Paul
Goble
Staunton, December 7 – Each day
seems to bring news of developments in the Russia of Vladimir Putin that are either
dangerous in and of themselves or presage an ever worse future for Russians and
Russia’s neighbors. Five of the most
obvious of these to have emerged in the last few days are the following:
·
United
Russia has adopted a code of ethics for its members which includes among other
things the notion that the party should follow the principles of democratic
centralism that Lenin introduced into the Bolshevik Party and that critics
noted ultimately meant a dictatorship (sobkorr.org/news/5C0A6B9361731.html).
·
The
authorities in St. Petersburg have declared that the signs activists have been putting
up on the former residences of those who were victims of Stalin’s crimes are in
and of themselves illegal, yet another step toward whitewashing the past (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0A506906916).
·
In
yet another sign that those who do not vote for Putin’s chosen candidates will
suffer, observers are noting that Putin is ignoring those governors Russians
voted for but that he did not favor, a sure sign that their regions and
republics will be ignored or face cutbacks in aid from the center as well (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0A573A47AD4).
·
Now,
those who laugh at Putin can be brought up on charges, the latest step away
from a time when puppeteers could make fun of him and a move that will likely
lead to more Putin jokes rather than fewer although those that do emerge will
have to be told only to those people can trust (meduza.io/feature/2018/12/07/smeyatsya-nad-putinym-eto-uzhe-ekstremizm).
·
And
in perhaps the best indication of how bad things are in Russia and how Putin
hopes to use some move against Ukraine to distract the attention of Russians
from that reality, Ukrainian news, which had receded in importance in recent
months on Moscow television, is now dominating broadcasts once again (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0944C5DBE55).
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