EDITORIAL: Putin the Man, the Myth, the Monster

EDITORIAL

Putin the Man, the Myth, the Monster

In February of 2006, Roman Kupchinsky of Radio Free Europe wrote an article about about Vladimir Putin’s involvement with the St. Petersburg Mining Instiute, which Kupchisnky called “one of the most prestigious academic institutions in Russia, which traces its history back to 1773.”  He noted that “in 1997 Putin defended his doctoral dissertation examining how natural resources can contribute to regional economies and strategic planning” and then, two years later, wrote an article for the Institute’s Journal in which he continued his dissertation analysis and “posited that hydrocarbons were key to Russia’s development and the restoration of its former power. He argued that the most effective way to exploit this resource was through state regulation of the fuel sector, and by creating large and vertically integrated companies that would work in partnership with the state.”

Oops.  One month later, thanks to the efforts of the left-wing think tank Brookings Institution, the world learned that:

• Putin had not written the thesis, he had purchased it from a dissertation mill

• The unknown person (or persons) who actually wrote the paper had not really “written” it either, but rather simply copied large sections of it from American textbooks

• The degree for which the thesis had been submitted was not doctoral but subdoctoral, so Putin was handed a degree he had not even theoretically, much less actually, earned

Ouch.  Given all that, it’s hardly likely that Putin had written the Journal article, either. 

To date, no disciplinary action of any kind has been taken against Putin, probably because his actions are perfectly normal in the context of Russian higher “education” — though to be sure most cheating, lying students are only given the degrees their papers qualify for, not the highest one in existence.

Our lead item today highlights Putin’s direct role in the massive loss of life that occured during the Beslan hostage crisis.  And that’s actually small potatoes compared to Putin’s role in the Moscow apartment bombings, which so many have lost their lives seeking to expose.  It’s to say nothing of the massive campaign of state-sponsored murder in Chechnya which Putin ordered, and for which he has been convicted over and over again in the European Court for Human rights (now, Putin is in the process of repudiating the court’s jurisdiction and refusing to pay further judgments).

What more evidence does the world require?

Putin is a cowardly thug and bully, and this was recently revealed in a humiliating exchange with the wife of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  When Putin accused Solzhenitsyn of writing “propaganda” his wife publicly corrected Putin, who accepted the correction and changed his wording.  The incident stands in stark contrast to the craven manner in which the oligarchs responded to Putin’s bullying at Pikalyovo.

Like all bullies, Putin uses crude threats to mask his weakness and his cowardice.  When confronted by courage and strength, Putin has no idea how to respond and instantly capitulates.  It is time the people of Russia, and the world, realized who and what Putin is before he, like Stalin before him, drives the nation over the precipice of doom.

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