When I found this article this morning about
Venezuelans fleeing to the U.S., I was reminded of a warning I posted not long ago. The post I was looking for was
this one from almost a month ago with
an embedded article in which Dr. Vanessa Neumann warned that the next
refugee flood would be from Venezuela. Looks like she was right.
What
I found in the process, however, was something that had not popped up
in my previous searches for archival material documenting Putin's animus
toward Hillary Clinton.
Lo' and behold
this!
With an embedded
article from VOA (Voice of America) reporting on the post-parliamentary election demonstrations of December, 2011,
this post deserves another look.
December 26, 2011
What is striking here is the nature of the demonstrations as described by
VOA.
Traditionally,
opposition movements march under one banner. They wave similar signs,
chant the same slogans and follow a recognized leader. For a ruler, it
is easy to negotiate with an organized adversary.
But the key to
understanding what happened on Sakharov Avenue Saturday was the
proliferation of handmade signs. A myriad of individuals across Moscow
dreamed up their own messages, and then fashioned them on kitchen
tables, on office computers, or in copy centers.
Putin is not
facing an organized opposition movement. He faces something worse: an
atomized, but spreading mood of disrespect and rejection.
SNIP
In
another Kremlin blooper, the President’s twitter account erroneously
released a tweet that described protesters as sheep that provide sex.
In
an initial reaction, a large bearded man attended the Dec. 10 protest
holding a homemade sign. A big red X was painted over a reasonable
depiction of a woolly lamb. The caption: “I am Not a Sheep.”
By
Saturday, this theme had evolved into a group of five young women and
men holding an even bigger sign, reading: “We are Not Sheep.” They were
dressed, head to toe, as rabbits.
SNIP
Other protesters took
aim at Mr. Putin’s charge that the protesters were paid by foreign
governments and activated by a secret signal from U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton.
Signs demanded: “Hillary, Where is My Money?” “Hillary, I am waiting for my money,” “Let’s bankrupt the State Department.”
One man held a sign announcing: “I am Here For Free.”
Read more >>>>
Well, wow! This raises a few questions.
Does any of this seem familiar? Yes.
- The Kremlin was tweeting insults against Putin's adversaries.
- The
protestors were creative and made their own signs, some about the
tweets and others about the alleged source of the protests.
- The protests allegedly originated from Hillary Clinton's, and therefore U.S. government, interference.
- Putin
accused her of paying the demonstrators who struck back by asking for
their pay or stating they were there demonstrating for free.
This all happened five-and-a-half years ago. Where are we now?
- In
spite of it all, Putin was elected amid accusations of vote-rigging and
followed by opposition protests and counter-demonstrations of support
which some reported they were forced by employers to attend. Others
claimed they were paid.
- The entire Gestalt has the appearance of a playbook.
- Somebody gave the playbook to Donald Trump.
There are differences. It does seem that Trump is aware of how Putin played the game.
There
are constitutional differences. Putin had previously served two
presidential terms ending in 2008. The Russian constitution permitted
another run after a hiatus of sorts. Medvedev had stepped in as
president for four years while Putin retained leadership of the party.
American presidents may not run again after serving two terms. The
Russians knew very well whom they were getting in 2012.
While the
Russian demonstrations were characterized as "atomized," implying, to
some extent, spontaneous on diverse issues, our marches have been
organized around issues by groups with permits. We have, however, like the Russians, been accused of being paid for
demonstrating. Some signs in our marches have stipulated that we do this
for free in own own free time.
Our next march, the
March for Truth, is scheduled for June 3. Again the main march will be in D.C. with large marches in other major cities. From the look of
the map on this page, many sister-marches have been organized in every state and also in Europe. If you cannot get to a major city, you can
find one near you or even organize your own in your area.
We are left, finally, with one last question. Will we end up, as Russia did, under the thumb of the guy we protest?
Since
the 2011 protests were against parliamentary elections the people
perceived as rigged, Putin was working with a legislature sympathetic to
him. We, currently, are in the same boat. We do have the opportunity,
with special elections and the mid-terms in 2018, of overturning the
majority party in the Senate and the House.
If we do not do
everything we can to flip the necessary seats, we can indeed end up with
a Congress that will do little if anything to oppose draconian measures
the Trump administration proposes.
One of the many issues the Russians protested in 2011 was this, also according to the
VOA article.
Others
protesters noted that the Kremlin sent condolences to Pyongyang after
the death of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s “Supreme Leader,” but neglected
to send condolences to Prague after the death of Vaclav Havel, the
anti-Soviet activist and elected President of the Czech Republic.
On
Sakharov Avenue, named after the Soviet-era dissident, elderly
protesters carried black and white photographss of the late Czech
President, with the inscription: “Havel Would Be With us!”
Hillary
Clinton, of course, attended Havel's funeral with former President Bill
Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Hillary wore a
headpiece Havel had an artist friend make for her.
As I said at the time of
publication:
As
far as we know, it does not transmit secret signals. Neither does the
State Department have a budget sufficient to pay off all of Russia. It
is not known whether Putin’s treasury is large enough to provide
tin-foil hats for the populace, but given their mood, we doubt they
would wear them. More likely, if that guy with the Picasso display is
any barometer, they would find some artful way to use the tin foil to
fire back at Putin.
Right, but they ended up with the dude anyway.
