By Dick Morris

 

The Other Russia Congress met here today, with over 3,000 people in attendance, along with hundreds of police to keep tabs on them. They are a hardy bunch, daring to show their faces amid a growing crackdown on democracy in Russia.

 

One knowledgeable leader of the congress told us "there is no difference – none – between the level of repression now and that which prevailed under Brezhnev." While President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice content themselves with lamenting "backsliding" on democracy, the naked truth is that Russia is now as repressive as it was under communism.

 

"Extremist" groups can be barred from participating in elections – and President Vladimir Putin defines who is and is not an extremist. The media, newspapers and television, are firmly under government control. Opposition views are simply not heard, and the news media just parrot government propaganda. Putin has cracked down on Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcasts, threatening stations that air them, effectively reducing their range to only Moscow and St. Petersburg.

 

Members of the Duma are selected from party slates – i.e., handpicked by Putin – and direct-election single-member districts have been abolished. Putin appoints governors, and the last democratically elected governor was arrested last month.

 

The former catalyst for the freedom and democracy movement, Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is in prison, serving an eight-year sentence. The jail is 12 miles from the Chinese border in a uranium-mining area where the radioactivity reduces life expectancy to 42 years. His sentence might as well be death. And, to make his life even worse in this frozen hell, where temperatures drop to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, his face was recently slashed by a fellow inmate and he was locked in solitary confinement until his hunger strike forced his release back to the normal prison population.

 

This is Putin's Russia.

 

But democracy is stirring. Important national leaders like former Prime Minister (under Putin) Mikhail Kasyanov, the leader of the People's Democratic Union, and former chess champion Gary Kasparov are attacking Putin's autocracy. Kasyanov might run against the dictator's handpicked choice in 2008 unless Putin changes the constitution to allow himself to run for re-election. If he does, Kasyanov will give him a heck of a fight.

 

And the Bush administration? Quiet as a mouse. Bush and Rice have allowed Russia to stay in the G-8 with a democracy record no better than China's, which remains excluded. They are even considering opening Western oil markets to Russian exports.

 

Meanwhile, Putin is using oil diplomacy – or really energy aggression – to try to cow his former satellites into submission. He has tried to quintuple gas prices to Ukraine. He's bribed former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder with a $300,000-a-year-job with Gazprom, the Russian gas company, to OK and help fund a pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic. The pipeline threatens to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Ukraine to punish them for their apostasy. He won't buy Moldovan or Georgian wine to punish their freedom movements. (The United States should immediately lift its trade restrictions on wines from these two freedom-loving nations.)

 

One has to ask whether the neocons of the Bush administration are on the job. No real pressure is coming from Washington, and Bush's approach is pathetically weak. Putin is buying them off with a commitment to take our used nuclear fuel off our hands and by seductive temporizing over the Iranian nuclear issue. If Bush were to stand up to Putin as President Reagan did to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Putin would be unable to get away with the mayhem he is undertaking in Russia and its former empire.

 

Richard Nixon once said of Bush senior that the world would ask, "Who lost Russia?" (an echo of his own 1950s question about China) if he did not increase aid to Moscow. Now the question of who lost Russia comes up again. And the answer, surprisingly, is President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Rice.

 

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/19/135835.shtml

Before I start this... I am not having a go at the Americans as a people...especially the people on here ... well most of them. The thread starter is not one of them though..

 

I think all they want is WAR WAR and more WAR. Do u really know what that means... you people die.... end off.

 

When I was a kid.... I lived a life of constant nightmares in the fear of a nuclear holocaust. Thankfully those days of have now past, with the good work of a few good men. Commentary such as the above is going to put the world back a further 20 - 30 years... Can I ask you the fu#k something..... do u want to die... under a nuclear cloud...

 

As regards of Mr Bush not saying f##k all. Did you watch the news last week. Bush making comments about the style of Russian democracy... I loved it when Pultin, answered the question, with a question to him..

' Just like the democracy in Iraq....? ' and with the worlds media watching and laughing and such a quick witted but truthful question comment.

 

Tell me something as well. Why did the d###khead go over to Georgia last year... and make some more ill founded comments and say(not a word for word quote, but along the same lines) Russia's regime was a dark part of the 20th Century'... further alliantanting himself, and upsetting the Russian administration. What makes him and his cronies think they are always right when it comes to making key decisions when it comes to how the world is run, and how the problems are solved, take other peoples opinions on board... ' oh that democracy but no they don't listen...

^ nobody wants a war, it's all about capital. war/conflict is only a consequence of wanting too much capital

 

is Putin's regime is as repressive as the Soviet Union's was?

YES.

there's no democracy in Russia at the moment and won't be any in the next years till Putin and his people are controlling and running the Russian government. what that man is doing with the country is terrible (personal experiences), though in some points it's a foul of the biggest part of Russian citizens who voted for him 2 years ago (personally i couldn't since i'm not 18 yet). around 70(!!!) % voted for him...though don't believe the numbers because as it's said in the article the media is under government's control, but it's true that the most people in Russian are "blind" and can't see and analyze the real situation

although, the Russian citizens live in lies...and IT IS really hard to find truthful informations and reliable sources for most of them

i'm really sad that bart doesn't like me. i have tried so hard.

Russia's in bad shape, it still has a horrible and dangerous goverment, and is deep down an enemy of europe and america still.

 

what truly is scary is the bible says israel will be attacked by russia, and now putin wants some of his troops to be in a UN "peace keeping" force, if my source is correct....thats scary.

 

Russia democracy....dont fit together.

Though not Russian, i think Putin is a nice guy. And i believe he's the best one by far to govern the largest country on the planet.

