Russia just wrapped up three days of electoral processes which will define the internal direction of that nation for the next six years and, in doing so, serve as the driving force of global transformation for decades to come. Russia has some 112.3 million registered voters. From March 15 through March 17, a little more than 77% of them came out and cast their vote for who would be their president for the next six years. An overwhelming percentage—over 88%—cast their vote for the incumbent, Vladimir Putin.
Good to see Russia doing so well. If only our politicians had the brains to communicate with President Putin in a friendly open manner just imagine the good that could come of it.
It's hard to predict Russia's future and what will happen after Putin. I can only hope that Scott is right, for the sake of world, including the American people, but it's obviously not a done deal. Unfortunately, it's easier to predict America's future as we contemplate the likely results of our own upcoming election contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Not only are both too old and too deeply flawed to lead America, but the nation they aspire to lead is too divided, corrupted, dispirited and confused to be led even by an exceptional leader. Our key economic, civil and governmental institutions have become dysfunctional for all but the wealthiest among us. Too many citizens have lost confidence in our democracy and too many on both sides of the political divide will refuse to accept the results of the upcoming election. I can't predict exactly what will happen, but I can predict that we will come out of this election in even worse shape than we are in now before it plays out. Add to that this is not just about Biden v. Trump, but about the inevitable fact that we are a declining empire in an accelerating historical moment. Fasten your seat belt. Tray table up. Don't expect directions from your flight crew.
I was just saying earlier today, "The solar eclipse would be more apt in November this year than in March." Our election between Biden and Trump, regardless of who wins, will ensure extension of America's darkest hour.
We have not lost confidence in our democracy; we have lost sight of our republic. We are in a war between two opposing mobs, one demanding Communism and the other demanding National Socialism, the two evil forms of government born in the twentieth century.
Well, actually, both parties act for their corporate donors, and the economy is run for and by the corporations -- the literal definition of fascism as stated by Mussolini. As for Communism, have u heard any D arguing for nationalization of industry, collectivization of agriculture, and elimination of markets. No, they are the whores to Big Finance -- the literal opposite of Communism. Before you throw around labels, take the time to understand them.
"have u heard any D arguing for nationalization of industry, collectivization of agriculture, and elimination of markets"
They don't argue in public. But they govern exactly in those realms. What is Obamacare if not the nationalization of healthcare? Also Social Security is the nationalization of retirement planning. The Department of Agriculture IS the collectivization of agriculture. And the regulation of commerce does eliminate markets, at least of many market forces.
And the Rs could very well be seen judged by Mussolini's definition.
Obamacare was a giveawayro PRIVATE insurance companies, not a nationalization of health insurance and health care. Hospital companies have gotten only bigger since. The plan was based on Romneycare in Massachusetts. Please learn before you opine.
The Cold War ended more than 30 years ago. You are living in a very dated fantasy world. It's now about unbelievably wealthy elites and their corporate/intelligence agency managers versus almost everyone else. "Communism" and "Fascism" are now meaningless terms, useful only for stupid name-calling and the fostering of intellectual incoherence.
I am grateful, Scott Ritter, that you express a different opinion than our government narrative around Putin. I may be somewhat naive concerning Russian and its relationship with the West, but I have a good friend who was raised there and would be there still except that she came to the States to be part of a religious group. She and her Muslim family see Putin as a good leader and I see her perspective verified by you, Alex Rainer and others who make very good arguments for Putin's need to strong arm the oligarchs and the NATO push to get rid of Putin and take over the oil-rich Russian country. I see him now as a man of measured pace and patience as he shows wisdom in continuing to push for the Minsk accord and to call for unifying all world countries to solve the problems that are facing us on a world scale. He seems a wise leader, and though he has probably killed some oligarchs along the way--he lets this be known. They know where he stands and the West knows where he stands. When I see the mess our Western nations are in at present and the push which seems to be to deconstruct world civilization by WEF and other oligarchs, I see Putin as a leader of wisdom--and I would hope that America will be so lucky to have such a leader ascend to power in our next election. I think Bobby Kennedy and Vladimir Putin could work together well.
I envy the people of Russia who have a much to be proud of in their leadership. We in the United States are just short of following a trained bunch of howler monkeys.
There is a difference between being brainwashed into the right thing (or what seems appealing to you) and not being brainwashed and think right. There is a lot of the former in Russia and with Russian people (as it is the case in the USA). Take it as you will, but that's a very important distinction.
