Putin's show of force

In a vintage performance, reminiscent of an all-powerful tsar sweeping through town in imperial times, Putin became angry when he heard of the rising costs and construction delays at the ski-jump complex Bilalov has been involved in.

Unsmiling and sarcastic, Putin unceremoniously scolded Bilalov in front of television cameras at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday, then sacked him as vice president of Russia's Olympic Committee.

Russian deputy penalized for using opposition term

Ilya Ponomarev of "Just Russia" was penalized by the Russian Duma (Parliament) after using the term "crooks and thieves" in a speech. He is now barred from the floor for a month. Apparently, the term coined by ultra-nationalist leader Alexey Navalny, is now a taboo phrase in the Kremlin lexicon. I'm sure he would not get barred even if he cursed but that nothing appals the Kremlin more than any shadow of popular-based dissent. I have no sympathy for Navalny, but he did manage to garner a certain opposition following, which posed the greatest-yet, internal challenge to this increasingly totalitarian regime. The entire legislative institution in Russia resembles a low-quality circus with semi-educated ignoramuses, athletes and beauty pageants on board. The reaction to the "C&T" term only serves to prove the growing paranoia of this discredited regime.

Ethnic nationalism - tool of the weak

In France, the sinking Sarkozy desperately tries to salvage his re-election prospects by priding himself on outlawing hijab as one of the crowning achievements of his otherwise-lackluster presidential term. He says that the spread of halal meat is a major problem in today's France and threatens to shut France's borders to stem the flow of immigration. Of course, in the crisis-stricken France, hijab and halal food are the biggest problems. These are the real threats to the economy, security or dare I say the overused term 'identity'? It speaks of a deep crisis of social intellectual outlook when such primitive rhetoric finds the greatest resonance among populace. He "got the loudest cheer of the rally when he reminded his supporters he had banned Islamic veils in France", Al Jazeera reports.

When populist political leaders find themselves in deep trouble, they always resort to the basest, most primitive and barbarian form of political activism – ethnic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism relegates human beings to the their mere gene pool, their biological features, skin color, hair color, facial traits… It's nothing but primitive. It arouses the basest emotions and instincts. It's like sex. It's so un-complicated, instinctive and easily digestible that it wins followers in an instant. That’s what politicians in trouble exploit to garner easy votes. They abuse ethnically nationalistic discourse when they have nothing else to pride themselves on, when the economy is in shambles, when the morale is in ruins… When there's nothing else that can save them, they blame the immigrants for national malaises. But in the collective psyche, the immigrant is not only the one who entered without visa. It is anyone who is different, it is simply the Other. Exploiting nationalist rhetoric is dangerous because it inevitably results in racial animosity, tensions and at times even crimes.

That continues to happen in Russia where the unambiguously racist slogan "Russia for Russians" (in Russian, it means for "ethnic Russians" – russkie –as opposed to Russian citizens, which is unmistakably racist) was rampant. Any country in crisis needs lasting solutions and politicians who can gracefully address them without degenerating their discourses into the primitive verbiage of "us vs them".

Playing "ethnic card" in Russia

If it still remains a secret for anyone, Russian people are deeply racist and grossly intolerant. A recent survey showed that while Russians are largely tolerant toward migrants from Ukraine and Moldova, they dislike migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Basically, it is not so much the problem of "taking away" their jobs but a problem of racial aversion that is an integral part of modern Russian culture. Ten per cent of respondents in this survey said they support the actions of skinheads, which are routine attacks, brutal harassment and sometimes even killings of Asian migrants (both Asian Russian and foreigners). In any civilized country, such findings would ring alarm about a moral decay or, as the French like to say, identity crisis. In ours, no. It's a matter of quotidian practice that minorities are harassed and intimidated and the silently aggressive majority backs them.

Just last weekend, scores protested in Moscow against decorated Chechen martial artist Rasul Mirzaev. Mirzaev last summer killed a Russian guy in a nightclub fight. While killing in a fight is of course a crime that can never go unpunished, in the Russian collective consciousness, it takes on profoundly racist undertones. "It is a CHECHEN man who attacked our RUSSIAN guy, it's an attack on our culture, values, existence... Soon they, aggressive and culturally alien minorities, will take over this country and eliminate us..." In their collective psyche, we will always be this alien "other", a threat by definition. We will never be recognized as part of the country, no matter how we try. The only idea that effectively galvanizes Russian people nowadays is that of ethnic Russian nationalism, aversion to minorities and a dangerously misleading sentiment that their existence is under threat. Government response?  Putin's increasingly populist tenor. In one of his six election platform papers, he specifically elaborated on the "national issue" in Russia (read "ethnic" because in the Russian language, "national" is closer in meaning to "ethnic" but nation-state). Instead of unequivocally condemning these acts of hatred, he speaks about toughening laws against "internal migrants" (a euphemism that signifies any Russian person who is not white - read the North Caucasus and Kalmykia). He reiterates a million times throughout the article that "Russian ethnos" is the core of the state and needs to be preserved. He warns against the threat of regional separatism and parochial ethnic nationalism, which he doesn't hesitate to say contradicts the spirit of the constitution (let's remind the former and future president that our constitution starts with Russia as a multi-ethnic state and any calls for "racial purity" that resounded in recent and last year's protests are equally anti-constitutional).

