--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Michael Pugliese quoted:
>
> >With the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia
> launched itself on
> >a fitful transition to Western-style democracy. But
> a decade later,
> >Boris Yeltsin's handpicked successor, Vladimir
> Putin, a childhood
> >hooligan turned KGB officer who rose from nowhere
> determined to
> >restore the order of the Soviet past, resolved to
> bring an end to the
> >revolution.
>
> Do you really believe this drivel? Yeltsin was a
> hack who presided
> over one of the great collapses in human history,
> and who allowed a
> gang of thugs to grab Russia's most valuable assets
> for next to
> nothing. Is that a democratic revolution?
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
To counter Anatol Lieven with Baker/Glasser like trying to stage a Pokemon fight between Godzilla and a gopher. Not only is this clearly propaganda, it is badly-written propaganda. Look at all the buzzwords: "KGB!" "Hooligan!" Scaaaary! I'm surprised they didn't call him "short."
This is history as viewed through the ideas of American hacks. Let's rewrite this section so as to reflect the worldview of the average member of the Russian electorate:
"After the criminal dismemberment of the Soviet Union, Russia launched itself on a Time of Troubles* characterized by dislocation, misery and poverty. But a decade later, Boris Yeltsin realized his days were numbered and had to arrange a deal so that he wouldn't be subject to criminal prosecution after his term ended. Therefore, he came to a deal whereby he would hand over power to Vladimir Putin, an guy with an ordinary background from a poor Leningrad family** who had joined the security services in order to serve his country, and former aide to the mayor of St. Petersburg, in exchange for immunity. Vladimir Putin resolved to bring an end to the Time of Troubles."
* Alexander Solshenitsyn refers to the 1990s as the Third Time of Troubles.
** Putin grew up in a Leningrad communal apartment with rats in the halls. His brother died in early childhood, presumably from starvation, in the Seige of Leningrad.
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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