Friday, June 2, 2017

Do Russians Think Washington Has Gone Insane?

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches the celebrations for the City Day in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 10, 2016 Photo: Reuters

David Ignatius, Washington Post: What does Russia think about all this? ‘Washington has gone crazy.’

When Russian officials and analysts here talk about the U.S. investigation of their alleged hacking of the 2016 campaign, two themes predominate: They’re flattered that their country is seen as such a powerful threat, and they’re amazed that the United States is so preoccupied with the scandal.

This is the official line, to be sure, but it was also expressed by several critics of the regime I interviewed this week. People can’t quite believe the sudden reversal of fortunes: Russia is back as a global force, after decades of humiliation. And the United States, so long the dominant superpower, is now divided, disoriented and, to Russian eyes, in retreat.

For the Kremlin version, here’s how Sergey Karaganov, the head of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, describes his reaction to the investigation: “It’s a mixture of disgust and sympathy. Disgust because 99 percent of that is lies or a concoction, maybe 100 percent. As for sympathy, it’s a desperate picture when a great democracy is killing itself, committing collective suicide.”

Read more ....

WNU editor: David Ignatius ignores a few points to make his case that Russia thinks that "Washington" has gone crazy .... like mentioning that Russians favoured Trump over Clinton but not explaining why. This is why .... Hillary Clinton Compares Russian President Putin And Russia To Hitler And The Nazis (March 5, 2014). Nor does he mentioned what Russian President Putin himself said two days ago on what was his take on why was Russia being targeted in the political debates in Washington .... his answer .... Democrat politics and their refusal to accept the idea that Trump won the election legitimately .... Russian President Putin: U.S. Election Meddling Charge A ‘Fiction’ By Defeated Democrats (May 31, 2017). Nope .... David Ignatius has to push his own narrative on what he thinks the view from Russia is .... and to cherry pick what he likes to make his case .... like quoting some Russian foreign policy analyst who compares President Trump to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Yup .... you have to throw in Boris Yeltsin. But the problem with this narrative is when it comes to people like me who are familiar on who and what Boris Yeltsin was .... and who can say this confidence .... President Trump is a lot of things but he is definitely no Boris Yeltsin. But like I said in the beginning .... David Ignatius has his own narrative to push .... about how Russians see themselves, and how they see the  U.S.. .... and he quotes those parts that supports his case.

On a side note .... I can also say this without hesitation. The view in Moscow is that it is the U.S. press that has gone insane .... Russia's Foreign Minister Trolls The U.S. (May 19, 2017). More here .... The Kremlin Voices Concerns Over The Future Of US Mainstream Media (May 11, 2017).

9 comments:

fred said...

thanks! You made my day...Russian press thinks American press gone insane! ho ho ho

RussInSoCal said...

WNU, I'd be very interested to know your opinion of Yeltsin.

War News Updates Editor said...

RussInSoCal
LOL
Do you got all day?

I will always remember him for this (I was there on the second day)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14589691

Also. I stood as a personal aide for my uncle (he was a senior officer in the military) when we met him when this was unfolding
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Russian_constitutional_crisis

It is the only time in my life that I carried a sidearm in public.

After that I saw him numerous times .... always in a crowd. I never talked to him nor shook his hand .... I was just an eyewitness to history.

The last time I saw him was when I was taking a walk through Red Square at night (I always take walks at night). He was alone and no longer in government and we walked by each other ..... and when I passed him I said to myself .... was that Boris Yeltsin? I turned my head around but he had already turned his head .... and yes .... he was Boris Yeltsin. To this day I still regret not saying anything in that chance encounter .... to at least thank him for what he did in 1991 and 1993.

As for the other things. Many blame him for the economic collapse of Russia in the 1990s .... but the fix was already in .... the Soviet Union is/was a failed economic model, and its breakup just overwhelmed everyone. But as President the buck stopped at his desk .... and the blame. I am sure that this ate him up .... because the suffering was wide spread .... and some of it could be seen at the steps of the Kremlin on Red Square where the beggars (mostly young girls) were always gathering asking for help.

As for his appointment of Putin as his replacement .... there were better people, but the powers that be had other ideas, and Yeltsin just wanted to get out. That was a mistake .... but I do understand now that he no longer was the man that he was in the early 1990s. The pressure of being President and his problems with alcohol were too much for him .... and he was probably relieved when he left the office for the last time.

Anonymous said...

I as a Swede also think the American press has gone insane together with the Democrats.

TWN said...

As a Canadian I think the entire Western press has gone insane, the BS and Propaganda, truth is dead man walking, but were all so shell shocked now, I doubt we could recognize the truth if it bit us on the ass.

kidd said...

It's called hog wash and I think American people are full of it and can't get enough

Jay Farquharson said...

LMFAO at how the Russian trolling, victory laps and end zone dances just keep coming.

During the Cold War, they would have gotten a nuke shoved up their ass if they had indulged in anywhere near this level of gloating.

Even though they have Secret Agent covfefe in the White House, and the Bananna Republicans in the House and Senate,

During the Cold War, the Soviets always acted as if they would have to deal with the Next Administration,

So no gloating, no end zone dances, no victory laps, no trolling,

The US's Jupiter missiles were moved out of Turkey on the down low, and even the Soviet's kept their victory quiet.

Really makes me wonder what they hacked from the RNC that has them so cocky, trash talking the US at every opportunity.

Anonymous said...

I'd agree... the Media in the US was actually insane for a long time. .what's new is the changed behaviour on CNN .. Just look at who they employ as their "faces".. a clown like Richard Quest, who got caught with drugs on him, half naked and a rope around his neck in a park known for gay sex, then about 10 bimbos who're intellectually on the same level as Fox news anchors, Amanpour who's pretending to be a real journalist but mostly she gets facts wrong and is just strongly opinionated, then there's Becky who's just a copy of Richard quest and patronising in her "what do you see when you see xyz - I see stuff", and then the two snow owls Anderson Cooper and Sleepy head Wolf Blitzer. .are you guys at CNN serious? It's like a commercial channel with soap Opera style news. .and that's what most people in the US - together with fox on the right and msnbc on the left watch. ..all terribly superficial news. . Maybe MSNBC the Best of the tree, but with so left leaning hosts you gotta be a gay guy at Starbucks married to a lesbian and adopted African children to sort of identify with it. ..ffs America get your shit together

Anonymous said...

The big problem with media in the US is the money. Especially difficult in the news business. As soon as CNN changed from a 24/7 news channel to a 12:12/7 news and infomercial channel (their golf stories, the vist country xyz sponsored by tourism industry of that country etc), they needed to get the users watch more often and for longer periods. .right after 9/11 CNN by its own admissions made more money than ever because people couldn't turn off as everything became "Breaking News" and "live" while first widening what qualified as breaking news and then widening what qualified as live. The goal was to bind the viewers and bring them into a state of hightened attention. .and then. ..the infomercials are all relaxing and targeted to higher value. .come visit Thailand for great food and beaches. ..Play Golf. ..sponsored by omega. .. and on CNN.com it also happened. .a bit later..like in the last 5 years (while "watch bait"/breaking news/"live" happened much earlier. ..to about the same time as the different terrorism warning codes in the US were introduced. .cnn realised that watchers couldn't turn off and jumped on it. .. same with the Trump pre and post election coverage. It's all about the money. CNN makes a ton of money with people watching Trump related news. ..Russia meddling. ..constant innuendo. ..something that news wouldn't have stood for 20 years ago. .now it's totally fine. It brings money.