Putin isn’t So Much Lying as Engaging in ‘Chekist Mockery,’ Epstein Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 31 – Mikhail Epstein, a specialist on Russian culture at Emory University, says that if one follows Putin’s remarks, one can see that what he is saying is not “lies but Chekist mockery,” because if one lies, he deviates from the truth only about 90 percent while the Kremlin leader pointedly mocks those he is addressing by saying what is completely untrue.

            When Putin says that “Russia is struggling with the colonial West, referring to the 19^th century, then it is completely obvious that [what is going on in Ukraine] is a colonial war of Russia itself for the return of its former colony Ukraine” and not anything else (theins.ru/podkasty/262216).

            And when he says that “the West has not offered peoples the right to self-determination and fights against all human rights and freedoms, then we see completely obvious signs of this mocking” of reality, the Russian specialist on culture says. No one is fooled; and Putin does not really appear concerned about that.

            Anyone capable of thought can see that the situation is exactly the opposite of what Putin is saying, and “this is a sign of mockery” rather than just simple lying. And this is not something exceptional in the Kremlin leader’s behavior: this form of “Chekist mockery” is precisely what he does again and again.