A few months back, at 10:00 at night we heard a knock at the front door. My wife was terrified. She screamed at me from upstairs: dont open the door, dont do it! I opened the door and it was our next door neighbor telling us that our garage door was open. My wifes reaction had to be understood in context. She grew up in the old Soviet Union. At that time and place a late night knock on the door meant the KGB and you were going to be hauled in for questioning. Perhaps you would never be seen again. If not, God only knew what was going to happen to you in the brief amount of life you had left but dying was not going to be the worst part. When I grew up, I lived in fear. From the age of 9 I was well aware of the possibility of nuclear war. I remember the Cuban Missile crises. I remember reading John Hersheys book on the horrors of Hiroshima. I remember in the early 80s when Americas military was weak, Russias was strong but their economy was failing so that the potential for war was very high. I imagine a lot of kids in Russia also grew up with the same sort of fears and nightmares. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the people there torn down the statue of the founder of the KGB. I was in my mid thirties and I breathed a sigh of relief that was three decades in waiting. But the people in Russia were unaccustomed to free markets and their adjustment was very rough. A lot of people suffered. Many Russians longed for the good old days when things worked and Russia was feared. They had forgotten the long lines, empty stores and 30% of GNP being spent on the military. They put in Putin. They returned to rule by the KGB. Its got a different name now but its the same people, with the same objectives and the same methods. Putin is amazingly similar to Hitler or Stalin. All three started out as thugs. All three are murderous without remorse. All three were short, and overcompensating with silly posturing. Putin is fond of being photographed shirtless, riding a horse or carrying a gun. Hitler invaded the Rhineland, then Austria, then part of Chechzolvakia, the rest of that country then Poland. Stalin invaded Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and then split Poland with Hitler. So far Putin has invaded part of Georgia and now part of the Ukraine. Putin can look straight in the camera and say: there are no Russian troops in the Crimea when he knows that the entire world knows other wise. This is a form of communication known as the big lie. It was also assiduously practiced by Hitler and Stalin. My wife tells me that during the last election there was widespread voter fraud in Russia. Putin has been in charge of Russia for twice as long as is constitutional (Medvedev is a sham). Its all the same stuff.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:45:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015