Be proud of the USA - it's the only country where people understand the difference between a country with its citizens and its state. The US is the destroyer of the world now, but it is also probably the only hope too.
Elections in Russia were totally rigged, BTW... probably worse than US's 2020.
Putin seems like a very smart and capable man. Is he mentoring anyone to take his place? He's invested so much, and he seems like someone who would want to see Russia's success continue. Just curious.
NATO mouthpieces have been totally transparent about their hatred of Russians and Putin. What would have happened if Putin’s forces had not counteracted the Ukrainian NATO trained forces poised on the border of the Donbass?
They would have proceeded against the ethnic Russians in the Donbass and then gone on from there against Crimea. That’s the reason NATO trained them. They were there to kill Russians. Who could miss that narrative on MSM in that period? And some still unabashedly say that. Putin’s concern for the welfare of ethnic Russians in Ukraine was totally justified. If you don’t believe that, ask the Russian authorities. They wrote a book about it called the White Book. There were drive-by shootings, roving Banderite militia groups, complete with light armoured vehicles, assassinations, mass murders, threats, extortions, media takeovers, propaganda control and finally civil war. Banderite ideology is totally arrogant and dismissive of Russian culture and ethnicity by nature because they are a tool NATO designed and financed to use against Russia.
Beyond that, Banderism would get an even greater renewal in Ukraine, after the Donbass and Crimea were subdued. The Ukrainian military would steadily strengthen even more under NATO training and tutelage complete with new weapons systems. NATO would become even more arrogant and conceited about its martial abilities and its newly empowered proxy forces. The Baltic states and Poland on Russia’s borders would also have their nascent fascist remnants from World War Two reincarnated to strengthen their militaries with Western and NATO support. Finland would have joined NATO anyway, whether Putin did his SMO or not.
The Aegis missile systems in Rumania and Poland would remain ambiguous in function, with either offensive missiles directed towards Russia and/or defensive ABM systems in place to counteract Russian capabilities. NATO states removed from Russia’s borders would become supply depots, if they could be counted upon for logistical support of NATO forces, special forces, intelligence and other proxies on Russia’s borders.
Putin would be facing conventionally armed encampments on his borders. The Russian minorities in the neighbour states would be so repressed, it would be harder to get usable intelligence for Russia about even more new American made multi-use missile emplacements on their borders. These newly made fascist militarist states could play shell games with American and NATO made mobile missile batteries on Russia’s border.
They could play war games on the border like what already happens in Korea where entire exercises are based on the premise that special combined forces of South Korea and the USA can covertly cross the border and assassinate Kim Jong Un. They could practice combined arms, assassination plans, infiltration and espionage exercises on Russia’s borders.
Putin had no reason whatsoever to believe that the NATO expansion leopard had changed its spots.
Putin would look weak. Everyone would think he was a coward and a fool to allow NATO to expand that far, to allow all the human rights abuses, and to allow them to combine that with a Russian colour revolution, assassination and infiltration.
With Russians persecuted in neighbouring states by the neighbours and him doing nothing, starting in the Donbass and Crimea, there would be a lot of Russian citizens who wouldn’t know who to follow any more. Then border infiltrations could start by assassination and espionage teams. They might even enlist some of the Russians they had formerly persecuted by promising to spare their relatives. That would be the long term plan made for Russia by NATO. Even if only a few people could see parts of the plan, some in the deep state and shadow government would know it all.
I thoroughly believe Putin foresaw all that. With NATO expansion, Putin saw the possibilities but I think he saw it all. He knew it would have to stop somewhere, so it was the sooner the better. He first made every effort to make peace, with Lavrov, but was rebuffed at every turn. He said he was forced into it. He even admitted some kind of desperation and being backed into a corner.
We have disinformation and misinformation logs of enmities in our eyes and we propose to remove a few flecks of dust from theirs. The dust, motes, logs and beams are hatred, enmities and anger.
Matthew 7:3-5 (KJV) 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
They will say that they don’t hate Russia. They say that NATO is a peaceful alliance. But how is it that they love Russians? The Russians simply don’t feel the love in NATO rhetoric. It’s hate, so they vote Putin, because most of them know what he is up against.
The few of them in NATO that are honest might have a hard time saying they have any love for Russians, if they have any conception of love. NATO expansion is, was and remains a threat. NATO expansion is not love. And it could very easily lead to nuclear war, nuclear winter and global extinction. Nuclear war is not love. It’s most likely global extinction.
