Nashi Unbound
Filed under: Russia
"After 100 years of our country being in total crisis, we at last have a chance to live normally. Thanks to President Putin, we, the young generation, have prospects like never before."
-- Robert Schlegel (pictured below, right), leading member of Nashi, the Kremlin's sycophantic Hitler-youth personality cult, and candidate for the Russian parliament in elections to be held December 2nd
Indeed, Russian youth does have all kinds of new possibilities. Now they get to don gas masks and Soviet-red scarves and go out in the streets and crack skulls and shout down and turn in to the KGB anyone who dares to criticize the Putin regime, especially during an election cycle. Indeed, who dreamed such wonders would be possible ten years ago?
Incidentally, if you said the name "Schlegel" to any Slavic Russian in the context of being someone criticizing Russia, they'd say that person was "not Russian" at all since his name "isn't Russian." This racism doesn't apply, however, to sycophants it seems.
If this little boy thinks like this at his young age, do you dare to imagine how he'll think at age 50? If this is Russia's future, it's already doomed.
Over the weekend, leading Russian opposition politician Garry Kasparov (pictured, left) was arrested and sentenced to five days in prison for daring to lead a peaceful protest march through Moscow ahead of parliamentary elections next week. During the speeches by Kasparov's group, "pro-Kremlin agitators [i.e., Nashi] boomed cackling laughter from loudspeakers behind police, who made no move to stop them. Russian political satirist Viktor Shenderovich noted in an interview at Saturday's rally that a similar stunt by the opposition would not last a minute if directed against President Vladimir Putin or a United Russia rally." The next day, at least 150 people were arrested preemptively in St. Petersburg to stop a similar march.
Attorney Robert Amsterdam says that Kasparov's simultaneous arrest, trial and conviction was a total sham and an obvious violation of international law. He also posts a firsthand account of the arrest and with Kasparov's attorney.
The Kremlin is probing the West. The first time Kasparov was arrested, he was held only a few hours. There was no significant reaction from the West, so now, it's five days. If they get away with five days, maybe next time Kasparov will find himself in a Siberian prison cell next to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the last man to seriously challenge Putin for the presidency, for a term of years.
Some claim Kasparov is just a gadfly, not a serious threat to Putin. If that's so, why arrest him? Either Kasparov is far more formidable than the Kremlin's apologists imagine, or Putin is far more paranoid and unstable. Either way, Russia is on the precipice of total disaster.
The world has just finishing wringing its hands over the actions of Georgia's president to quell unrest fomented by Russian agitators, claiming he has betrayed his democratic trust even though he has called immediate elections to let the people decide. Now the world sees exactly the same behavior displayed by Russia, a G-8 member. Its retribution against Russia must be sure and swift.
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