tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post299972692709525906..comments2024-03-01T00:27:42.852-08:00Comments on Hammer Of The Blogs: Russian To JudgmentHeywood J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05627748699423939682noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-37391848389889209632007-04-29T15:00:00.000-07:002007-04-29T15:00:00.000-07:00Marius, I'd definitely like to check that article ...Marius, I'd definitely like to check that article out, if possible. It looks fairly long, so it might be a lot to copy and paste. But yeah, I've always wondered in general about Yeltsin's appeal in the west. He had a certain buffoonish charm, I suppose, but the grift he was running seemed pretty clear the whole time.<BR/><BR/>As always, these things lead one to consider the role of the complaisant media in all this. I assume that their excuse is the usual institutionalized laziness, expectations of readers and editors, blah blah blah. The key is simply to realize that they're not talking to us, but to each other. Any exception to that rule is a welcome addition.Heywood J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05627748699423939682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-38147386367860369312007-04-29T14:55:00.000-07:002007-04-29T14:55:00.000-07:00Lenin, I did see the link the other day at TBogg's...Lenin, I did see the link the other day at TBogg's, thanks for that. I jousted a bit with a few of them. I didn't really feel like getting too out of line and dumping all over TBogg's comments thread, so just a modest back-and-forth by my standards.<BR/><BR/>I don't really care about the Nader-baiting all that much anymore, except simply to note how unproductive it is, and how it ignored all the <I>other</I> reasons Gore lost, most of which are still in play. But whatever. Their Nader hate keeps 'em warm. They'll get over it soon enough when the Dem candidates get cowed and pressured into endorsing action against Iran, or whatever cockamamie scheme Chimpco concocts to keep their party viable.<BR/><BR/>Having Irish and Polish-Russian ancestry, I came to appreciate similarities between the Irish and the Russians -- dour, hard-drinking potato-eaters with a fatalistic take on things. The Irish seem to have a bit more of a twinkle in their eye about such things, since they don't have quite the history of internal state security apparatuses. But there is a certain lyricism to the Russian outlook as well.Heywood J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05627748699423939682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-75439075174517430452007-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:002007-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00Here's another very good piece that explains why Y...<A HREF="http://harpers.org/archive/2007/05/0081493" REL="nofollow">Here's</A> another very good piece that explains why Yeltsin was so loved abroad and largely hated at home, why the scary Putin enjoys ratings that G Dubs could only dream of, and why these trends are likely to continue for a while now, as far as Russia is concerned. <BR/><BR/>Sorry, it's behind the subscription wall. I can try to get a HTML copy for you guys, and paste it into a comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-78643774902557931402007-04-27T06:05:00.000-07:002007-04-27T06:05:00.000-07:00Good stuff. I'd been meaning to check Taibbi's col...Good stuff. I'd been meaning to check Taibbi's column but hadn't gotten around to it, so I'm glad it's on this topic.<BR/><BR/>I've got a bit of Russian heritage, so I've had the same fascination myself (with a name like Lenin, you say? Get outta town! No, it's true!). My grandparents actually visited there in 1985 or so, which makes me envious in hindsight, just for the chance to have seen a little of that history from the inside.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I thought this was obvious to anyone with two eyes and a half-functioning brain - <I>a brilliant ploy hatched by a canny group of generals and KGB types to privatize Soviet assets into the hands of the country's leaders, while simultaneously cutting the state free of its dreary obligations toward the rank-and-file Russian people.</I> - but damned if I didn't hear an old John Birch-type sneering yesterday that the Democrats would probably hold some kind of memorial for Boris. Because Democrat = Commie, get it? Haw haw! I pointed out that he should pay closer attention, because that kind of system works better than Viagra for giving right wingers wood, and he's been missing out.<BR/><BR/>I remember reading a book on depression, and a Russian folk saying was quoted: if you wake up feeling no pain, you know you're dead. My kind of people.<BR/><BR/>OT: you may have noticed I linked to your Nader post from last month, since it came up again at TBogg's yesterday. I actually haven't been back to check that thread, because it's been a good couple days and I didn't want to spoil it reading a bunch of fucking morons getting their two minute hate on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com