Why I Sometimes Cheer on "Foreigners" over "Americans"

[No Exit]

I have no doubt that if there are any posts under this article, they will include at least one in which the poster will solemnly remind us that, while Putin may be showing balls on this issue, we must remember that "he's not someone we Americans should trust", or "he's KGB, you know..." or "yeah, but Putin's no saint, you know". This site, DU, contains a lot of people who are NOT afraid of "foreigners", or "different" people, or "brown people", or "queer people"--etc. Yet still, even among these enlightened posters, there is that old Amur'can suspicion that the "foreigner" must be "no saint, you know."

I'm not saying Putin, or Chavez, or Ahmadinejad, or any of the others are so great. But what I WILL freely say is, any of them--yes, even them, the "foreigners"--is head and shoulders above what we currently have for leadership. And above all, I'd like to ask the "Amur'ca-First" crowd, if OUR OWN GOVERNMENT doesn't put Amur'ca first, why in the hell should we peons?

Putin Gets Mugged in Finland
Mike Whitney

October 22, 2006

Most people won’t pay any attention to this week’s energy summit in Lahti, Finland, but they should. It is particularly instructive for anyone who is interested in the latest developments in the global resource war. The purpose of the meeting was to work out the nettlesome issues of energy policy, but the hidden agenda was to pressure Russian President Putin into signing away the control of his country’s critical assets to the big-players in the world energy cartel. The proposed "Energy Charter Treaty" is designed to tie up Russia’s resources through legal obligations which serve the overall interests of the energy giants. The treaty is no different than the EU Constitution which was voted down last year when the "informed" European public realized that it was just another boondoggle set up by big business to override national sovereignty, environmental safety, and civil liberties. The Energy Charter Treaty and the EU Constitution focus on the very same objectives, that is, establishing the legal framework for placing the world and its dwindling resources in the hands of a small cadre of obscenely-wealthy western plutocrats. Western elites have been waging an intensive public relations campaign against Putin since he nationalized Yukos Oil and put it under control of Gazprom. Gazprom is quickly growing into the world’s largest oil corporation and will probably achieve that goal within the decade.

Putin’s move to nationalize the industry has been popular at home (his personal approval rating is consistently over 70%) and has had a profound effect on stabilizing the ruble and raising the standard of living. Most Russians still remember the country’s bleak experiment with "free market" capitalism during the 1990s when the ruble fell through the floor and Russia’s national assets were raffled off by the chronically-inebriated Yeltsin (under the supervision of western advisors). "The Oligarchs", as they were known, contributed significantly to Russia’s economic decline as well as its loss of prestige in the world. Putin has restored national pride, fueled the new prosperity, and is quickly rebuilding Russia into a world power. If energy prices continue to soar, as they undoubtedly will, Russia will be a force to reckon with throughout the 21st century.

American politicians and corporatists are concerned about Russia’s meteoric rise and are developing strategies to undermine its progress. The ultimate goal is to integrate Russia’s prodigious natural resources into the global system, which is another way of saying that a plan is being devised to assert direct-control over Russian oil and natural gas.
Since greed is inexhaustible, it is not likely that this battle will end anytime soon.

Putin’s name already features prominently in the register of American enemies, which now includes, Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Morales, Castro, Kim Jung-Il, al Assad, Haniyeh, and Muqtada al Sadr. Anyone who defends their national interests over the prevailing system of global feudalism can expect to find themselves in Washington’s crosshairs and to be duly demonized in the American media.

(snip)

(emphasis added)

http://www.uruknet.biz/?p=m27659&hd=0&size=1&l=e

"GLOBAL FEUDALISM". Hello, fellow serfs!

:)

[John Gauger]

1. I don't need you to tell me whom to like.

I don't trust the corporate media any more than you do, and I am aware that they have nefarious motivations in telling my whom to hate. But I don't dislike world leaders because of what I hear in the media. I make my judgements based on subversive authors and bloggers and organizations like Amnesty International. I don't dislike Putin becaue he opposes the global feudal state that Bush and friends are working so hard towards. I dissaprove of Putin because of his human rights record.

I must say, if not for your disclaimer at the top I would have had no indication from the rest of your post that you are praising Putin. Without it, I would not be criticizing you now. And if in fact you are not praising Putin, you can disregard everything except my umbridge at being called a pawn of the corporate media. (And yes, I am aware that I am doing exactly what you told me not to do. I'm aware of the irony. And I'm sure it must be annoying. I'm sorry, but I can't keep my mouth shut.)

As for being a serf, I'm working on that. As I'm sure you have found, others don't like to be informed of their slavish condition.