Going To Extremes

Mr Whitmore,
(or shall I call you Witless?)
what human rights are you talking about? The same ones, perhaps, that the US PATRIOT Act removed from the American citizens 8 years ago? Or the ones that are imbedded in your puny little Constitution, among which is the right to pursue happiness? If that is the case, why do you not pursue your happiness in your own country and leave Russia alone? Oh, I know, because Russia is still number one, and you Americans can't stand the fact of its superiority - cultural and political. Too bad for you, Yankees, ain't it.

Those seeking a rapprochement with Russia or who are engaged in "reset" diplomacy should take some time to pause and consider the cost-benefit of continuing such policies. It is not in the interest of the West or even Russia itself to allow the Russian leadership to continue further along this authoritarian path. If reset and rapproachement results in just smiling photo ops it is time to take a more sober assessement of the situation.

Given what Moscow has already justified for the sake of "preserving order" -- invading Chechnya after the '99 apartment bombings and ending local elections after Beslan -- Russia is lucky if more FSB muscle-flexing is the worst result of the Metro bombings.

The next sequential step is state-organized pogroms in Russia-proper against Caucasians and Central Asians; basically Kondopoga revisited and writ large, only replace drunken hooligans with OMON troops. As Belarus and Ukraine deteriorate, these "brother Orthodox Slavs" will be a racially tolerable alternative to ethnic Muslim gastarbeiters at the bottom rung of Russia's socioeconomic ladder. With that last practical obstacle gone, the regime can freely implement all the xenophobic policies that a vocal minority (at best) already want. Rather, they will have no choice but to do so, because the horrible cynical truth is that justifying this on the basis of social order will be both honest and accurate; not because Muslims inherently pose a threat, but because the alternative is a social explosion of spontaneous ethnic cleansing or outright genocide. Putin and Medvedev aren't inherently racist -- their only ideology is regime survival -- but placating the mob will be a necessity for that very reason. They won't be resisting "revolution" or "regime change", but anarchy -- a colossal version of Ukraine circa 1919.

The worst horrors won't be in the Caucasus (which will burn, as always) or even in the immigrant-heavy districts of Moscow's outer ring. Instead, watch the Middle Volga, and despair. Unlike Caucasians and Central Asians, Tatars and Bashkirs are prosperous, integrated, and still overwhelmingly secular. Most Kazan Tatars still see themselves as Russian (rossianets) to the core, and the thought of state-endorsed pogroms is too nightmarish to accept. But even many educated Orthodox Slavic Russians – much less the ignorant masses – harbor a vile, unselfconscious contempt of Volga Muslims that is palpable in its intensity and even consistent in its reasoning, for these are not stereotyped squalid "Gortsy", but rather fellow citizens little different from themselves except for their surnames and for pretending to attend mosque instead of pretending to attend church. Their very existence is confusing to the point of being offensive, as it represents reality turned upside-down. Even familiar hatred of foreigners or Jews pales beside the surreal indignity of having no job and no future while a Tatar in the next apartment works in an office and drives a nice used German car (his tee-totaling in contrast to your perpetual drunken haze only rubs salt in the wound).

If this is all reminiscent of Bosnia in the late '80s, it's because all the same arguments are in place. "They may have historic grudges, but they've been neighbors for generations." "Old identities are irrelevant after decades of communism." "We don't hate them. It's just inappropriate when they get arrogant and forget their place because foreigners put bad ideas in their heads." "That's too horrible to consider, so it won't happen." And of course, "And if it does happen, well, they deserve it."

My heart bleeds for Russia's Politkovskayas and Dymovskys, and I sincerely hope that every single one escapes before their naivete gets them and their families killed. It will be decades before most Russians associate "reform" or "human rights" with anything but the chaos and humiliation of the Yeltsin '90s. For them, the FSB broadening its powers is a ray of hope. By mid-decade, their physical and economic security will sink even lower despite the FSB's “efforts”, leaving the regime with the choice of either admitting failure and abdicating, or finding a scapegoat. Hating America is all well and good, but a useful scapegoat can't be on the other side of the planet. A good scapegoat is someone right in front of you every day, maybe even someone almost identical to you except for one conspicuous difference.

I have a question for you here Ivan. How many Constitutions has Russia drafted over the years?

Now if you will, please tell me how many Constitutions the United States has drafted over the years.


To my count, and I may be wrong....America has only drafted ONE, a single Constitution that has stayed unchanged in its main body since drafted and ratified, and only been ammended and added on to since.

Russia has drafted numerous Constitutions since the 1906 Constitution.

So please tell me how the United States Constitution is "puny" by that standard. And as a second notion, please tell me how it can be considered "puny" when so many other nations across the globe have used it and the United states government as models for thier own.