Few have noticed that Russia appears to have a wide diversity of opinions on the Ukraine situation. At least this would be the case for an authoritarian state ruled with an iron fist. In the western stream of thought, there’s a lot of fanfare concerning criticisms of Vladimir Putin’s handling of the crisis. It’s as if the liberal world order can’t make up its mind. Is Putin an outdoorsy Stalin? Or, is Russia more of a democracy than the union next door run by an appointee Ursula von der Leyen?
Let’s just say it. The irony these days is so thick you couldn’t blast through it with a 50-megaton Sarmat II. England appointed a the self-professed Super Duper Zionist Liz Truss, who stomped around like she’s a zombie prime minister of Disneyland. But that nation now has a revolving door at 10 Downing Street. Over in my country, the nuclear suitcase is attached to the arm of a department store mannequin of a president held together with drug cocktails. And in Brussels, Germany’s former defense minister is doing her best impersonation of Helga, the tricky little Gestapo masseuse trying to scare Italians and other European customers. All jokes aside, the world of geopolitics is nuttier than my grandma’s spiciest fruitcake these days. I am sure most of you agree.
Vladimir Putin’s decision to institute a partial mobilization spurred 10,000 western propagandists to speak of open rebellion, an exodus of Russians to Kazakhstan, and a refocusing on blogger/criminal Alex Navalny. But for those who remember the Vietnam draft dodgers, the news of cowardly Ruskies headed for the border only makes Russia seem more American to most. Isn’t conscientious or cowardly objecting a democratic trait? More typical than any of the G7, if we are honest. Imagine it. Russians are leaving home freely, without being shot in the back at the border! Have I rubbed it in enough? No.
Isn’t it amazing how 20 billion tons of sanctions on Russia have failed to do what Liz Truss’ shadowy colleagues in Britain did overnight? The UK economy sank to record depths because of one idiot’s ill conceived tax ideas. When Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s finance minister and a key ally of Prime Minister Liz Truss, shattered that country’s tax code recently to favor the ultra-rich, the British currency landed in the loo. This New York Times piece frames that disaster.
Meanwhile, cross the pond in Washington, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken could hardly contain his pride in America having sabotaged the Nordstream pipelines to Germany. President Joe Biden made good on his promise to “end” Nordstream, and now my country is preparing to sell off the rest of the U.S. strategic reserves to profit from Europe’s loss. A U.S. president has now labeled half his countrymen domestic terrorists, sicked the FBI on his opponents Gestapo style, and censored dissent via Facebook, Google, and Twitter. And somehow, Russia is under an autocrat.
In the European Union, an unelected Fuhrer threatens member nations that step out of line. The central banks either bribe or hold ransom every house of government in the EU, and every leader from Athens to Zurich is in the pocket of the same elites who created the Nazis back in the 1930s. For years, the elites who congregate at Davos and in Brussels have dictated everything from fiscal policy to culture to member nations. Their assertions about European values and diversity are a lie. They are after compliance, a unified Fourth Reich bent on the same goals as the third version, only using Slavic proxy warriors instead of German panzers. To make matters worse, Ursula von der Chicken makes videos showing us citizens how to wash their hands to save water! Could things be more surreal?
On the other page, Russians on Telegram complain about incompetent generals goofing up the first Ukraine demilitarization plan. Setbacks in war? And for God’s sake – Holy Cow – heavens to Murgatroyd – do you mean Putin is not filling the gulags with Russian armchair commissars? Sorry, but nowhere is anyone talking about the lunatic arms shipments, the billions in payouts, the NATO WEPS specialists, and the Pentagon intelligence being fed to America’s Ukraine mercenaries. Are the propagandists admitting Putin is also clairvoyant? Was he supposed to know beforehand that America would invest more than Russia’s entire yearly military budget in a nobody comedian from mafia land? By the way, if Putin did know World War 3 was the actual game, does anyone think he’d only send 200,000 to fight the whole western world?
CNN reports, “Pro-Russia media slams war setbacks.” Bloomberg says Putin has “let,” the media tell “some truth.” France 24 is focused on Russia’s elite and how they are supposedly pressuring the president. Reuters tops them all, saying some Russia-installed official wants Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to commit Seppuku. And over in my country, turncoat Republican representative Liz Cheney says her party is a bunch of Russia sympathizers because of growing disagreement over Biden’s lunatic policies. Tulsi Gabbard, Tucker Carlson, even Elon Musk are traitors if they don’t toe the line and agree. Next, Twitter will be deemed a Russian propaganda channel.
I know you get the gist already. More frequently, Russia resembles the beacon of freedom, while western capitals look at the world like an Orwellian nightmare. I leave you with a slightly altered version of a speech by former President Ronald Reagan concerning American exceptionalism.
“These visitors to that city on the Moskva do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals. Instead, they are Russians awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still… a shining city on a hill.”
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books. He writes exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.