EDITORIAL
Russian Hypocrisy knows no Bounds
Anyone who knows Russia even casually has heard it many times: It’s wrong to publicly criticize government leaders, it undermines their authority and their ability to do good for people. That’s why the state has to control all the major TV stations and newspapers, and become a national cheerleader to inspire Russians who would otherwise give up hope in dealing with the horrific problems they face every day.
It’s total crap, of course, but OK, let’s go with it. Assuming the Kremlin is right, how in the world can it possibly justify suddenly using a massive TV campaign to attack Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, last week?
Doesn’t such campaign undermine the spirit of the people of Moscow? If not, why can’t such campaigns be launched against Putin and Medvedev? If so, how dare the Kremlin rulers seek to destroy one of the largest cities on the planet?
There is no answer to these questions, because the Russian government does not deal in logic.
And the Russian government does not deal in logic because the people of Russia do not demand that it does.
Let’s be clear: There is no love lost between this blog and Yuri Luzhkov, a demonic neo-Soviet figure whose dictatorial rein over the city of Moscow, including the encouragement of hideous homophobia and racism that have made Moscow one of the most dangerous places on this planet for minorities to live in.
But the attack on Luzhkov by the Kremlin is in no way reform. Those in the Kremlin who attack Luzhkov are even worse, truly Satanic in their disregard for basic human rights, and they are attacking Luzhkov for one reason only, because they see his growing power and popularity among neo-Soviet Russians as a threat. Luzhkov remains one of the last bastions of authority outside the Kremlin, and in such close proximity to it that he makes those within tremble.
What we see in this sordid episode is the full shocking horror of Russian ignorance and hypocrisy laid bare. We see that the Kremlin believes in absolutely nothing except power, has no moral compass of any kind, and that all its pronouncements are simply propaganda, just as in Soviet times.
Such a government is not long for this world.
La Russophobe 
Well, according to Robert Conquest and other authorities, during Stalin era, demise of a high placed official (such as Bukharin or Trotsky) always started with a vicious campaign in the press. Only after that, the official will be: (a) removed; (b) arrested; and (c) shot or otherwise liquidated.
Perhaps, we are witnessing some variation of this with respect to Mr. Luzkov. This TV campaign is clearly authorized by the Kremlin since the medium is being tightly controlled.
My heart bleeds for Luzhkov, a simple heroic man devoted to American-style democracy, who is now being hounded by the evil Medvedev!
What will happen to his wife? Will this simple woman no longer be able to monopolize the Moscow real estate market? Will her multi-billion dollar profits fizzle down to mere hundreds of millions? Will Luzhkov be able to continue his heroic campaign of antagonizing Ukraine by demanding independence for Crimea?
And if Luzhkov goes, who will assume his mantle of the most corrupt man in Russia?
My heart bleeds profusely…
Whatever Mr. Luzkov is or isn’t, whatever his views, whatever his wife does, are not at issue. He is truly a repulsive man in my view, so what? Even the most revolting person deserves being treated fairly. Is the concept of fairness known in Russia?
Well, yes, look at Khodorkovsky – he would have face death penalty on electric chair in US for assisting/ organizing murder of Nefteyugansk mayor, and in Russia he’s just serving an 8 years term.
Luzhkov crimes would deserve him 200+ years in prisons, most likely, in US. In Russia he will just get ousted.
If it’s not humanity, than I don’t know what humanity is. However, I’d prefer Russian penal system not to be so humane to high profile law offenders.
PS. Oh yes, before you start to cry about “Khodorkovsky is not a murderer”. Pitchougin, Khodorkovsky’s Yukos’ security service head, got 20 years in prison for ordering the murder of Nefteyugansk city mayor. The mayor, a bitter enemy of Khodorkovsky, was killed on Kh.’s birthday. Pitchougin is still, er, well and serves his term. Ask yourself why you have not heard a word about Pitchougin in the Western press, claiming he’s just an innocent victim of evil Putin.
Well, I don’t understand why you used the United States, the worst country in the world, full of stupid and lazy people as you never tire of mentioning. In spite of all these deficiencies, we do have our standards and do not send anyone to the “electric chair” (as you quaintly put it) unless that person’s guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt in open court after a fair trial; I am sure none of these concepts are known to you or to anyone in Russia.
I never heard the name of Mr. Pitchougin. I don’t know if Mr. Khodorkovski is or is not involved in any murder. However, I do not recall that Mr. Khodorkovski was ever accused of murder nor that Mr. Luzhkov was ever indicted for any crime. So, in my book both men are innocent, the former one of murder, and the latter one of anything.
Dictatroships work both ways and arbitrariness and capriciousness are their hallmarks; sometimes your warlord (Stalin before, Putin now) decides to imprison a man and no proof is required. Just because it was decided by the warlord is enough. But sometimes there seem to be enough prima facie evidence to indict and try another man, but the warlord, for the reasons known only to him, decides otherwise.
I never claimed I hate the US, or that US is a worst country in the world.
