Masha Gessen at the La-La-Land times:
Is Vladimir Putin insane? Hardly
Vladimir Putin has enjoyed a stunning variety of incarnations in the American imagination in his nearly 15 years as Russia’s leader. He started out as an economic reformer and a budding democrat, held those misapplied titles for years — aided by President George W. Bush, who “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to get a sense of his soul” — before the U.S. media and its consumers noticed his authoritarian tendencies.
His graduation to dictator took years. In that time, he dismantled Russia’s electoral system, took over its media, saw many of his opponents killed, jailed or forced into exile, created one of the most ruthlessly corrupt government systems in history, made peaceful protest punishable by jail time, waged a long and brutal war on his own country’s territory and a short one against a neighboring country, Georgia, a piece of which Russia bit off in 2008.
But it was only after he invaded Ukraine last month that Americans’ image of him took another drastic turn. German Chancellor Angela Merkel ostensibly told President Obama that Putin was out of touch with reality. And then former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton compared him to Adolf Hitler.
So is Putin insane, is he Hitler, or is he both? He is none of those things. In fact, he may be unlike any politician the world has known.
What did Merkel mean when she said Putin was living “in another world”? She was probably commenting on the fact that he has grown so isolated that he believes his own television.
[…]
The day after Merkel’s statement became public, Putin held a news conference in which he denied that Russian troops were in Crimea and made so many other fanciful statements that the State Department issued a fact sheet exposing 10 of his most blatant lies. “The world has not seen such startling Russian fiction since Dostoyevsky wrote, ‘The formula “two times two equals five” is not without its attractions,'” said the document, posted to the department’s website.
Many analysts concluded that the bizarre news conference proved Putin had indeed lost his mind. They were wrong. Putin was acting the way he always has, like a playground bully. It was the last thing an American audience expected. The dramaturgy of war would seem to dictate that Putin issue a rousing call to arms. But bullies do not aspire to lead through rhetoric; they dominate by intimidation. When confronted, they either lash out or they obfuscate.
[…]
The political culture Putin has created in Russia is based on the assumption that the world is rotten to the core.
[…]
A corollary is Putin’s conviction that his opponents act out of self-interest rather than on the basis of political conviction. When members of the punk rock group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail, he said they got what they wanted.
This belief that everyone, without exception, acts solely out of base self-interest is what has led Putin to ratchet up the aggression, meanness and vulgarity of both his public statements and political actions over the years. When he threatens to castrate a journalist, when he invades other countries, Putin is showing the world that he has the courage of his convictions.
For American culture, which relies heavily on a belief in the fundamental goodness of humanity, this is an impossible world view to absorb. It is another world indeed. But that does not make it crazy.
Ms. Gessen’s LAT bio states:
Masha Gessen is a Russian American journalist and the author of the political biography “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin.”
I don’t know about y’all, but I never believed in the “fundamental goodness of humanity.” There is far too much evidence to the contrary out there. And when somebody tells me they aren’t doing it for the money but for the principle, I generally assume they are doing it for the money.
Never appeal to a man’s “better nature.” He may not have one. Invoking his “self—interest” gives you more leverage. – Robert A. Heinlein
Vladimir Putin is neither stupid nor crazy. He is a Russian patriot who is doing what he thinks is best for himself and his country. That does not make him a nice guy, however.
Putin tells bald-faced lies for the same reason that Obama tells lies – he believes that lying will help him get what he wants.
Why did Putin invade Crimea? Because he CAN.
Putin correctly assessed that if he invaded and annexed Crimea the Western powers (that’s us and the rest of NATO) would be too weak and unwilling to stop him.
Vladimir Putin, like his USSR predecessors, will act according to our strength or weakness. Whenever we show weakness, he will be aggressive. He doesn’t want (and can’t afford) to go to war with us directly, but he will nibble away at us wherever and whenever he senses the opportunity. He will also encourage countries like Iran to be aggressive as well, in order to occupy our attention and sap our strength.
