Thread: Liberties of the Russian people .

The "Empire of Evil" stuff definitely didn't sit well with Russians.
Soviet propaganda wasn't very fond of America either, but Reagan crossed the line.
That was the first time I felt like the USA was a real enemy, not just a bitter competitor.

Is that photo real??? I mean, no Photoshop tricks or anything? God! I knew he's a bit out of his mind, but I wouldn't suspect him to be such a retard...

...while their votes still mattered.

Does that mean they don't matter any more? The guy himself is on TV channels day and night...

Originally Posted by Misha Tal

Is that photo real??? I mean, no Photoshop tricks or anything? God! I knew he's a bit out of his mind, but I wouldn't suspect him to be such a retard...

Yes, it's real. It was on state TV channels - he is propaganding vaccination against bird flu.

Does that mean they don't matter any more? The guy himself is on TV channels day and night...

Yes, their votes don't matter since United Russia has absolute majority in State Duma, (more than 2/3), that means they could change even the Constitution by their votes alone.

Another famous video of Zhirinovsky (Warning, a lot of swearing!):

Originally Posted by Basil77

Another famous video of Zhirinovsky (Warning, a lot of swearing!):

"Не сметь стрелять по Багдаду. Лучше вместе ...нем по Тбилиси!!"

Laughed my AZZZZ off!

Originally Posted by Misha Tal

.. the monkey who is the current president of Iran..

You are in Tehran and don't afraid to write such things? I myself as the majority of people on this planet think that this Ahmadinejad guy is a moron, but I thought it's very dangerous to say such things in Iran.

Originally Posted by Basil77

You are in Tehran and don't afraid to write such things?

Afraid? Of what? Trash-talking on the internet? Well, we've said infinitely worse things on the streets, a mere 5 meters from the Revolutionary Guards.

Originally Posted by Misha Tal

Afraid? Of what? Trash-talking on the internet? Well, we've said infinitely worse things on the streets, a mere 5 meters from the Revolutionary Guards.

I gather that all those talks about 'no freedom of speech in Iran' are just those -- talks? Somehow it restores my beliefs in the world order.

Originally Posted by fortheether

I think it's ironic that Ronald Reagan is being discussed in a "Liberties of the Russian people" thread. I know there were many factors in the collapse of communism but isn't Ronald Reagan one of them? We'll never know but if Carter won again and then followed by other "weak" presidents like Obama - would you be able to freely have a discussion on the liberties of the Russian people?

Main reasons for USSR collapse were internal. At the end of USSR people didn't really believe in soviet ideals, propaganda etc. Everybody became cynic. But yes, maybe external factors played some role. Namely, maybe aggressiveness and insane rhetorics of Reagan prolonged USSR a bit more. He gave many good confirmations to communist propaganda. We'll never know...

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Main reasons for USSR collapse were internal. At the end of USSR people didn't really believe in soviet ideals, propaganda etc. Everybody became cynic. But yes, maybe external factors played some role. Namely, maybe aggressiveness and insane rhetorics of Reagan prolonged USSR a bit more. He gave many good confirmations to communist propaganda. We'll never know...

Can you please elaborate on the statement:

He gave many good confirmations to communist propaganda.

What did the propaganda say?

Thank you,

Scott

Originally Posted by fortheether

Can you please elaborate on the statement:

He gave many good confirmations to communist propaganda.

What did the propaganda say?

Thank you,

Scott

They said: "USA is our enemy. They hate us just because we are different, just because we are Russians. They want to destroy our country, split it into pieces. They call our country "Evil empire". All we want is to live in peace but they do not agree. They have military bases and nukes all around the USSR while USSR has no nukes near the USA. We propose mutual disarmament but they build SDI to be completely safe when they will bomb our cities. We have to unite against them to save our country and our lives. Just read what their president say and you will see. He hates us."

Funny that at the time of late USSR all of it was true. Sometimes even propaganda may be true.

Originally Posted by fortheether

We'll never know but if Carter won again and then followed by other "weak" presidents like Obama - would you be able to freely have a discussion on the liberties of the Russian people?

Well, Misha Tal seems to enjoy the 'free' talk, so why not?

I'm not sure the reasons for the 'fall of the communism' are quite obvious. Like, look at North Korea. All the so-called 'reasons for the fall' are still there (and perhaps there are even more), but the present regime seems to be rather stable. Some people think at the August of 1991 the SU was very close to abandon the Perestroyka and going back to the roots (=the strong dictatorship).

Having said that, I remember the early '80s and all I can tell is that the SU seemed to be preparing for a big war. It was apparent the SU couldn't match the SDI and the preemptive strike was required to save the regime. Gorbachev allowed a lot of ugly things to happen, but he didn't allow the big war to start.