NYT's Kristof: A fascist Russia better than a Communist Russia.

[non sociopath skin]

So now I am worried about the American press!!!

Beginning with the premise (with which I agree

"The bottom line is that the West has been suckered by Mr. Putin. He is not a sober version of Boris Yeltsin. Rather, he's a Russified Pinochet or Franco. And he is not guiding Russia toward free-market democracy, but into fascism."

Kristof (for whose views I usually have time) continues:

"In effect, Mr. Putin has steered Russia from a dictatorship of the left to a dictatorship of the right (Chinese leaders have done much the same thing). Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet, Park Chung Hee and Putin all emerged in societies suffering from economic and political chaos. All consolidated power in part because they established order and made the trains - or planes - run on time.

Before asserting:

Still, a fascist Russia is a much better thing than a Communist Russia. Communism was a failed economic system, while Franco's Spain, General Pinochet's Chile and the others generated solid economic growth, a middle class and international contacts - ultimately laying the groundwork for democracy. Eventually we'll see pro-democracy demonstrations in Moscow like those in Kiev."

I searched the article for Post-Modernist Irony - see -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/opinion/15kristof.html?th
but no! The asshole meant it!

Well, really, Nick? Try telling victims or the families of victims under fascist regimes that life was sooo much better than under Stalinist ones. And as for fascism being a springboard for "pro-democracy demonstrations,what exactly did he reckon was going on in the Eastern European capitals and in Tien An Mien Square circa 1989?

Sorry, Nick. I'm a democracy man, me. I don't have a pecking order of totalitarianism.

The Skin

[Neoma]

1. going over board there arn't they?

[rpannier]

2. Of the many flaws in his article I will address his Myth of Franco

Spain benefitted from the 2nd World War, much as the US did after the war. In fact, one could claim that many countries benefitted economically -- North Korea is a classic example (throughout the fifties North Korea was much better off economically than the south was and arguably better off than almost all of East Asia). However, what bolstered Franco in Spain was less his economic program and more the amount of money the US funnelled into Spain to combat Communism.

[flordehinojos]

3. Manuel Valenzuela has an article in OPedNews which he entitles

The Birth of Amerikan-nazi. It is a long but a pretty good read on the ugliness of fascism and the ugliness of the bush administration and how it has steered this country towards a fascist regime since the 2000 bush coup d'etat. Kristof should read it.

http://www.opednews.com/valenzuela_121304_amerikan_nazis_1.htm

[tngledwebb]

4. Kristof , and most of the NYT writers, excepting Krugman,

should not be trusted! They are hired and paid to spin in subtle yet malevolent ways. Either that or they are complete spineless fools, you be the judge. You should always worry, now more than ever, about American mainstream media, and never trust the big outlets- NYT, WaPo, most major city dailies, Time, Newsweek, CNN, all TV networks.

See the Daily Howler.com for the history of their sins and omissions.

[lostnfound]

5. Yep. Eventually we'll see pro-democracy demonstrations like Tienanman..

That's exactly what I thought of when he said "see pro-democracy demonstrations in Moscow like those in Kiev".

We on the left ought to build a concerted outcry against the Thomas Friedmans and Nicholas Kristofs of the world. They do NOT represent the left, but many newspaper readers think they do.

Take a spoonful of sugar to make the fascism go down, make the fascism go down, make the fascism go down...Take a spoonful of sugar to make the fascism go down in the most delightful way!