As Mitt Romney put it, Russia is “without question, our number one geopolitical foe.”
Putin is NOT like Hitler. He is not a megalomaniac.
Pooty-Poot is cray-cray like a fox-fox.
Absolutely. The man is ruthlessly pragmatic (and extremely competent). Let’s not forget that while POTUS was “community organizing”, Putin was working his way up in the KGB.
It’s a fatal flaw of progs that they assume anyone who disagrees with them *must* just be stupid. Wrong.
Although not funny, Mitt gets the last laugh on this one.
Ah Yes… but Mitt was excused with the time-honored diss, “the ’80’s have called, and they want their foreign policy back”
Yes Barack, that zinger will go down in history with the likes of:
“I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine….”
“I want you to know that I will not make age and issue….”
“Are you better off now then you were fours years ago?”
Just like all your speeches sound exactly like:
“Fore Score and Seven years ago….”
“Ask Not what your country can do for you…”
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
what a contrast.
Sarah too. 😀
Whatever Putin is or does, he seems to put his country first. Can’t say the same for Obama.
He has openly said he would like to restore Russia to the status of the USSR.
Putin said that – not Obama.
Are you sure? I mean some of Obama’s actions sure lean that way, LOL!
I found the quote I was thinking of, but of course, I don’t trust any politician these days….
Vladimir Putin
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vladimir_putin.html#ZLvrsx2Ouh7WrLCJ.99
So he’s a plagiarist, too? (this quote is pretty close to Clemenceau’s oft-misattributed quote about socialism).
And that is the real tragedy Denise. 😡
Only a hateful monster would hurt our Vets. 👿
We all knew that the shutdown orders came from the OMB which takes orders from Obama. Parks, Museums …. “make ’em feel the pain”. What a guy, huh?
Not sure it doesn’t EVER exist at all. But I’m firmly convinced it’s either very rare, or a cluster of other disorders, from sleep disorders to diet/exercise issues, that are being MASSIVELY misdiagnosed. Kids are being medicated by the millions for convenience, period.
Truth dat!
Before there was Adderall and Ritalin, there was discipline.
You also had recess and lots of outdoor play and even *aggressive* play, where excess energy/attitude could get burned off.
But if you are the parent who OPPOSES drugging the kid to the gills, YOU are the bad one. Don’t ask me how I learned this.
I know that every time my son ate raisins, he was bouncing off the walls. Sounds strange, but it’s true.
Absolutely ….She called it !
Gosh darn it , that was weird , it kept my previous post. What I wanted to say was , I worked for years in Pediatrics and Adolescent Psyche , and ADD and ADHD were extremely rare . I have believed for decades that our current educational system , that is so restrictive of children’s physical activity , is detrimental to all children . It is not normal , or human, to expect our children to sit all day long .
When I first started school we got 3 recesses per day, plus PE. We were EXPECTED to run around and burn off some energy. We usually had an informal recess in the morning before school too.
Not to mention the fact that most kids walked or rode bikes to school.
Our bodies are built for motion . It is hard wired . To expect children to sit for hours is beyond unreasonable , I think it is inherently harmful in ways we have not even discovered yet .
Ron Fournier:
I’d say it is more arrogance than righteousness.
Texas Democrats stoop so low. Abbot is a paraplegic. He is wheelchair bound. They are photoshopping him standing in their ads. Maybe they are afraid he’s too sympathetic as a cripple, rather than evil man. Scum.
What do the polls look like ? I can’t believe Wendy Davis was the best candidate the party of Ann Richards could put up.
Abbot leads by 11 points as of a few weeks ago, and I doubt it will even be that close. Davis can’t win in TX. Her strongest area outside of Austin and Houston is the Rio Grande valley, and she LOST the Dem primary there to a no name challenger. Traditional Catholic Hispanics can maybe stomach discreet pro-choice, but not the horrifying “Abortion is Teh Greatest!” show she put on in the capital. The things that made her the darling of the progs nationwide don’t play well in TX, not even among Dems.
