RUSSIAN ECONOMY IS IN A MUCH WORSE SITUATION THAN PUTIN LET’S ON

Putin: The man that orders the deaths of his opposition.

 

Every  December 15^th there is the “Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in Russia”.

 

It is finally becoming obvious to all of the world just how much of a “playground bully” is the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

It is now well know that Putin or his team have ordered the elimination of any journalists that may write articles that are not in support of Putin’s policies.  In fact, there are so many journalists that have either “disappeared” or have been murdered that there is today a data base called “Journalists in Russia”, where details can be found on each individual journalist’s death. However, the following categories are not included in the data base:

 

·       Those who have gone "missing" (14 persons)

·       Those who died in an “incident” ("not officially confirmed as murder", 28 persons)

·       Those journalists killed in so called “work-related accidents” (37 persons)

 

I find it interesting that these mysterious “deaths” did not start until Putin, a Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB, turned to politics in 1991.  He later moved to Moscow where he joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration.

 

The major concern of the number of unsolved killings did not become international news until the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya's in Moscow. While international monitors had previously spoken of several dozen deaths, some sources within Russia now talk of over two hundred fatalities. The evidence of these “murders” has since been examined and documented in reports, published in Russian and English, by international organizations.

 

The number of killed journalists has become such a common occurrence that the “Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in Russia”, is observed on every December 15^th.

 

Now today, there are obvious issues between Russia and the US and the other NATO countries that have caused the severe sanctions against Russia.  These sanctions against Russia are due to Putin’s actions with the annexation of the Crimean territory, the war against the sovereign Ukraine and Putin’s continued support of the Syrian Dictator, Bashar al-Assad.

 

These sanctions, plus the lowering revenues from Russia’s #1 export of crude oil have severely affected the Russian economy.

 

For this reason, Putin and his administration are doing all they can inside Russia to shift the blame of their poor economy from President Putin to the United States, NATO and specifically to President Obama.

 

In this effort, Putin has obviously directed his administration to bad mouth the US president whenever an opportunity presents itself.

 

In attempting to achieve that goal, it has been more than a bit successful for Putin.

 

It must be stated that intensely personal attacks on foreign leaders are usually uncommon except in wartime.  Soviet-era, anti-American propaganda in the past, could become sharp, but it did not employ personal slurs. However, in recent years, racist and disgusting comments against foreign leaders have become the norm of official Russian statements.

 

Listed below are some examples of what is obviously being approved by the Russian President and his administration:

 

·       Turkish, German and Ukrainian officials are cast in Russia as total stooges of the United States. While slamming Ankara at a December news conference for shooting down a Russian plane that violated Turkish airspace, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that “the Turks decided to lick the Americans in a certain place.”

 

·       Sergey Glaziev, a senior adviser to Putin, has called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “a Nazi Frankenstein.”

 

·       Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin compared Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to “a rubber doll from a sex shop.”

 

·       However, the ugliest slur campaign has been reserved for President Obama.  Anti-Obama tweets come regularly from government officials. Deputy PM Rogozin, while commenting on Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address, compared Obama to a “Tuzik”.  This is Russian slang for a pathetic small dog.

 

·       Please note that none in Russia are allowed to freelance any propaganda statements. Therefore, all anti-Obama comments, even when coming from prominent individuals outside government, must have Putin’s approval. Russian media personalities, including Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of the widely viewed Russian “News of the Week” TV roundup, often offers racist slurs, as does the Observer Web magazine.

 

·       Evgeniy Satanovskiy, a Russian academic and frequent guest on Kiselyov’s program, recently referred to Obama as a “monkey,” prompting laughter and applause from his audience.

 

·       The famous Russian nationalist comedian, Mikhail Zadornov regularly deploys the term “schmoe” alongside Obama’s name.  This is a slang Russian prison acronym for a person who is so debased he deserves to be defecated upon.

 

·       “Obama schmoe” is now regularly scrawled on the runway of Russia’s Latakia air base in Syria.

 

·       Russia’s print and electronic media regularly carry stories depicting President Obama as lazy and incompetent.

 

·       Russian shops sell bumper stickers, posters, T-shirts and cardboard cut-outs of President Obama as an ape and a chimney sweep.

 

·       Obama has many times been burned in effigy, and zoo animals have been named after him, including a black piglet at the famous Russian Volgograd zoo.

 

As despicable as all these disgusting comments are, it must be understood that this is one of the major components of Putin’s efforts to gain and keep domestic Russian support for his policies’  It’s also to enhance Putin’s standing. And the fact is, that this propaganda is working.. Even though Putin’s own actions have put the Russian economy into the toilet, Putin and his policies still remain popular.

 

This is all very possible, just as it was in Nazi Germany, when the Russian government and the Kremlin can totally control the news and entertainment media.

 

Russian journalists who refused to toe the official line have been fired, jailed or as we have seen, even killed.

 

Unfortunately, due to this state monopoly, it has enabled the regime to mold Russian perceptions on every major policy issue.

 

 

Unfortunately, on the other side of the issue, there has been a total failure of the West to communicate any effective rebuttals to the Russian citizens,

 

What the average Russian citizens does not understand is that Putin’s propaganda shows the absolute case of his administration's total desperation, while the Russian public is kept totally in the dark.

 

The Russian economy is currently in free fall, due to those falling oil prices and Western sanctions that I had mentioned. Today, Russia has fuel shortages and a disruption of deliveries of their key commodities.  This poses a major challenge to the Kremlin. Internal corruption and mismanagement are rampant and growing and are starting to draw negative responses from the Russian people.

 

Today, there is widespread labor unrest where some private-sector workers have not been paid for months. There also have been months of strikes by long-distance truckers protesting increased road fees and the massive governmental corruption.

 

The fire and rescue first responders, employed by the federal Ministry of Emergency Situations have not been paid in months. That includes the emergency personnel in major cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow, with responsibilities for handling public protests.  These workers have gone without pay, and this underscores the instability of Russia’s finances and the serious risks it presents.

 

The Russian government’s control of its people is in jeopardy, as the Kremlin doubles down on its aggressive policies and increased domestic militarization.  Russia is also continuing to increase its global propaganda efforts.  Moscow has now heavily invested in its international broadcasting capability, with the state’s satellite network being the main component.  This gives it the ability to reach foreign and domestic audiences with their propaganda.

 

The US should be outraged by the Kremlin’s propaganda campaign and should support a robust response. Congress should act to enact bipartisan legislation proposed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce (R-CA) and the ranking Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) to support America’s public information network and diplomacy programs.  But with today's "do nothing" Republican Congress, I doubt anything will occur from our side..

 

Consistent with our national values, the United States must lead in challenging Moscow’s racist propaganda and highlight the moral narrative of democracy, tolerance, human rights and the rule of law.  But with today's House and Senate, don't hold your breath.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016