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In conversation I have on occasions defended Putin even though I dislike his policies. People seem to give their own countries the benefit of the doubt based o
by 7952 12y ago
In conversation I have on occasions defended Putin even though I dislike his policies. People seem to give their own countries the benefit of the doubt based on the context at the time,
For example, within the UK David Cameron championed laws in the 80s that made it illegal for goverment to publish material that could promote homosexuality. People shrug off resposibility for this by telling you that "it was a different time". Russia has introduced laws that are not dissimilar to widespread outrage. Whilst we are right to campaign against such things you cannot expect a country to modernise instantly overnight or welcome outside interference.
People should be reminded that all countries are following a path, and some countries are further along than others. The west does not have a monopoly on justice.
- lotsofmangos 12y agoThe gay laws that Putin has brought in seem to be about doing the minimum required to keep the Russian christian right happy while not actually making homosexuality illegal. I find this interesting, especially in light of Putin's many bare-chested photoshoots. I sometimes wonder if those laws might be partly a response to his advisers telling him that he was starting to get a bit of a gay following and that he needed to do something about it before the hardliners started suspecting his manliness. I mean, really. - http://38.media.tumblr.com/880d58b9b6c9abf8ecc9fdbe4da497e0/tumblr_mftwsoPtJr1rmrac7o1_500.jpg http://38.media.tumblr.com/880d58b9b6c9abf8ecc9fdbe4da497e0/...
- Elhana 12y agoSince when everyone without tshirt became gay? Really: http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/7/a/X/2/obama-shirtless-photo.jpg http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/7/a/X/2/obama-shirtless-...
- lotsofmangos 12y agoLast Wednesday. There was a vote.
- 7952 12y agoIt is funny how often that photoshoot come up, sometime as an ad hominem attack on him. Lets ignore the personality cult and massive nuclear arsenal to concentrate on his slighty chubby tummy. It is not interesting at all.
- lotsofmangos 12y agoCults of personality can be susceptible to those kind of attacks though. Is only interesting as much as it influences his cult of personality and I guess what I was getting at is how much of his actions are driven by genuine political beliefs and how much are purely for propagating his image. Because as he gets older, his image controls him, not the other way around. Keeping up a hard-man persona is difficult to do when you are a slightly prim aging bureaucrat.