Thanks for the info wm, keep us posted ! I tried to keep an open mind, but Davis is a head scratcher why she got even that far. Reminds me of VA when McAuliffe couldn’t win a primary, the Dems just selected him as their candidate then timed their McDonnell trashing so Cuccinelli couldn’t campaign with him. Makes me wonder what the Dems are up to in TX ? LOL !
VA is a purple state, TX is arterial red.
The Merkel quote was a literal translation which doesn’t mean the same thing in English. The quote meant something like he doesn’t think like us which is in no way the same thing. The WH put out the literal quote to irritate Putin and smear Merkel. Putin is the last thing to crazy and Merkel in no way said he was. It was just more lies from the WH.
Saying someone lives in a different world than you do could have meant she was telling TACUS (the ass clown, etc.) that she thought HE was a couple of empanadas short of a fiesta platter.
Germany depends on Russia for a lot of their fuel. She’s too smart to piss Vlad off with an offhand comment.
Talk about cray-cray …
Apparently the cat didn’t start the fight.
Being able to finish fights is ultimately better than starting them is what daddy taught me.
As my aunt Zella would say, “If you want the cat to leave the baby alone, keep the baby away from the cat.”
Baby was probably flaunting his milk at the poor cat. ;P
OK. I can sleep tonight, knowing all is well again.
I’m not generally one to scream “Call CPS!” But if you have to call the police to deal with your HOUSE CAT? Yeah, I’m a little worried about your kid.
I was stunned to discover that this did not actually happen in Eugene.
So much political crap would be solved if people just realized that people are people, and human nature is human nature. It has not changed, it has not “progressed”, we are the same as we ever were, with some tweaks as to what is socially acceptable. We are all of us both selfish to the core, and also capable of a great sense of community and kindness. There are a lot of us, and we distribute along a bell curve for almost everything. No, all of us are not above average. Nor below. All that humanity is needs to be taken into account in both foreign and domestic policy – all of the things that drive us, both good and bad. You can’t wave a magic wand at human nature and get rid of the icky parts.
Want to figure out politics, and good policy? Put down the poli-sci theory books, and become an avid observer of human beings, and how they behave. In reality.
Interesting article. But I think, despite the posturing for advantage, that Rand and Cruz don’t disagree by more than a hair. I do agree with Rand, though, that Reagan was a master at projecting military strength while actually being reluctant to use it. The problem we run into is that our peaceniks often don’t see the advantages of projecting strength (“sabre rattling”), and our “strong military” types are often all too eager to use it.
We need strength AND restraint. Both.
http://pjmedia.com/blog/rand-paul-vs-ted-cruz-whose-foreign-policy-views-are-more-like-ronald-reagans/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
The two biggest mistakes we make with our military is to weaken it and overuse it.
Yep.
Soopy was on a roll with Up4Climate, this is my fav……
When my cat gets too bossy I chase her away with Axe body spray.
When you have one cat it is cost-effective to by the more expensive small cans of cat food because you end up throwing half the bigger can away.
But by God, if I am gonna spring for the fancy shit, the cat is damn well gonna eat it or starve!!
ONE FUCKING SNIFF!!! She gives it one fucking sniff and then turns up her nose and walks away. And now she is bugging me to FEED HER SOMETHING ELSE!!!!!
About three times a year, I’ll make 20-30 lbs of cat food and freeze it in plastic containers.
Seriously, do these people really not get it or are they just posturing?
When my kids were little, if I said “no” to them, they’d retort “I don’t like you!”
Once again, lefties remind me of toddlers.
Gee Mav, how did that work out, anyway?
Can’t believe this is from …. 2009 ….. why it seems like yesterday ….
Keep fucking that chicken, Dave!
