Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:24:19 -0000 From: "James Heartfield" <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: [lbo-talk] What Lies Behind the Rash of Russian Poisonings? To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
No doubt it is true that Russia under Putin is no liberal democracy, but you would have to be blind not to notice that the coverage of the Litvinenko case is being used to crank up anti-Russian sentiment in the western press.
snip:....
I am glad to see some one on this list finally speaks the truth about this authoritarian and managed capitalist regime and stops glossing over the continued poverty, xenophobia, and racism in this society. Simply because a certain small segments of this society are much better off now than under Yeltsin is a red herring argument.
As to the cranking up of anti-Putin sentiment--as long as it is true I don't care. The above statement seems to suggest there is a mixing of the reporting of facts with propaganda. I agree and think that speculation is still rampant in the press and in the blogosphere. I still take a cautious approach with respect to this and wait to see who the real killers are. Nevertheless, even posting articles that provide two sides of the story is too much for certain elements on this list (see: below).
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 08:42:36 -0500 From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Behind the assassins, the grim truth of Putin's Russia To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Message-ID: <362B62B2-71FE-4864-B942-6F0D45DA4E66 at panix.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
On Dec 11, 2006, at 4:22 AM, Michael Givel wrote:
> Behind the assassins, the grim truth of Putin's Russia
Would you please answer my question? Why are you so obsessed with Putin's alleged crimes? It's weird.
Doug *******
Up until now I have ignored these glib one liners and digs such as the above by the host of this list apparently designed to, somehow, score debating points through argumentum ad hominem. Here is the short answer. It is obvious you are annoyed that two sides of the picture are being posted here. You think that Russia is apparently a relative paradise. I don't. But apparently the nasty little digs like above are designed to portray anyone who might disagree with you as a Russophobe, weird and full of crapola and not get into a dialog. Apparently, all you want to do is to discuss this in an insular fashion and not listen to or even acknowledge that other perspectives have some or all validity. Okay, whatever.