This is pretty much where I am. I am fully sceptical of the media as I’ve said on here plenty of times. However for the same reason I distrust them, I now trust them. In my opinion Putin has hoodwinked the government and the stooges they have in the media for a long time. He tricked them into thinking he was forming a progressive Russia that wanted to integrate into society. And they have fallen for it and let the Russian money flood in, and impact our politics & media with impunity. Little did they realise Putin has always hated the west and has been playing a Trojan horse game the whole time. He duped the tories and those on their payroll in the media. Greed has made the west an easy target
There is an outside chance we have listened to the same interview from a U.K. based anti establishment Russian on this issue
Of course there is a war ffs . I don’t trust the media anymore . And for someone to imply I am a Tory apologist The world has gone fing mad , and I’m not sure I want to be part of it anymore .
You told someone to stop posting pieces that were critical of the Tory government’s response to this situation. It’s there in black and white. Not everyone knows or remembers every position you have ever held when posting here. But your most recent one was what it was
Personally don't care if they are Tory, Labour or anyone else. Anyone who does something that helps stop Putin will get my support right now.
It’s an opportunity to gain popular support I won’t deny it. And one that the government is not taking It could hubris - so confident that they will win the next election regardless / people will forget or not care enough Or they are far far more reliant on the money than we even suspect that they are. (Or worse and there is dirt)
You have every right to post whatever you like mate, but I’m not sure picking on people on here is a good idea.
Come on Badger, stay with it, most times I agree with you. Not always, but I've always found your points, arguments and information stimulating, keep on keeping on..
Chilco I do wonder if the protests have been over-played by the BBC. You can almost envisage the Russian protesters as being metropolitan liberals and I think that they must be a massive minority. Radio Four interviewed an American security specialist this evening and expressed the opinion that Putin's security services were so thorough that any protests were unlikely to amount to anything because people are so afraid of him. It also crossed my mind whether it is also a generational thing with older people who lived during the Soviet era actually appreciating the fact that Putin is flexing his muscles. I am not convinced that Putin really cares about his people suffering due to sanctions and I still think that any movement against him will come from those people associated with him who have lost a fortune. However, I don;t think that ousting Putin will really make much difference how the oligarchs are regarded. In my opinion, there is no way back for them. Any reconciliation will require a totally new Russia.
Also the point of that tweet isn’t that the protestors are majority. More that there are lots of them and potentially too many to arrest And so what if they are all the metropolitan elite types? If you arrest all of them then surely that leaves even more gaps in an already beleaguered economy ? I say this not knowing extensive detail about said economy But if it is the old and the rural that support putin that isn’t going to run an economy. That said I don’t think there are enough people prepared to “down tools” for it to make a difference. It will likely be down to the oligarchs
Interesting (though possibly not helpful, with reference to the above) to hear that there are a lot of young Russians leaving and trying to get out of Russia at the moment - they fear martial law being imposed, and being forced into conscription. Such a mess, this whole thing.
Every country in the world is facing a demographic time bomb. The last thing you want to do is speed up the process
No but the expert interviewed on PM this evening was sceptical of the Russian public having any influence. It just made me think that the people protesting in Russia are of a similar ilk. This seems to be borne out by the fact that the people protesting are getting their news on line as opposed to the older generation who support Putin get their views from State TV.
They get their views from the internet Ian, Putin hasn’t managed to shut things down like China or North Korea. As an example, there is a campaign for people in the rest of Europe to post online 5 star reviews of restaurants in major Russian cities, with statements about what is happening in Ukraine in the comments section. Just one example, and the fact that Putin’s secret police are unable to shut it down shows how decadent and incompetent they have become in the last 22 years.