To summarize what you have said the usual suspects planned to do to Russia what they tried to do in Syria, except on steroids and with more sophistication. Their goal was balkanization and resource theft. Their further goal was and still is global fascism. At this time Putin and Russia stands between us and them. Nazism goes by many names such as White Supremists, Fascists, Colonialists, Zionists, and I would say Satanists. At the head egging the other flavors on is a Luciferic philosophy. Putin is buying mankind time to wake up.
I am a fan of books and articles by the late, great Russian historian and scholar. You might want to check out "Failed Crusade" and "Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives" by Professor Cohen. There is also a book entitled "Yeltsin's Russia" by Lilia Shevtsova that might be useful. Articles by historians or political scientists whose main area of study are Russia are a good source as well. The article by Paul Robinson, "Shock Therapy and Russia's Fatal Turn", gives a brief overview of the events in Russia in 1993: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/shock-therapy-and-russias-fatal-turn
I'm an utter layman on this subject and have the same request as you, but given this disclaimer, I read Zubok's Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, and it seems to be one source to consider. It doesn't go much into the period after the fall, but it covers what set that period up.
The most disappointing, to me, aspect of events related to the SMO is the fact a number of native Russians have succumbed to the same western propaganda, related to the relationship between the western nations and Russia, that a large number of citizens of said western nations have bought into. Just as Sméagol's eyes caught the faint glimmer of the ring, gullible Russians seem to have caught the faint glimmer of western mythology.
Russia probably has a number of problems, but every nation does. It's a shame Russians abandon the potential of their homeland for the propaganda they have consumed. Such Russians would have never succeeded in the western US of the 1800's.
So US commentators say that the Russian election was a sham do they? This from a divided country ruled by gangster-like ‘families’ where the electorate is asked to pick between the least-worst candidates. Half of the US electorate firmly believe that their elections are not credible.
Your assessment fits my own, and embellishes it as well. Good thinking and good writing both, a not unexpected satisfaction of continued reading your work.
And congratulations to the people of Russia---and the Federation.
Time will tell if your prescription for Russian leadership is accepted by patient Vladimir Putin. There is much to gain but there’s also much to lose. It would be historically tragic if he swallowed the recipe before training younger leaders how to properly care for and lead the bear.
The other three candidates, one of whom was indeed a Communist party representative. As for my family - six of us voted for President Putin and one did not go to vote at all.
Excellent questions that need to be considered. Was Russian media manipulated in the same manner western media is manipulated so as to deceive the electorate? That's something I would like to know too.
In other words, were the Russian people dumb enough not to get some balanced views from elsewhere? Were they blind enough not see the state of their nation and their wallets?
"Is there a possibility that a significant % of that 77% felt compelled to vote, or else?"
I understand this is what american politicians do to "get out the vote" i.e. threatening disadvantaged communities w loss of rights, impending fascism, etc.
Well, I wonder if the Russian electorate was pressured into voting. Are records kept as to who voted and who didn't, and what happens to those who don't? Scott needs to provide more evidence that safeguards exist to prevent government coercion of non- voters.
A “temporary” pier US is building in Gaza is -- to export intentionally starved and utterly desperate Palestinians to, perhaps St. Helena or northern Pakistan – but out of Palestine. A Nakba-2 horror.
The ones who remain will – die, according to Nazi-dominated Israeli government.
US-Israel cabal is implementing Hitler’s “Final Solution” – we are watching it in real time on TV.
Good to see Russia doing so well. If only our politicians had the brains to communicate with President Putin in a friendly open manner just imagine the good that could come of it.
Yeah, Russia and the US could do a lot of good for mankind... were we to explore and work together.
Russia would end up doing all the work, and the US would try to steal their thunder.
Just look at their historical relationship with China as an example.
American is best left to its own devices and destruction.
Ed Snowden for President 2024 'From Russia With Love'
*write it in
An unfortunate truth.
It would certainly take a much different--and better-- set of people than we have as "our politicians" now.
I totally agree. The set of war mongers we have now would never qualify.