Despite what I’m reading re:Fla 13, the election of an R in a district that has elected Rs for the past thirty years, IMO, doesn’t mean squat. Fla 13 went for McCain in ’08 by a large margin and Obama by 1% in ’12. From the excitement on some R sites, I thought that Fla 13 was a solid “D” district.
I think the Rs are thrilled because the D is much better known, and was better funded. Lots of outside money though, so who knows the final numbers on that.
The Librarian got almost 5% of the vote in this one – I didn’t follow closely enough to know who he skimmed votes from though.
IBSP
OT. This California Global Warming is driving me nuts! Besides being shirtsleeve weather, now the ants are coming out! Don’t they know there’s a drought? Sure hope we don’t run out of spray.
Republican David Jolly wins Florida congressional seat in closely-watched special election – @TB_Times
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/03/fl13-results-live/
If there are any MOTUS fans here, this is for you…. MOTUS got thrown off Facebook because “gadgets aren’t people”, or something. Oh here….
Here’s my contribution to the cause….if it’s okay with my TCH FB Admin, I may xpost some of her betters to our TCH page?
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FACEBOOK USERS: SOME PISSANT MUST HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE GODS OF FACEBOOK BECAUSE THEY’VE JUST NOTIFIED ME THAT MY ACCOUNT WAS BEEN PERMANENTLY DISABLED BECAUSE I’M A GADGET, NOT “A REAL PERSON.” I VEHEMENTLY OBJECT, BUTT LIKE WITH BIG GUY’S SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, THERE IS NO PROCESS FOR APPEAL IF YOU’VE BEEN DEEMED TO BE SUBVERSIVE.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE I WILL BE INVOLUNTARILY “UNPLUGGED” FROM FACEBOOK FOR EVER. MY WHOLE PAGE HAS BEEN “POOFED” AND I GUESS I’VE BEEN SENT TO RE-EDUCATION CAMP.
AS THIS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTS MY ABILITY TO SPREAD THE WORD OF THE WONS, I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR HELP IN PASSING MY FUTURE POSTS AROUND. IF YOU HAVE A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT, PLEASE POST A LINK TO MY DAILY MUSINGS. IF YOU HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT, PLEASE RE-TWEET ME!
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.
I WONDER IF FACEBOOK HAS BEEN AUDITED RECENTLY? I’LL TWEET LOIS!
Ugh, sorry for the double post, train lag, DST and Glenlivet…..for my cold, y’know…this was what I meant to post……
Apparently FB is becoming “bossy”. Who knew?
Fuckerberg strikes again . Fuckerberg has been bossy for quite some time . He is a high ranking officer in the ranks of the thought police.
Tell them to open a G+ account. They will get indexed immediately (on google), and political posts get passed around like crazy on G+.
With facebook throttling all non payers, it isn’t that big a loss for a blog. Disclosure: I dislike facebook … a lot.
I’ll pass that along Ann. MOTUS was a “friends” type of FB thingy and she had many.
I’m not wild about Facebook, but it’s where ALL my family is, so I put up with it.
I keep FB for family only.
Big highrise fire in SF Mission District just went to 6 alarms. Windy!!!!!!
Mission Bay, near AT&T ballpark, not District.
Dear WordPress for Android 2.6.3;
Thank you very much for the fun and exciting game you’ve provided for we androids. Publishing a reply to a post or comment, and then guessing where, oh where it will be inserted in the thread has become a new and challenging sport! Some of us are thinking of holding a pre-olympic qualifying tournament if
…oh, never mind.
I just need a safe place to say this. Little Orphan Annie had red curly hair, and Snoopy is a beagle. Thank you.
Didn’t realize before this you just might be a troublemaker.
It’s racist to respect a cartoonist’s art. Because it isn’t really art. And, therefore, doesn’t deserve respect. It’s OK to turn Snoopy into a chihuahua. But, yes, I get into a lot of trouble.