears to tread. Excuse me while I question your patriotism, progressive comrades. The Fourth of July is coming and you will not be celebrating it — not with the same thoughts and emotions as the rest of your countrymen. If you have been undermining this country for most of the year, why should this day be different?A critical...

While some of today’s comparisons between Obama and communist dictators may go over the top, the general direction of such thinking is not without merit: since they share a utopian goal of forced equality, it’s logical to expect that their methods may also converge at some point. To wit, recent actions from Obama reminded me of a ploy Stalin used on Western entrepreneurs, which in itself is an illustrative morality play contrasting the differences between socialism and capitalism.“My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks,” Barack Obama told the CEOs of the world’s most powerful financial institutions...

Old Soviet-era jokes have become disturbingly applicable to the U.S. There was a time in recent American history when certain Soviet jokes didn’t work in translation — not so much because of the language differences, but because of the lack of common sociopolitical context. But that is changing. As President Obama is preparing us for a great leap towards collectivism, I find myself recollecting forgotten political jokes I shared with comrades while living in the old country under Brezhnev, Andropov, and Gorbachev. (I was too young to remember the Khrushchev times, but I still remember the Khrushchev jokes.) I...

As an old joke suggests, inviting socialism into our homes might help us better appreciate the blessings of freedom.Although the mainstream media won’t report it as such, Obama’s approval numbers are shrinking. Which means that elsewhere, certain numbers are growing — the unreported-by-the-MSM growing numbers of Americans who are kicking themselves for not having bothered to read the small print underneath the word “change.”The small print was kind of blurry, while “change” was spelled in huge, pleasing letters on the signs they held at the rallies. The fierce urgency of now was in the air. Everybody was in such...

Barack Obama's massive pre-primary rally in Portland, OR, was aided in no small part by the appearance of an uber-hip band. Their gimmick? They start each performance with the Soviet national anthem.It appears that many of the 75,000 “Obama worshipers” in Portland last weekend really turned up to see a free concert by an uber-hip Portland band, the [1] Decemberists (see photo below). Of course, the MSM didn’t report this fact because it might dampen the story of the new and wonderful miracle of the Obamessiah. Most media reports were reminiscent of the style the Soviet poets used to glorify...

Excuse me while I question your patriotism, progressive comrades. The Fourth of July is coming and you will not be celebrating it — not with the same thoughts and emotions as the rest of your countrymen. If you have been undermining this country for most of the year, why should this day be different? A critical look at history always helps if it is based on objective reality and an understanding that our age, just like any historical age, is only a flight of stairs in an endless stairwell leading us up, away from barbarism, towards civilization. Trying to...