It's hard to predict Russia's future and what will happen after Putin. I can only hope that Scott is right, for the sake of world, including the American people, but it's obviously not a done deal. Unfortunately, it's easier to predict America's future as we contemplate the likely results of our own upcoming election contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Not only are both too old and too deeply flawed to lead America, but the nation they aspire to lead is too divided, corrupted, dispirited and confused to be led even by an exceptional leader. Our key economic, civil and governmental institutions have become dysfunctional for all but the wealthiest among us. Too many citizens have lost confidence in our democracy and too many on both sides of the political divide will refuse to accept the results of the upcoming election. I can't predict exactly what will happen, but I can predict that we will come out of this election in even worse shape than we are in now before it plays out. Add to that this is not just about Biden v. Trump, but about the inevitable fact that we are a declining empire in an accelerating historical moment. Fasten your seat belt. Tray table up. Don't expect directions from your flight crew.
I was just saying earlier today, "The solar eclipse would be more apt in November this year than in March." Our election between Biden and Trump, regardless of who wins, will ensure extension of America's darkest hour.
We have not lost confidence in our democracy; we have lost sight of our republic. We are in a war between two opposing mobs, one demanding Communism and the other demanding National Socialism, the two evil forms of government born in the twentieth century.
Well, actually, both parties act for their corporate donors, and the economy is run for and by the corporations -- the literal definition of fascism as stated by Mussolini. As for Communism, have u heard any D arguing for nationalization of industry, collectivization of agriculture, and elimination of markets. No, they are the whores to Big Finance -- the literal opposite of Communism. Before you throw around labels, take the time to understand them.
"have u heard any D arguing for nationalization of industry, collectivization of agriculture, and elimination of markets"
They don't argue in public. But they govern exactly in those realms. What is Obamacare if not the nationalization of healthcare? Also Social Security is the nationalization of retirement planning. The Department of Agriculture IS the collectivization of agriculture. And the regulation of commerce does eliminate markets, at least of many market forces.
And the Rs could very well be seen judged by Mussolini's definition.
The
Obamacare was a giveawayro PRIVATE insurance companies, not a nationalization of health insurance and health care. Hospital companies have gotten only bigger since. The plan was based on Romneycare in Massachusetts. Please learn before you opine.
The Cold War ended more than 30 years ago. You are living in a very dated fantasy world. It's now about unbelievably wealthy elites and their corporate/intelligence agency managers versus almost everyone else. "Communism" and "Fascism" are now meaningless terms, useful only for stupid name-calling and the fostering of intellectual incoherence.
Not very enlightening!
I am grateful, Scott Ritter, that you express a different opinion than our government narrative around Putin. I may be somewhat naive concerning Russian and its relationship with the West, but I have a good friend who was raised there and would be there still except that she came to the States to be part of a religious group. She and her Muslim family see Putin as a good leader and I see her perspective verified by you, Alex Rainer and others who make very good arguments for Putin's need to strong arm the oligarchs and the NATO push to get rid of Putin and take over the oil-rich Russian country. I see him now as a man of measured pace and patience as he shows wisdom in continuing to push for the Minsk accord and to call for unifying all world countries to solve the problems that are facing us on a world scale. He seems a wise leader, and though he has probably killed some oligarchs along the way--he lets this be known. They know where he stands and the West knows where he stands. When I see the mess our Western nations are in at present and the push which seems to be to deconstruct world civilization by WEF and other oligarchs, I see Putin as a leader of wisdom--and I would hope that America will be so lucky to have such a leader ascend to power in our next election. I think Bobby Kennedy and Vladimir Putin could work together well.
Alex Krainer?
Yes, Alex Krainer. Sorry. :)
I envy the people of Russia who have a much to be proud of in their leadership. We in the United States are just short of following a trained bunch of howler monkeys.
Not sure that they're trained.
No. Just stupid.
Not a good idea to bring howler monkeys into such disrepute! They don't deserve to be derided like this!
There is a difference between being brainwashed into the right thing (or what seems appealing to you) and not being brainwashed and think right. There is a lot of the former in Russia and with Russian people (as it is the case in the USA). Take it as you will, but that's a very important distinction.
Be proud of the USA - it's the only country where people understand the difference between a country with its citizens and its state. The US is the destroyer of the world now, but it is also probably the only hope too.
Elections in Russia were totally rigged, BTW... probably worse than US's 2020.
Putin seems like a very smart and capable man. Is he mentoring anyone to take his place? He's invested so much, and he seems like someone who would want to see Russia's success continue. Just curious.
Putin was hand-picked, seemingly out of the blue, by Yeltsin in a moment of sobriety. Putin will have 6 years to groom a successor.
Clinton supported Yelsin and he supported Putin at first
Putin tried to get into NATO but we wouldn't let him.
