I'm curious what hatrack and Orson Scott Card thinks about Vladimir Putin.
this song is literally played in the morning as a work out song by government sponsored youth camps.
here is part 1 and part 2 of Russian brainwashing.
Just for fun, search what GarryKasparov has to say about Russia. You will have to find a foriegn media source - because Kasparov is blacklisted on Russian TV.
disgusting. Or is it, have I been brainwashed to oppose Government suppression? No, I choose democracy even if it means allowing opposing viewpoints and extremists to be heard.
postscript; I wonder if Bush knows he's in that catchy music video
[ August 26, 2008, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: Griffin ]
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I recently read "Death of a Dissident". It is the story of the ex-KGB agent who was assassinated by radioactive poisoning.
I thought the book would all be cloak & dagger about the poison plot. I was wrong. It was one of the best historical/political books I've read. The history it goes over is the history of Russia from 1990 or so onward.
While it centers around the man who was killed, his life as an undercover cop mopping up organized crime gangs, it goes into the political machinations of those seeking to drive Russia into a modern democracy.
Putin is described as a Gang-raised loyalty junky who has mastered the KGB skill of reflection. He appears to those who speak to him as a reflection of themselves. They see in him what they want to see. As a result, they are all surprised when he acts differently than they predict. Someone like President Bush is fooled by this skill into looking in their eyes and seeing someone they can trust.
The main motivator of Putin in this book is basic street-level loyalty, the same motivator in the average street gang. You are loyal to us, then you get rewarded. You are disloyal and you get punished.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Let's just say I wouldn't want to be standing between him and something he wanted if there was nobody else around except us two.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
In a word? Entertaining.
It's hard to explain why, because I don't like how he's gone about achieving his objectives, but I come from three years of high school debate where I needed to give a lot of speeches on the fellow. I suppose after reading so much of what he's done I've become somewhat desensitized to the immorality of his actions, but now just find enjoyment in his audacity to go through with them. Maybe it's a 'laughing away the tears' kind of thing.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
For years a few friends of mine and I have been saying his name at random intervals - just because it's a fun name. (emphasis on the puuuuuuu-tin)
That's about as close as I come to political commentary on Hatrack... : ) Helpful, I know.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Apparently the familiar form of Vladimir is Volodya, I really like the sound of that name. But then again, though I love Russian names, I'm not sure I could gather the courage to give one of their names to one of my future children. Maybe as a middle name.