As to mr. Khodorkovsky, he was not trialed for (or accused of) murder, because his closest aidee Nevzlin (the one that gave orders to kill, according to Pitchougin, the murder organizer), fled to Israel.
If both lived in the US, mr. Nevzlin would be swiftly returned back to be trialed. Russia still does not have the agreements needed for that with Israel. And then, both would very likely meet a death penalty for murder with aggravating circumstances.
As to Khodorkovsky, and back to Russia, he was sentenced for money laundering and many other things. Here’s a simple article analysing how it all went.
http://businessneweurope.eu/story2271
You never claimed you hated the United States, but you don’t have to. Your posts make this abundantly clear.
Israel does not extradite its citizens to any country of the world, for any reason; the United States included. If Mr. Nevzlin is Jewish (I presume he is), then he automatically gets Israeli citizenship the day he arrived.
I realize Mr. Khodorkovski is probably a crook, but so is every Russian so-called “businessman.” Khodorkovski was chosen for selected prosecution, and we all know why. Not because of money laundering
@You never claimed you hated the United States, but you don’t have to. Your posts make this abundantly clear.
I’m very far from it. Please don’t inerpret my words, everything I say is quite clear.
@Israel does not extradite its citizens to any country of the world, for any reason; the United States included. If Mr. Nevzlin is Jewish (I presume he is), then he automatically gets Israeli citizenship the day he arrived.
Thanks for letting me know.
@I realize Mr. Khodorkovski is probably a crook, but so is every Russian so-called “businessman.” Khodorkovski was chosen for selected prosecution, and we all know why.
Well, quite a brave conclusion for a person being taught for the last 10 years Kh. is an innocent victim of Putin dictatorship.
So what do we know? Why was he arrested?
I am an adult approaching retirement age (well, not quite, but not that far off), not a child who needs to be “taught.”
I don’t know the exact reason for his arrest, but I think it’s because he wanted to be an active participant in political life; or in other words, he presented a challenge to Putin’s dictatorship, or it was perceived that he did.
So, yes, a crook; and no, arrested not because of his theft and embezzlement and such. Other oligarchs wisely decided to emigrate or just steer clear off politics, and they are all fine, are they not?
@So, yes, a crook; and no, arrested not because of his theft and embezzlement and such. Other oligarchs wisely decided to emigrate or just steer clear off politics, and they are all fine, are they not?
May I humbly agree to both statements this time. So what do we need to do now?
1) Let him go being a crook, and a thief? Say, hey, sorry, we know you’re a thief and a murderer possibly, but the true reason of arrest was, we believe, your wish to get into politics with all your perfect business experience, so you’re free to continue now, just be a little bit more careful and don’t kill people you dislike in the future?
2) Or arrest every other oligarch in Russia (where there are many of, and almost noone emigrated – they’re just unable to make money outside of Russia with it’s oil, check yourself)? All oligarchs (usually quite careful with words, this time I’m sure “all” words fits perfectly here) stole their empires from the state one way or another in the beginning. Berezovsky, for example, started with grey scheming around LADA cars sales in the late USSR years. Then created a pyramid-type fraud “AVVA” and stole money from the government and common people alike..
So should we like, come and say, hey, pals, we know you’re all thieves, and the West demands equal possibilities and responsibilities for all, so now you all go to jail? And thus destroy every other business in the country?
Putin of course you idiot.
By the way, just because the man is rotten does not mean that the methods used to attack him are acceptable.
Reminds me of Iraq and Afghanistan somehow.
Reminds me of Chechnya, where Russia has killed more civilians than have died in Afghanistan and Iraq put together.
And out of a much smaller population too.
And the source of the revelation is- ?
Lets see, Iraq body count, Afghan civilian death toll UN estimates.
UN estimates of the dead in Chechnya.
Look them up for yourself you moron, there is no point in posting links to web pages because you are too retarded to read them, but once again I will give you some numbers from official Russian Federation representatives no less.
Civilian casualties
The Chechen separatist sources in 2003 cited figures of some 250,000 civilians, and up to 50,000 Russian servicemen, killed during the 1994-2003 period. The rebel side also acknowledged about 5,000 separatist combatants killed as of 1999-2004, mostly in the initial phases of the war.
In November 2004, the chairman of Chechnya’s pro-Moscow State Council, Taus Djabrailov, said over 200,000 people have been killed in the Chechen Republic since 1994, including over 20,000 children. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20041120124031/http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/11/19/civiliandeath.shtml Over 200,000 Killed in Chechnya Since 1994 — Pro-Moscow Official] ] In August 2005, Djabrailov gave a conflicting figure of 160,000 killed, mostly Russians. [ [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/16/011.html Death Toll Put at 160,000 in Chechnya] , “The Moscow Times”, August 16, 2005]
In June 2005, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, a deputy prime minister in the Kremlin-controlled Chechen administration, said about 300,000 people have been killed during two wars in Chechnya over the past decade; he also said that more than 200,000 people have gone missing. “Every resident of Chechnya has scores of relatives who have been killed or gone missing”, he said. [ [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/45015 Official: Chechen wars killed 300,000] ]
Andrew, you are a person with severely limited mental abilities and we know this.