Then he tried to join the EU but Germany wouldn't let him.
Then we lured 14 former Warsaw Pack nations into NATO
Putin got pissed and figured that NATO was an anti-Russian alliance
NATO mouthpieces have been totally transparent about their hatred of Russians and Putin. What would have happened if Putin’s forces had not counteracted the Ukrainian NATO trained forces poised on the border of the Donbass?
They would have proceeded against the ethnic Russians in the Donbass and then gone on from there against Crimea. That’s the reason NATO trained them. They were there to kill Russians. Who could miss that narrative on MSM in that period? And some still unabashedly say that. Putin’s concern for the welfare of ethnic Russians in Ukraine was totally justified. If you don’t believe that, ask the Russian authorities. They wrote a book about it called the White Book. There were drive-by shootings, roving Banderite militia groups, complete with light armoured vehicles, assassinations, mass murders, threats, extortions, media takeovers, propaganda control and finally civil war. Banderite ideology is totally arrogant and dismissive of Russian culture and ethnicity by nature because they are a tool NATO designed and financed to use against Russia.
Beyond that, Banderism would get an even greater renewal in Ukraine, after the Donbass and Crimea were subdued. The Ukrainian military would steadily strengthen even more under NATO training and tutelage complete with new weapons systems. NATO would become even more arrogant and conceited about its martial abilities and its newly empowered proxy forces. The Baltic states and Poland on Russia’s borders would also have their nascent fascist remnants from World War Two reincarnated to strengthen their militaries with Western and NATO support. Finland would have joined NATO anyway, whether Putin did his SMO or not.
The Aegis missile systems in Rumania and Poland would remain ambiguous in function, with either offensive missiles directed towards Russia and/or defensive ABM systems in place to counteract Russian capabilities. NATO states removed from Russia’s borders would become supply depots, if they could be counted upon for logistical support of NATO forces, special forces, intelligence and other proxies on Russia’s borders.
Putin would be facing conventionally armed encampments on his borders. The Russian minorities in the neighbour states would be so repressed, it would be harder to get usable intelligence for Russia about even more new American made multi-use missile emplacements on their borders. These newly made fascist militarist states could play shell games with American and NATO made mobile missile batteries on Russia’s border.
They could play war games on the border like what already happens in Korea where entire exercises are based on the premise that special combined forces of South Korea and the USA can covertly cross the border and assassinate Kim Jong Un. They could practice combined arms, assassination plans, infiltration and espionage exercises on Russia’s borders.
Putin had no reason whatsoever to believe that the NATO expansion leopard had changed its spots.
Putin would look weak. Everyone would think he was a coward and a fool to allow NATO to expand that far, to allow all the human rights abuses, and to allow them to combine that with a Russian colour revolution, assassination and infiltration.
With Russians persecuted in neighbouring states by the neighbours and him doing nothing, starting in the Donbass and Crimea, there would be a lot of Russian citizens who wouldn’t know who to follow any more. Then border infiltrations could start by assassination and espionage teams. They might even enlist some of the Russians they had formerly persecuted by promising to spare their relatives. That would be the long term plan made for Russia by NATO. Even if only a few people could see parts of the plan, some in the deep state and shadow government would know it all.
I thoroughly believe Putin foresaw all that. With NATO expansion, Putin saw the possibilities but I think he saw it all. He knew it would have to stop somewhere, so it was the sooner the better. He first made every effort to make peace, with Lavrov, but was rebuffed at every turn. He said he was forced into it. He even admitted some kind of desperation and being backed into a corner.
We have disinformation and misinformation logs of enmities in our eyes and we propose to remove a few flecks of dust from theirs. The dust, motes, logs and beams are hatred, enmities and anger.
Matthew 7:3-5 (KJV) 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
They will say that they don’t hate Russia. They say that NATO is a peaceful alliance. But how is it that they love Russians? The Russians simply don’t feel the love in NATO rhetoric. It’s hate, so they vote Putin, because most of them know what he is up against.
The few of them in NATO that are honest might have a hard time saying they have any love for Russians, if they have any conception of love. NATO expansion is, was and remains a threat. NATO expansion is not love. And it could very easily lead to nuclear war, nuclear winter and global extinction. Nuclear war is not love. It’s most likely global extinction.
