The strongman of the Soviet, er, Russia is getting kind of wimpy.
Caught in the act blowing up a civilian airliner, he’s pointing the finger at someone else, and condemning the world’s political calculations, all the while calculating politically.
He must watch a lot of MSNBC because this is the type of thing we’ve come to expect from our own weak-willed presidents.
Russia, says Putin, did not shoot down that jetliner. Listen to him very carefully. There is no inappropriate Russian relationship with that missile.
It was caused by a bunch of bitter Ukrainians who cling to their guns and their borders.
"I can say with confidence that if on June 28 combat activities in eastern Ukraine had not been resumed, this tragedy most likely would not have happened," said Putin in the LA Times. "At the same time, no one has a right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political ends."
War on Ample-Breasted, Russian Women!
"Putin's message to the world is clear: 'Whatever you learn and whatever you say, you have no right to blame me for what happened, especially if you use it in your dirty political games,’" says Dmitry Oreshkin, a Russian senior political expert.
If it sounds familiar that’s because it’s been the refrain from Obama for six long, wearying years of shooting down the wrong target.
“Who me?” says Obama between rounds of golf.
It does no good to condemn Putin as a liar, when lying is about the only policy prescription that Obama has for anything. And the press props him up.
It’s kind of like Republicans nominating the one guy in the party who passed nationalized healthcare for one-state while condemning the nationalized healthcare law for all of us known as Obamacare.
And it goes to the crisis of confidence that the world has in its leaders, its media, and its systems. As we pass from crisis to crisis, politicians around the world just don’t get it.
So as a service to them, let’s make this clear:
We are on to you.
It doesn’t matter what’s being said in state-sponsored news organizations like Russia Today, MSNBC, ITAR-TASS or CNN.
Today the truth makes it around the world before the lies from the state media can get its shoes on.
So if guys like Obama and Putin seem out of touch, a bit behind, and singing in not quite the right key, it’s because they are.
This isn’t 1968 where Walter Cronkite can take to the airwaves and turn a country against the Vietnam War.
Or for the war in Syria.
Today, being for a war before being against it is a major blunder that no amount of friendly press can explain away. The use of journalism to promote the Big Lie, as has been done since the advent of radio, is over. We should all celebrate that fact.
Because it was control of the Big Media that allowed the rise of the Big State to begin with.
Today, when a politician gets caught with his pants around his ankles, no one is going to stop to admire the emperor’s new clothes. Instead we get more cringe-worthy, made-for-TV moments that allow the people who specialize in 30-second political spots to make a ton of money every two years.
And generations of politicians who still believe in the Lost Causes of 1968-- Putin, Hillary, Obama-- need to make an adjustment.
At the very least they need to pull their pants up.
Because this getting embarrassing.
It’s hard to be a strongman, or the greatest president ever, or the first lady president when taking mincing steps restricted by your belt circumference.
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