There’s never been a post from you that was not harmed by your lack of intelligence, a one that did not show your inability to analyze things, and use internets and google to find anything even remotely corresponding to reality.
This is the last time I will show an important factual error in your post, and then I’m not going to waste my time on you. I am not going to show at least four other errors I see right after reading your fantasies, and I’m not going to continue these discussions, because it’s of no use talking to you, a truly “special” child.
On Iraq, the IBC gives a number of 100,000 documented civilian deaths from violence. It is the lowest of all sources one can find. Because “documented” means investigated, as this is murder.
As to the actual civilian deaths number in Iraqi war, 4 out of 5 credible sources give number at least equaling half of the modern Chechnya population, and equaling the wole Chechnya population in 1990.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_war_casualties
Now go off. You are pathetic.
Actually Dtard, the Lancet report was widely debunked, as was the ORBS survey.
You are Pathetic, now crawl back under your rock you little piece of filth.
From one of the articles destroying the Lancet report:
CONCLUSION
In the second section I measured L2 against the AAPOR (2005) and argued that there had been a number of violations of principles of professional responsibilities in dealing with respondents and in standards for minimal disclosure. In particular, there is evidence of inadequacies in L2’s informed consent processes and that respondents were endangered and their privacy was breached. The L2 authors have refused to disclose important information including the exact wordings of the questions that were asked, a definitive data-entry form, their full sample design and data matching anonymised interviewer IDs to households.
In the third section, and also to some extent in the second, I presented evidence of data fabrication and falsification that includes:
Evidence suggesting that the figure of 600,000 violent deaths was extrapolated from two earlier surveys.
Shortcomings of disclosure just mentioned, including the L2 questionnaire, data-entry form and sample design, and data that matches interviews with anonymised interviewer IDs.
Improbable response rates and success rates in visiting selected clusters despite highly insecure conditions.
The presence of many known risk factors for fabrication listed in AAPOR/ASA (2003).
A claimed field work schedule that appears to be impossible, at least without committing ethical transgressions in the field.
Large discrepancies with other data sources on the scale, location and timing of violent deaths in Iraq in ways that are consistent with fabrication and the use of an incorrect trend figure (sub-section in the third section) that eliminates these timing discrepancies.
Evidence of fabrication in a particular Baghdad cluster (Cluster 33) combined with the implausible claim of zero security-related failures to visit Baghdad clusters during a period when Baghdad was very insecure and further evidence of fabrication in a cluster in Nineveh (Cluster 34).
Unlikely patterns in the confirmations of violent deaths through the viewing of death certificates and in the patterns of when death certificates were requested and when they were not requested.
Manipulation of other evidence on mortality in Iraq and material that is not relevant to mortality in Iraq or unsuitable for citation in a scientific publication.
A few of these anomalies could occur by chance but it is extremely unlikely that all of them could have occurred randomly and simultaneously. In light of these findings, Burnham et al. (2006a) cannot be considered a reliable contribution to knowledge about mortality during the Iraq War.
I conclude that there should be a formal investigation of the second Lancet survey of mortality in Iraq. To aid such an investigation, L2 authors should first meet the minimal disclosure standards established by AAPOR and, in addition, should provide access to their raw data, including the filled-out data-entry forms (anonymised if necessary) and sampling details.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section~db=all~content=a921401057~fulltext=713240928~dontcount=true
Aha, that’s just fantastic – all you’ve posted on Lancet’s.
The reason why you lie is quite simple:
90% of deaths quoted in Lancet were documented – documents were provided by family members during the research.
Oh, and the invasion of Afghanistan was UN mandated retard, and Russia voted in favor too.
You are a moron Dtard.
What about Iraq? What about bombing raids on Pakistan?
Drone attacks in Pakistan are done with the knowledge and cooperation of the Pakistani government.
Sure thing, they get to know – a little bit afterwards, in most cases.
As to the cooperation, the dictatorship that was installed by the US there was never intended to say a word against any US actions. Still even they do, surprisingly.
What dictatorship the US “installed” dictatorship?
Musharraf was most certainly not installed by the US, and the current government is democratically elected.
Try again Dtard.
Sure thing, Pakistani democracy:)
Like the Georgian democracy:)
And all democracies of a sort around the globe are staunch supporters of USian democracy:)
Laszlo Tooth Jr. – Bravo !!! Perfect wording – no more comments !!!
2 Andrew… Bravo for mentioning Pakistanian government. Their ISI together with MI6 and CIA born out and feed up inbred chimeras, which are presently well known as Talibam and Al-Qaeda.
Also, it’s a good point to evaluate the cost of said “UN mandate”…
Great post Laszlo !
However , your concern about who will assume the mantle of corruption after that piece of excrement Luzhkov is booted out ,
is unfounded , since in Moscovy , the land of plenty , there has never been a shortage corrupt , criminal thughs like Luzhkov . You might
say it is their foremost national product , ranking slightly higher
than oil and diamonds .