Dictatorship Goes Better with Coke . . . if You Prefer Freedom, You Might Want to Consider Pepsi
Filed under: Russia
I think that the progress that has been made by Russia has been absolutely magnificent. People don't understand how fundamentally changed Russia is, however, and we're working on this within the foreign investment advisory council and the U.S.-Russia Business Council.
Those were the words of Coca-Cola Chairman & CEO E. Neville Isdell, speaking in Davos, Switzerland last month at the so-called "World Economic Form." Isdell was seated on a stage next to a bunch of Kremlin sycophants all singing the praises of Vladimir Putin's Russia. He goes on to vow to assist Russia in undertaking a propaganda blitz to convince the world of how wonderful things really are over there in Zaire with permafrost. You can watch the whole disgusting mess for yourself on YouTube if you have the stomach for it. Even a casual reader of this blog will know how bizarre, how utterly detached from reality, this statement really is. It goes without saying that Mr. Isdell hasn't spent a single day of his life living real life on the streets of Russia. His words have the horrifying echo of Neville Chamberlain, or those hopeless idiots who remarked on how "different" from Tsarist Russia were the Bolsheviks and therefore allowed them to grow into the most abusive totalitarian regime the world has ever known.
It seems that Coke is not satisfied peddling liquid candy to the world's children, but wants in addition to ingratiate itself with the malignant dictatorship ensconced in the Kremlin, perhaps with the ultimate goal of actually forcing every man, woman and child in the world to imbibe their vacuous brew at gunpoint. At the very least, it's certainly willing to sell the institution of democracy down the river in exchange for a quick buck as a participant in the Kremlin's mob-like protection racket.
Not that a nasty, treacherous little slug like Mr. Isdell would be likely to care, but for those interested in facts Russia's "progress" in governmental development has been repeatedly measured by numerous international experts and it has received failing grades every single time. It's more than a little ironic, of course, that Mr. Isdell chose to make his remarks in Switzerland, since as we've just reported the Supreme Court of Switzerland has just made an official ruling that Russia's prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky was politically motivated, corrupt and illegal.
Just there were certain companies only to happy to do business with Adolf Hitler, so too some of our own firms will betray us as we confront the new cold war with Russia. Indeed, Russia certainly has made "magnificent" progress in funneling arms to dictator Hugo Chavez, money to terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and nuclear technology (and missiles to defend it) to Iran. Also magnificent progress in menacing the U.S. and Britain with nuclear bombers, obliterating the media, crushing opposition parties and abolishing local governance. Of course, you have to define "magnificent" to mean tending to destroy the United States and its value system, but apparently Coke has no problem doing that (nor does it care that the average Russian man works for $3/hour and doesn't live to reach the age of 60).
As a result, it's our responsibility to identify those companies who support our goals and values and those that don't, and to reward and punish accordingly. If we don't, we'll be walking right down the road trodden by our forefathers, the road that lead to global apocalypse.
Did somebody say Pepsi . . . for those who think young (and free)?
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