Have you thought to yourself, “man, this talk about freedom, God, human rights, and we are for good while people we don’t like are evil has become so trite and boring?!” I actually thought the following round-table of Vladimir Putin dishing out his views on America refreshingly interesting. I have my opinions, but I often wished American politicians would be equally willing to be frank about how they feel towards certain issues in practical terms rather coated with so much righteous non-sense.
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James says
Haha, oh god. Look at which picture Radio Free Europe plucked from the video to paint Putin in the most unflattering light. What a joke, these US propaganda outlets.
I thought Putin’s spin on the individualist-collectivist distinction was interesting; especially with that quote from Gone with the Wind: “I’ll never be hungry again”. It was also good to be reminded about how the US was founded on genocide, and about how this mentality persists. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about Russia to validate his claims about there being a lot of stringent oversight over surveillance in his country.
Black Pheonix says
Turkey, France, Germany, demand answers from US over NSA snooping program.
John Kerry’s defense: “You guys do it too.”
Wait, when did this kind of explanation ever satisfy US? Or is John Kerry basically admitting that China was right all along?
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/485119/20130701/nsa-leaks-bugging-spying-turkey-india-japan.htm
Black Pheonix says
Russia and Ecuador are double-crossing Snowden (albeit slowly):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23135734
Zack says
@Black Pheonix
sadly, i do believe that may be the case. Putin doesn’t have a lot of levers against the US but the US has more than a few against Russia. the missile defence shield for instance, or economic warfare-unlike China which is a lot more resistant against that sort of thing.
whatever the hell happened to Iceland? Iceland would’ve been Snowden’s best bet now that he’s a public figure and can’t be ‘disappeared’
Black Pheonix says
Snowden is unfortunately a hero, in the sense that all heroes are puppets and political tools, useful but limited in shelf life.
He should have stayed in HK. His chances in HK are no worse than anywhere else, but he would have enjoyed more public support in HK, where HK’s open access would have allowed many more international visitors to visit him and offer help.
In contrast, he’s stuck in a Russian airport now, effectively locked away, with no one to help him other than Assange and the Russians.
*ultimately, I think Snowden is a tragic figure of irony, because he alone still clings onto hope for “democracy” and its ideals of individual rights, whereas virtually the entire West has given up on them a long time ago.
Even while France complains to US about snooping and bugging, they help US to lock down their airspace to trap Snowden.
Snowden is an attempt in vain to spark a public debate about “lost values” of Democracies. And his own people and own culture are trying to snuff him out.