Friday, August 17, 2012

Putin the Pathetic

The history of Russia includes some of the most fearsome leaders to ever walk the earth: Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, that monster Stalin.
Vladimir Putin is not one of them.
Taking off his shirt in front of cameras may make the neo-czar feel like a Hollywood he-man, but what kind of true leader is so freaking fragile he can't withstand an artist/punk band criticizing his tyrannical hold on his supposed democracy? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)
Some are explaining his cowardice by saying Putin is a victim of the mechanism of his own success, as Bloomberg reports:

[T]he case has galvanized a fractious political opposition as authorities ratchet up pressure by prosecuting leaders and other activists. Putin, who faced the biggest demonstrations against his 12-year rule last year, will find it hard to reverse course now, said Igor Bunin, head of the Center for Political Technology in Moscow.

“Putin has become a hostage of the process of repression,” Bunin said by phone. “He’s in a trap. He can’t quit without losing face.”
He's got to know he's lost serious face in the international community already by not stepping in to stop this miscarriage of justice. It's time for him to do the right thing and pardon Pussy Riot. If he doesn't, it's time for us to put pressure on our leaders to ostracize Putin the Pathetic until he resigns.

Enough of this crap.

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Little Big Bear overplayed his hand. he lost Syria now he is picking on Girls. fucking shithead.

8/17/2012 03:12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uh...Obama's got Russian punk rock's back...he'll have more 'flexibility' with Putin after the election, right? At least that's what I think he whispered to Medvedev. It will all be ok. Pussy Riot will be prioritized by Obama first thing after taking care of Assad.

8/17/2012 04:39:00 PM  
Blogger Edward_ said...

Anonymous, let's try a littlentest, shall we?

I'll lisa random group of topics:

1. The Donner Pass
2. My Little Pony
3. Sharp cheddar cheese

And you tie each to some pre-determine GOP talking point criticizing Obama, ok?

I know you can do it.

8/17/2012 06:16:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about I challenge you to a little test. Why don't you try listing 3 of 'our leaders' that we should 'put pressure on' to pardon the members of Pussy Riot?

I guessing, of course, that your DNC talking points would preclude listing any current top diplomatic administration personnel, including their boss, that are actually paid to pressure Putin.

Take me to the riot.

8/17/2012 06:46:00 PM  
Blogger Edward_ said...

Michael McFaul, Suan Rice, and Hilary Clonton to start.

Your turn.

8/17/2012 06:56:00 PM  
Blogger Edward_ said...

Sorry, iPhone keyboard: Susan Rice and Hilary Clinton. Can't wait to see how you tie in my little pony.

8/17/2012 07:00:00 PM  
Blogger J. Wesley Brown said...

Read the closing remarks, Ed. Wow.

http://eng-pussy-riot.livejournal.com/4602.html

8/17/2012 07:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hell, I can't wait to see the letter you write to Putin's three U.S. enablers you list calling for them to oppose Putin by...what exactly? A drone strike? Seal Team 6? Pussy Riot will be fine. It's now the most famous punk rock band in the world. People are supporting them by downloading an entire cd, not just their most popular tune. Praise be to capitalism for iTunes, the real revolutionary platform for holding evil dictators accountable, I guess. At least Pussy Riot wasn't playing at the time in front of those poor miners in South Africa. I guess you'll be writing a letter to Hillary et al. about that as well. Another day, another protest. I'll deliver your letters to the Obama administration via Pony Express...or a GM Volt...which ever uses less gas...or produces less gas...which will certainly be less gas than that being blown out of Obama's ass toward Putin.

8/17/2012 07:20:00 PM  
Blogger Edward_ said...

Typical. Happy to issue challenges to other people but then worm your way out of those presented to you. You wouldn't be Mitt Romney, would you, Anonymous?

J Wesley, I know. Stunning piece of political rhetoric. Very important and impressive IMO.

8/17/2012 07:29:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If an American band did the same thing in America, the Swat Team would be called and they would be charged with a Hate Crime.

8/17/2012 08:15:00 PM  
Anonymous Julian said...

Just another example in the long line of Russia's fair, transparent, and independent legal process.

8/19/2012 09:34:00 AM  
Anonymous Ries said...

If an American Band did the same thing in America, they would end NEA funding of Bands- oh, wait, they already did that...

Plenty of american musicians and performance artists did, and do, much more outrageous things than this every day.

Borat would be in jail in Russia, and he is about as mainstream as you can get in the USA.

As far as musicians and "Hate Crimes"- the Sikh shooter in Wisconsin, Michael Page, was in a whole bunch of bands, including End Apathy, whose lyrics are just a big more incendiary than Pussy Riot- like this nugget, for example-“All the talking is done and now it’s time to walk the walk / Revolution’s in the air 9mm in my hand / You can run but you can’t hide from this master plan.”

So, no, if an American band did the same thing, the Swat Team would NOT be called.

8/26/2012 02:57:00 PM  

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