To summarize what you have said the usual suspects planned to do to Russia what they tried to do in Syria, except on steroids and with more sophistication. Their goal was balkanization and resource theft. Their further goal was and still is global fascism. At this time Putin and Russia stands between us and them. Nazism goes by many names such as White Supremists, Fascists, Colonialists, Zionists, and I would say Satanists. At the head egging the other flavors on is a Luciferic philosophy. Putin is buying mankind time to wake up.
Can you (or one of the commentators) recommend a reliable book in English which explains events in Russia after the fall of the USSR?
I am a fan of books and articles by the late, great Russian historian and scholar. You might want to check out "Failed Crusade" and "Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives" by Professor Cohen. There is also a book entitled "Yeltsin's Russia" by Lilia Shevtsova that might be useful. Articles by historians or political scientists whose main area of study are Russia are a good source as well. The article by Paul Robinson, "Shock Therapy and Russia's Fatal Turn", gives a brief overview of the events in Russia in 1993: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/shock-therapy-and-russias-fatal-turn
You might also like the websites of Geoffrey Roberts (https://geoffreyroberts.net/rethinking-russia-history-politics-society/) and Gordon Hahn (https://gordonhahn.com/russian-politics/).
I'm an utter layman on this subject and have the same request as you, but given this disclaimer, I read Zubok's Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, and it seems to be one source to consider. It doesn't go much into the period after the fall, but it covers what set that period up.
The Putin Paradox - Richard Sakwa
The most disappointing, to me, aspect of events related to the SMO is the fact a number of native Russians have succumbed to the same western propaganda, related to the relationship between the western nations and Russia, that a large number of citizens of said western nations have bought into. Just as Sméagol's eyes caught the faint glimmer of the ring, gullible Russians seem to have caught the faint glimmer of western mythology.
Russia probably has a number of problems, but every nation does. It's a shame Russians abandon the potential of their homeland for the propaganda they have consumed. Such Russians would have never succeeded in the western US of the 1800's.
So US commentators say that the Russian election was a sham do they? This from a divided country ruled by gangster-like ‘families’ where the electorate is asked to pick between the least-worst candidates. Half of the US electorate firmly believe that their elections are not credible.
Worse, it is obvious that the 2020 election was rigged in order to get a demented, old, exhausted man into the White House.
The U.S. is in no position to lecture nor take the moral high ground.
Your assessment fits my own, and embellishes it as well. Good thinking and good writing both, a not unexpected satisfaction of continued reading your work.
And congratulations to the people of Russia---and the Federation.
Scott is the voice of sanity and reason, a true son of democracy and free speech. Thank you from St Petersburg, Scott!
Time will tell if your prescription for Russian leadership is accepted by patient Vladimir Putin. There is much to gain but there’s also much to lose. It would be historically tragic if he swallowed the recipe before training younger leaders how to properly care for and lead the bear.
who did the other 12% vote for if not Putin? The communist party?
The other three candidates, one of whom was indeed a Communist party representative. As for my family - six of us voted for President Putin and one did not go to vote at all.
Did that 77% receive fair & balanced news such that they were able to make a well reasoned judgment?
Is there a possibility that a significant % of that 77% felt compelled to vote, or else?
Just trying to present some balanced questions here.
Excellent questions that need to be considered. Was Russian media manipulated in the same manner western media is manipulated so as to deceive the electorate? That's something I would like to know too.
In other words, were the Russian people dumb enough not to get some balanced views from elsewhere? Were they blind enough not see the state of their nation and their wallets?
"Is there a possibility that a significant % of that 77% felt compelled to vote, or else?"
I understand this is what american politicians do to "get out the vote" i.e. threatening disadvantaged communities w loss of rights, impending fascism, etc.
Well, I wonder if the Russian electorate was pressured into voting. Are records kept as to who voted and who didn't, and what happens to those who don't? Scott needs to provide more evidence that safeguards exist to prevent government coercion of non- voters.
Putin is like Odysseus, Russia, Circe, loves him, and he loves her back ... https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/circes-magick-spell-on-odysseus
Think about it – A Genocide in YOUR Name !!
A “temporary” pier US is building in Gaza is -- to export intentionally starved and utterly desperate Palestinians to, perhaps St. Helena or northern Pakistan – but out of Palestine. A Nakba-2 horror.
The ones who remain will – die, according to Nazi-dominated Israeli government.
US-Israel cabal is implementing Hitler’s “Final Solution” – we are watching it in real time on TV.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-trojan-horse-read-by-eunice?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2