Posted on 03/18/2014 10:53:20 AM PDT by goldstategop
(Reuters) - To thunderous applause, cheers and even tears, Vladimir Putin delivered a fiercely patriotic speech on Tuesday that laid claim to Crimea and set out a vision of a Greater Russia that could define his third term as President.
In a 47-minute address to his loyal political and business elite that was interrupted by clapping at least 30 times, Putin described a deeply conservative world view in which Russia hankered after land lost when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Presenting himself as the guardian of the nation and of Russians everywhere, the former KGB spy spat defiance at the West and charted an inward-looking course that underlined the shift in his thinking since he first rose to power 14 years ago.
"In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia," Putin said in a passionate address, delivered from a lectern in the Kremlin's glittering St George Hall two days after Crimea voted in a disputed referendum to become part of Russia.
Two years after mass protests in Moscow and other big cities that briefly shook his grip on power, this was the Putin of old - confident, defiant and steely, and, for many Russians, at his best in a crisis.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Any allegiance I owe to anything at this point is going to be to the state of Texas.
Ridiculous statement of the week.
Really quite absurd.
Imagine your an average run of the day Russian... think of all the dispiriting things that have happened to your country over the last few decades...
Now the knight in shinning armor appears and is bringing back your pride and hope for the future.
That's exactly what Reagan did for us after the Carter years, and it's what Putin is doing for the average Russian citizen now. Bringing back pride and hope to a dispirited people.
No, I don’t agree.
Reagan also had a bold, long-game approach to foreign policy, and did/said things about the Russians that he knew would be deliberately inflammatory (and caused the striped-pants set over at Foggy Bottom to have explosive cranial flatulence) as a way of judging how impotent the USSR had become.
Putin is doing the same thing now. He senses that the US leadership is impotent (as well as being beta-male fem-bots) and is now setting out to show the world just how empty any threats from Obama really are. Reagan did this time and again with ol’ Splotch-Top in the 80’s - to good effect. When the USSR finally fell, people who had been paying attention to Reagan’s foreign policy were not amazed that the Iron Curtain fell, they were astounded that it took so long.
Putin is clearly emulating Reagan’s PR moves here on the international stage, with a very Russian twist. Putin is deliberately humiliating Obama, and playing a very cool hand in doing so. In two more years of this, the US will be seen as a has-been international player.
The signs to look for now are our erstwhile allies in NATO hedging their bets and pumping up their military and domestic energy sector spending as they realize that the US under Obama is a sham of a strategic partner.
Exactly my thoughts as well.
Russia has a lot of “self esteem” issues, which one can see in their alcoholism rate among adult males and how they seriously drink themselves into early graves - like in their late 50’s.
Bunch of GARBAGE.
seriously dude... you have issues.
you need to put down / turn off the liberal indoctrination news you must be reading / watching.
the only propaganda ive read in decades exists solely in the American press.
Conservative in the US means conserving classic (not modern) liberalism of the founders. In Europe conservatism means statism.
You're cracked.
You're upset because the Russians are dispirited about what happened over the last decades. It's called collapse of COMMUNISM...a good thing even though weirdos like you are all in favor of it.
“...thoroughly corrupt nation & imprisoning & killing your political foes is your kinda thing....”
Which he does, absolutely.
Which is also why I said “He’s NOT a good guy”.
Do you think the average German was depressed after World War 2.
And if so, do you believe it was because they loved the Nazi’s?
You can be saddened and depressed about what you country has come too without embracing the political leadership that brought you to that point.
For instance, I am saddened and depressed at what liberals have done to this country and I certainly don’t agree with them on anything.
Obviously millions of them DID back the Nazis. They certainly didn't clamor for freedom.
People who back communism are also against freedom. Putin is no Reagan. That is LAUGHABLE.
bkmk
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