More disturbingly, in his dangerously vague language, he gives a license to kill minorities by justifying this surge in racial hatred. Putin says that "when in Russia, some people talk about violating the rights of ethnic Russian people in historically Russian land, it means that state structures are not able to fulfill their primary task - to protect the life, rights and security of its citizens". So the government has failed to protect ethnic Russians, and that is the root of the ever-growing racial aversion. Is it legitimate, justified and simply morally permissible to harass or kill a person just because of his/her color? Putin does not give an answer. Instead, he prefers to evoke the contentious and empty concepts of "cultural and behaviorial incompatibility" of "some internal migrants" who come to Moscow. Way to go Mr President, the guarantor of the constitution.....

"Electoral campaign" and fear-mongering

This video is simply an insult to human intelligence. Cheap fear-mongering of a man who is holding at straw to salvage his whatever lost credibility. It's a shameless attempt at manipulation that vastly underestimates Russian intelligence. What sane person would ever believe this fantasmagorical scenario? Here are just a few examples from "what Russia would look like without Putin" (try not to laugh):
- Georgia occupies parts of Russia
- NATO troops invade Russia
- Russia's nuclear arsenal slips under US control
- A number of regions declare independence
- North Caucasus republics unite in one Emirate
- The economy in ruins, and one dollar equals 100 roubles, a loaf of bread costs 1,000 roubles.....

And so on and so forth. I'm not sure who made this masterpiece but it is a grotesque form of Putin's hackneyed propaganda - the country will devolve into chaos without him, disintegrate and fall apart. Too bad the entire world system has proved and continues to prove in daily battles in the Middle East and elsewhere that a nation's survival or putative stability can never depend on one person solely. It is a millenium-old myth of venal and rapacious dictators that they are indispensable for our social fabric. A potent lesson we've drawn the Arab spring, regardless of where we are, is that people don't need specific individuals to guard them, they don't need a certain level of so-called "political maturity" to exercise their rights. They need institutions that put human being at the center of gravity, they need power that enforces law without tightening screws and nurtures untrammeled freedom without degenerating into chaos. And there are no exceptions, there are no "cultural models" that are inherently resistant to this logic. All of that reasoning was tossed into the proverbial bin of history when Arab peoples toppled people in power last year and continue to do so, emboldening and inspiring us and many others.

Vladimir Putin's "electoral campaign" is in the full swing with the pre-election tricks of threatening independent voices (as happened with Ekho Moskvi), shutting down NGOs (as happened with election watchdog Golos), and now most disturbingly, intimidating Russian artists into pro-Putin stunts (poor Chulpan Khamatova was forced to shoot a video in support of the soon-to-be president at the risk of losing her charity work). But the more they do so, the more they de-legitimize themselves. If they take away our oasis of freedom, three more will spring up. We've learnt the best lessons from the Arab spring and we won't be robbed of our will again.

Satiated minority?

The  stooge of the Russian regime dismisses pro-democracy protesters as "a satiated, ambitious, absolutely brainless minority." What a typical face of Putin's mudslinging, insult-spewing propaganda machine. 

Elections, Navalny

I'm truly and pleasantly surprised to see Russians protest against the result of the profoundly fraudulent election that just took place. It was a mere charade, ridicule of democracy and they dare issue self-congratulatory statements on how the public still supports them. There were outrageous incidents of violations, recorded by activists and observers. Ballots were snatched, replaced and in many instances, one person would vote for a group. Impartial observers were harassed and intimidated, as was the case with "Golos".

But maybe Russia's perpetual winter has drawn a modicum of inspiration from Arabs' spectacular and admirable spring. Maybe the awakening of  Russian consciousness is on its way. Scores of youths went out chanting "Shame". These are those agitated youths who no longer want to remain silent, complicit in this dictatorhip or simply indifferent. These people could potentially knock some sense into Vladimir Putin's machist mentality.

Opposition blogger Navalny, who coined the term "party of thieves and swindlers", was detained. His site chornicled in a defiant and bold manner the ubiquitous breaches. While I salute his courage and active citizenship, here I would like to draw attention to something that I found rather disturbing on his blog.

While castigating Putin for his lame policies and dictatorial stunts, Navalny dismisses the returning president as "the president of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan but not Russia". It baffles me how deeply etched aversion to ethnic republics and minorities is in Russia. Here's this putatively progressive young man with a bold stance on politics and a desire to change discarding the entire North Caucasus as an alien and outcast non-Russia. Could he not the president of Chechnya and Stavropol and St Petersburg and Moscow and Russia in its entirety? Oh wait, everything non-white is not considered Russia in the minds of this saluted activist. This one phrase is enough to show that even among politically engaged youths, anti-minority sentiment is a common feature. Vladimir Putin may have committed myriad faults and crimes, but caring for the Caucasus is not one of them.