Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said something funny today:

“Obviously we have concerns … it is important that Russia make clear to the world that it is intent on strengthening the rule of law, strengthening the role of an independent judiciary, permitting a free and independent press,” Rice told a news conference in Warsaw, during a stopover en route to Turkey.

“These are all the basics of democracy.”

Drudge’s headline was even better:

Rice: U.S., Europe Ready to Move On… Says Russia should respect democratic traditions…

The comedy! The hilarity! Just take a look at the tradition of democracy in Russia:

1613 – National council elects Michael Romanov as tsar, heralding the Romanov dynasty which ruled Russia until 1917 revolution.

Russia has its first election! I see they didn’t have a term limit back then, but I’m sure that was solved eventually.

1689-1725 – Peter the Great introduces far-reaching reforms, including creating a regular conscript army and navy, subordinating the church to himself and creating new government structures.

Freedom of religion has always been a strong point!

1798-1814 – Russia intervenes in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars in France, defeating Napoleon’s invasion in 1812 and participating in his overthrow.

Intervening in foreign conflicts to preserve dem– err, monarchy.

1861 – Emancipation Edict ends serfdom; rapid industrialisation leads to growth of working class movement and spread of revolutionary ideas.

Though obviously not the right kind of revolutionary ideas.

1904-05 – Russian expansion in Manchuria leads to war with Japan – and the 1905 revolution, which forced Tsar Nicholas II to grant a constitution and establish a parliament, or Duma.

This must be the democratic tradition they were talking about.

1917 October – Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government of Alexander Kerensky, with workers and sailors capturing government buildings and the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, and eventually taking over Moscow.

But that didn’t last long.

1922-91 – Russia part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Now let us move to the present:

2004 September – Hundreds, many of them children, killed – when siege at school in North Ossetia ends in bloodbath. President Putin blames international terrorists with links to Chechen separatists. Their leader Aslan Maskhadov condemns the seizure but says it was carried out by “madmen” motivated by a desire to seek revenge for Russian actions against their own loved ones in Chechnya.

Mr Putin announces scrapping of direct election of regional governors and plan for them to be Kremlin appointees.

You may note that I left out a couple of years. You can just chalk those up to wars, in-fighting, and terrorism. But at least they have a couple months where they tried democracy! Let’s hope they learn something from those prosperous times and try to put those few embarrassing moments of tyranny, communism, and mass murder behind them.