Russian Acts of Kindness

[Sentinel76 Astrakhan]

> Date: Sun, 5 May 2013 21:57:05 -0400
> From: paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian Acts of Kindness
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> 
> But preposterous slanders such as the 
> accusations that President Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya are routinely 
> publicized without fear. Can you imagine V.V. Putin putting up with that 
> for more than a New York minute?
> 
> I haven't been to Russia lately, so I can't speak authoritatively, but 
> from the outside it appears that those who publicly espouse views 
> contrary to those of the Putin cabal are taking very serious risks, in 
> some cases putting their lives in danger. We have seen too many blatant 
> cases in the media to think otherwise.
> 
> If you would make the case that Russian freedom of speech is equal to 
> ours, you must also show that dissidents survive and can even prosper, 

I will play devil's advocate here for a moment.

1.  Dmitry Bykov, who's criticism of Putin is nothing short of personal attacks, seems to be doing pretty well, enjoying a wide audience and lucrative media deals.  More power to him.

2.  The coverage of the 08/08/08 War was much more diverse in Russia than in American media sources.

That said, on average, Russia enjoys far lesser freedom of speech than USA.  Anybody who says otherwise is delusional and needs to consider purchasing a one way ticket from JFK Airport.

Vadim
 		 	   		  
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