Russia has Buried Its Hero because It Can’t Yet Bury Its Tyrant, Some Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 1 – In response to the funeral of Aleksey Navalny, whom Putin murdered while the opposition leader was in a prison camp, is succinctly captured by a saying now circulating among Russians. The country, they say, has had to bury its hero because it has not yet been able to bury its tyrant.

            That is just one of the anecdotes in the latest collection offered by Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/47918/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       The first naked party took place in the Garden of Eden, but God punished Adam and Eve without waiting for Russian officials to denounce them.

·       Regarding Moscow and the international situation. Russians have concluded that things can’t be corrected but there is still more to ruin.

·       A Russian veteran of the war in Ukraine who was given 17 years in prison for raping two young women could have been given a much longer sentence if he had been appropriately charged with discrediting the army.

·       When a people’s sense of shame disappears, they become a herd.

·       Russians see their situation now as being like the situation on the Titanic: the lower decks are already under water but upstairs in the salon for the VIPS, the orchestra continues to play.

·       Putin asked his audience if they were with him. Everyone shouted yes. Then he told them that as they left the hall, they could sign up to fight in Ukraine. But instead of leaving through the normal exit and facing that fate, they all rushed out through the side doors.