 

The US administarion is always critical of other nations' democracy! ---That's really sickening!I think those fuckers should mind their own business first! I've heard that New Orleans still aint recovered from last year's horrible hurricane exprience.

My mom voted for Putin, my sister did. That is ridicuolus how really blind Russians are.

Almost all Russian people I know think that Putin is a perfect president for our country. I believe they think so just because he looks more representative and smart than our previous one, Yeltsin. That one was so old that you couldn't even understand if he gets anything or not.

No democracy here, all these nice talks of our president and Duma are fake, they're trying to make people in Russia believe that we're such a progressive country, that we're a Europeian country. But we're not, we're out of Europe, we're still outsiders. I was watching news yesterday and they say there won't be any import alchohol in our shops soon. Like, no whiskey or beer if it's not Russian. Can you imagine it? I mean, I don't care about alchohol but after that they'll probably forbid foreign movies on tv or anything like that. Russians will never understand it until they see iron curtain in front of them again.

Though not Russian, i think Putin is a nice guy. And i believe he's the best one by far to govern the largest country on the planet.

 

The US administarion is always critical of other nations' democracy! ---That's really sickening!I think those fuckers should mind their own business first! I've heard that New Orleans still aint recovered from last year's horrible hurricane exprience.

 

 

we have found the true intellectual on this board! way to tie democracy in russia to the new orleans recovery. only a genius could make that connection!

Putin is screwing over russia, they need a real leader in office.

Though not Russian, i think Putin is a nice guy. And i believe he's the best one by far to govern the largest country on the planet.

 

The US administarion is always critical of other nations' democracy! ---That's really sickening!I think those fuckers should mind their own business first! I've heard that New Orleans still aint recovered from last year's horrible hurricane exprience.

 

ITS NOT EVEN A DEMOCRACY! russia has a false democracy. Learn about things before you open your mouth.

what truly is scary is the bible says israel will be attacked by russia

.

 

really?! where??

The bible says Gog which is modern day russia will attack israel. also a russian arab alliance is talked about, so russia along with other arab nations will attack israel. its somewhere in ezekiel. i think like ezekiel 38 or something.

we have found the true intellectual on this board! way to tie democracy in russia to the new orleans recovery. only a genius could make that connection!

 

That George W Bush is far more intelligent. In the name of democracy, he sends those who should've been rescuing their compatriots in New Orleans to Iraq to boost the "democracy" there! Should I call him a democratic hero, or somthing like that?

 

"XXX has poor human rights", "XXX has no democracy"...

I'm fed up with those crap cliches!

 

The world dont want a imperious teacher who's chattering about others' democracy endlessly and is actually abusing democracy!

That George W Bush is far more intelligent. In the name of democracy, he sends those who should've been rescuing their compatriots in New Orleans to Iraq to boost the "democracy" there! Should I call him a democratic hero, or somthing like that?

 

"XXX has poor human rights", "XXX has no democracy"...

I'm fed up with those crap cliches!

 

The world dont want a imperious teacher who's chattering about others' democracy endlessly and is actually abusing democracy!

 

 

Most troops in iraq cant be used in New orleans. it would be one thing if bush was abusing democracy but he is not. when on the other side you have a leader(putin) who is doing even more damage to a already damaged nation.

Most troops in iraq cant be used in New orleans. it would be one thing if bush was abusing democracy but he is not. when on the other side you have a leader(putin) who is doing even more damage to a already damaged nation.

 

i believe Putin does much less damage than Bush. the only problem with him is that he is building a dictatorship. who's trying to riot and speaks against him is quickly finds himself in the jail (see: Khodorkovskiy). Putin is a shifty and smart guy

 

although the economic growth is impressive

i believe Putin does much less damage than Bush. the only problem with him is that he is building a dictatorship. who's trying to riot and speaks against him is quickly finds himself in the jail (see: Khodorkovskiy). Putin is a shifty and smart guy

 

although the economic growth is impressive

 

You believe that becaus the media wants this. if you look behind the scenes putin has caused much more problems to the world and his own nation.

 

The only problem with putin is building a dictatorship?!?!? that in itself is a HUGE problem but sadly that is not the only one.

You believe that becaus the media wants this. if you look behind the scenes putin has caused much more problems to the world and his own nation.

 

The only problem with putin is building a dictatorship?!?!? that in itself is a HUGE problem but sadly that is not the only one.

 

i really don't care about the media anymore.

 

all Putin's actions lead to a dictaroship. this is the onliest thing that he wants. Russia suffered more during the 90s with Yeltsin than Russia does now. and Russia has a very big economic potentiality.

 

he doesn't care about the Russian citizens and their state of health (the natality is decreasing with every year) and that's the biggest problem now. there's a huge poor-rich difference now, what is no good at all. but as i said the situation has improved in the last years.

 

Russia has much more possibilites than it had some years ago

 

but hopefully without Putin and his people in the future. let's not start to talk about US' *cough* Bush's *cough* actions = sins

i really don't care about the media anymore.

 

all Putin's actions lead to a dictaroship. this is the onliest thing that he wants. Russia suffered more during the 90s with Yeltsin than Russia does now. and Russia has a very big economic potentiality.

 

he doesn't care about the Russian citizens and their state of health (the natality is decreasing with every year) and that's the biggest problem now. there's a huge poor-rich difference now, what is no good at all. but as i said the situation has improved in the last years.

 

Russia has much more possibilites than it had some years ago

 

but hopefully without Putin and his people in the future. let's not start to talk about US' *cough* Bush's *cough* actions = sins

 

You underestimate putin. He wants alot more then to be a dictator, he want the soviet union back and russia to be more a global player in the coming years.

 

I hope the people of russia stand up and make sure they get a true democracy. Russia has never had a good goverment or leader, they deserve both.