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Well, when Putin said (and this is a quote from Al Jazeera):
"
Those who were behind recent events, they were ...preparing a coup d'etat, another one. They were planning to seize power, stopping at nothing. Terror, murder, pogroms were used," he told a joint session of parliament on Tuesday, calling them "nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites".
"It is primarily they who are deciding how Ukraine lives today. The so-called Ukrainian authorities introduced a scandalous law on the revision of the language policy, which directly violated the rights of the national minorities."
His first paragraph is fundamentally nonsense. It was a popular uprising and not a coup d'etat. I know this from many reports from friends who have no reason to lie to me and who were involved in the action. It is also true that a large proportion of the population of Kyiv took part at one time or another.
His second paragraph is true in its second sentence. Its first sentence continues the nonsense from the first paragraph. They are not deciding how Ukraine lives today, their power is very limited by the power of the movement.
As to your saying, Hunter, that you have seen "no signs so far of public and significant left tendencies," this of course depends on the meaning of the words "seen" and "significant. I have sent you many reports about synidicalist union activity, and mentioned other reports. Also, in the context of Ukraine, the mass democratic uprising developed many ideas about radical democracy among large numbers of people. The Russian actions have weakened this tendency, pulling it in a nationalist direction, but the tendencies still exist. So if you want to claim that you have not "seen" them, I will accept this--but I also will wonder why you do not respond specifically to what I have been sending you.
best
sam
-----Original Message-----
From: Hunter Gray <[email protected]>
To: Redbadbear <[email protected]>
Cc: newgreencanada <[email protected]>; marxist <[email protected]>; SycamoreCanyon <[email protected]>; Bear Without Borders <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, Mar 18, 2014 9:46 am
Subject: [SycamoreCanyon] Comment
I made a point early this morning to listen to the full Putin speech. Although the translation was rough, I thought his presentation, essentially an assimilation of previous points he's made plus recent developments, was well done. Using the critical importance of grassroots self-determination as indicated by the huge pro-Russian Crimean vote on Sunday, and the historic and contemporary strategic importance of Crimea to Russia, it would seem difficult for reasonable people to seriously challenge his and Russia's position -- as far as it has tangibly gone.
I listened to it on Al Jazeera America where our family now spends most of its new-getting time. It's a welcome change from what seems increasingly to be the "kept" traditional U.S. TV media. It does have a number of pundits who follow that U.S. position but it does provide other points pf view, pundit and grassroots, and has very good camera footage. Its various global features are nicely done. I like the attention to Mongolia.
Soon after Putin's speech, it carried a shot of Gorbachev with his very strong statement backing Putin's Crimean policy.
It's interesting to watch some -- some -- American academic specialists in Russian affairs and international law struggle to maintain academic integrity while trying to follow the U.S. position.
To me, the government in Kiev is far from impressive. Busy attempting to integrate itself into the Western arrangement while receiving a continual flow of blessings from that direction, it seems generally impotent. I have heard more about fascist currents therein, some information on which seems authoritative -- though that general part of the pasture remains pretty murky. I have noted no signs so far of public and significant left tendencies.
Hunter Bear
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /
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Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO
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