Now that I have my Kindle Fire, I use it to listen to radio stations from all over the world. Once, I decided to listen to the Echo of Moscow, the radio station that is considered to be the most progressive and anti-government station in Russia.
I tuned into a show that had already been going on for a while and was immediately transported back into 1982.
“The US wants to destroy us,” the host and the interviewees were agreeing. “They will not rest until they exterminate every Russian in existence. The very raison d’être of the Americans is to destroy Russia. They care about nothing else. And, of course, now that the US is so poor, they envy us our wealth and our empire. They have no future, while we are becoming the new world power.”
I thought, at first, that this was a broadcast of an old program from the times of the Cold War. Then, however, I heard a reference to President Obama (who also seems to hate Russians with a vengeance, according to this radio show) and realized that the program was contemporary.
A little later, a guest of the show suggested that Americans import their stupid Hollywood movies to prevent the Russians from procreating as much as they could. At that point, I had to go to class, so I missed what I’m sure was a fascinating explanation of how Hollywood movies mess with the procreation of Russians. Remember, that the hysteria of “we are not procreating enough and will be overtaken by more rapidly procreating races” is going on at full strength in Russia.
The anti-American rhetoric is promoted at every level of Russia’s hierarchy of power. On Sunday, the elections to the Russian parliament (the Duma) took place. The results of the elections were egregiously falsified. Responsible citizens who acted as observers at the voting polls were intimidated, threatened with being fired from their jobs, assaulted, and beaten. The falsifications were so shameless that even the people of Russia (who are mostly disinterested in political activism) took to the streets in protest.
Protests took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Police dispersed the protests brutally.
Yesterday, Putin gave his first public speech about the protests. And you know who is to blame for the protests, according to Putin? The officials of his party who organized the massive falsifications of the votes? The citizens of Russia who don’t know their place and dare to believe that democracy in Russia is possible? No, of course not. The real evildoer here is. . . Hillary Clinton who, according to Putin, organized the protests:
Putin said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had encouraged “mercenary” Kremlin foes by criticizing the vote.
“She set the tone for some opposition activists, gave them a signal, they heard this signal and started active work,” Putin told supporters.
And you know what is really sad? The protesters are a very small minority. Most people in Russia will be very happy to believe that everything is great and that the bad, evil Americans engineered the protests against the honest and truly democratic elections in Russia. They will believe that Hillary Clinton gave signals to the protesters because they are all paid lackeys of American imperialism, rather than responsible, engaged citizens.
There are many discussions going on about Iran right now. Will Iran become a nuclear power? What will happen when it does?
Nobody wants to talk about Russia, though. Russia is already a huge nuclear power. It is also a country that owns a lot of oil and natural gas, has a huge population, cannot be defeated militarily, and is consumed by a huge bout of anti-Western hysteria.
Western politicians have been bamboozled by the empty talk about democracy and the end of the Cold War that Russia has been offering for two decades. This is all a sham, though. The Cold War continues. And I have no doubt that the side to lose this war will be the one that refuses to recognize that the war goes on.
Clarissa's Blog 
Q. There are many discussions going on about Iran right now. Will Iran become a nuclear power? What will happen when it does?
A. Armageddon
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Yeah, just remember the last time religious nutheads who believed to have God’s favor and were acting according to a divine plan decided to use nukes.
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The only time the nuclear weapons were used was in Japan by the US. But that wasn’t religiously motivated, was it?
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No, it was not religiously motivated per se.
The politicians in the US however have this obnoxious quirk that makes them invoke god every now and then. If you want to see for yourself check out speeches addressing the american population and you probably won’t find one where god’s will or favour or whatever else is not mentioned.
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I especially used to love those presidential speeches that evoked the “EEEEEEEvildoerrrrrs.”
Scary shit, eh?
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Perhaps a related comment, perhaps not.
I was recently reading or rereading some of the old classics on my Kindle, among them War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The overall sense I took away was of a very stratified, ultra-religious, superstitious and yet generally placid people ruled by a generally incompetent and dysfunctional elite. Perhaps someday you might consider a series of posts comparing Russia of those days to modern, if modern is the right word, Russia.
Most of us in the West seem to have an inadequate understanding of Russia’s strengths and weaknesses; an analysis of that sort might shed a bit of light on them.
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I would love it too! A great idea.
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I really enjoyed this post as I like learning/hearing about different goings-on in other countries. It seems our media chooses to exclude a LOT of information.
Clearly, everything is Hillary Clinton’s fault. 😉
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On this, Putin-supporters and 1990s-era Republicans are in perfect agreement
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doubleplusbad. 😦
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The reason the americans do not poke at the bear(russia) is because it still has teeth. Iran on the other hand is toothless. Anyone who has any comprehension of the world and who has power knows this.
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It sounds as though it won’t be toothless for too much longer…..
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USA (even if those russians blatantly exaggerated) and China are bigger threats…
Russians should stop to vote.
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“Russians should stop to vote.”
-The system in Russia is set up in a way that when you don’t vote at all, your vote automatically goes to Putin and his party.
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Yeah, but even if all vote…
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The majority still supports Putin and the ruling party, this is what matters. The people of Russia dig this shit.
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I agree that Russia is a bigger threat than Iran, though…
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China is much more dangerous than Iran and Russia put together.
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That is definitely true. But China owns the US already, so it isn’t likely to do anything.
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Also wanted to mention that Russia is terrified of China, too. There hasn’t been a dispute between these countries in recent decades where Russia didn’t wimp out and concede everything China wanted. They have a huge shared border, too.
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LOL, yeah, they may own them financially, but…… lets put this into perspective. If you have roughly the amount of nukes that could blow the world up several thousand times over do you really think anyone is going to call in the I.O.U. ???
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The US already is afraid to take a breath that China will not approve of.
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Ooh. Sounds like Zimbabwe.
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I read in the news that the Communist Party finished as the second-biggest in the recent polls. Is that just old school nostalgia or is it a real party with some real agenda?
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The Russian Communists are completely crazy. However, they are the only real alternative to the ruling party. The other “parties” are not real parties. They were created by the Kremlin on purpose, to pretend like there are many parties. So even people who hate the Communists, dissidents who were jailed and persecuted by the Communists in the USSR had to vote for the Communists this time because there is simply no other way to oppose the ruling party.
I know that this all sounds completely insane but this is Russian politics for ya.
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You are scaring me. And my poor Poland, in the middle again. Were the American missiles installed in Poland already?
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The Russian people are taking to the streets tomorrow to protest their fraudulent government. Let’s all hope the protesters succeed.
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