June 3, 2009 — Contents

WEDNESDAY JUNE 3 CONTENTS

(1)  EDITORIAL:  Give Poland her Missiles, Mr. Obama!

(2)  EDITORIAL:  Russians Destroying Themselves

(3)  EDITORIAL:  Domashnaya Klassika

(4)  EDITORIAL:  Another Major LR Milestone

(5)  EDITORIAL:   Is Charles Ganske a Kremlin Agent?

NOTE:  Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will be in Finland on June 3rd, and a public protest by human rights advocates is planned to demonstrate opposition to his neo-Soviet crackdown. If you are in Finland, be sure to turn out and show your support!

NOTE:  As we point out in #4, today we celebrate yet another major milestone in the history of our blog, the first month in which we were visited more than 100,000 times and the first week with more than 25,000 visits.  In honor of the occasion, our issue today contains 100% original content, five editorials.

EDITORIAL: Give Poland her Missiles, Mr. Obama!

EDITORIAL

Give Poland her Missiles, Mr. Obama!

Polish leader Donald Tusk is practically begging the Obama administraton to give his  country the Patriot missiles it needs to protect itself from Russian aggression.  Having seen Russian tanks rolling into Georgia last August, every man woman and child in Poland is on edge, remembering only too well how it feels to look down the business end of a Russian tank barrel.  The horror of Russia’s Katyn massacre of unarmed Polish officers still fresh in their minds, and a proud KGB spy ruling Russia, Poland knows it needs to act and act fast in order to protect itself.

EDITORIAL: Russians Destroying Themselves

EDITORIAL

Russians Destroying Themselves

For the forest of their screeching, moaning and wailing about encirclement by evil foreigners bent on their destruction, Russians cannot see the trees of their own self-destruction.

Last week we learned, for instance, about a Russian warship bombarding . . . wait for it . . . the city of St. Petersburg  (yes, the one in Russia).  Then we learned that the Putin regime could not even reach an agreement on loans to one of its last vestigial allies, Belarus, indicating that even the crazed rogues gallery Russia claims as friends has little tolerance for the Kremlin.  Now, a majority of Belarussians oppose the notion of union with Putin’s Russia.  Another erstwhile ally of Russia, Turkmenistan, was furiously threatening to sue Russia over a pipeline explosion caused by Russian negligence.  Finally, Amnesty International issued a blistering condemnation of the performance of Russian “president” Dima Medvedev in safeguarding human rights.

Now you tell us, dear reader:  How will the people of Russia react to all this horrifying bad news? 

EDITORIAL: Domashnaya Klassika

EDITORIAL

Domashnaya Klassika

Anyone who has spent any appreciable time living in Russia knows only too well the haughty contempt Russians express for American convenience foods, especially soups.  Taking (for God knows what reason) great pride in their (often repugnant) home-brewed borschts and shchis, Russians look with condescension upon “poor Americans” who are forced to consume soups out of cans.

Of course, it was easy for them to say when it was impossible to buy canned soup of any quality in Russia.  So it will be quite interesting to see what happens as the Campbell’s Soup Company opens a full-bore marketing offensive in concert with Coca-Cola to find out whether Russians were serious or not about making their own soup (Coke, by the way, another American convenience product supposedly disdained by Russians, has become the largest beverage distrubutor in the entire country, it’s products — and others like Lay’s potoato chips — available on every streetcorner in Russia).  It will give its new product an in-your-face name:  Domashnaya Classica (Classic Homemade).

From the way Russians have lapped up American cheeseburgers from Mickey D’s for more than a decade now, Campbell’s prospects have to be pretty good.  That’s to say nothing of American movies, pop music, blue jeans, chewing gum and every other aspect of American culture that Russians so self-righteously condemn even with their mouths full of Twix candy bars.

EDITORIAL: Another Major LR Milestone

EDITORIAL 

Another Major LR Milestone

May 2009 was the best month we’ve ever had here at La Russophobe in terms of visitation.  Every week during the month our traffic increased significantly from the week before, meaning we set  a new all-time record every seven days.  For the first time ever, we were visited more than 25,000 times in a single week, and by month’s end, for the first time ever, we had been visted more than 100,000 times in a single month! On top of all that, at mid-month (as we reported then) we received one-millionth visit.  Wow. What a month!

And there’s more.

EDITORIAL: Is Russia Blog’s Charles Ganske a Kremlin Agent?

EDITORIAL

Is Russia Blog’s Charles Ganske a Kremlin Agent?

On May 28th the British newspaper The Guardian reported that Alexander Sternik, a senior diplomat at the Russian Embassy in London, had launched a full-bore public relations offensive trying to convince the West that Iran did not pose a strategic threat.  His argument came in connection with what The Guardian called a “blistering” attack on the proposed U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

That very same day, almost as if they were reading from the same playbook, Russia Blog editor Charles Ganske left a long comment on the Streetwise Professor blog arguing that Russia can’t be expected to have any influence over Iran and therefore can’t be pressured into using any.

Coincidence? We don’t think so.