Putin Makes It Illegal to Criticize Politicians

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        It doesn’t take a political sage to see that Vladimir ("the Practicing Christian") Putin is busily engaged in the process of re-Stalinizing Russia — with the help of the useful idiots of the neo-Catholic establishment, who have been prattling on for the last 19 years about Russia’s "conversion."

        In his latest Stalinist move, the "Practicing Christian" has "introduced a draconian election law which threatens the media with closure if they give details of candidates’ personal lives or analyse their policies." (The Guardian, Sept. 9, 2003) The Guardian notes that the new law "has infuriated opposition MPs and journalists. Some said it represented a return to the Soviet era control of political debate."

        The "Practicing Christian" signed a decree which "places a blanket ban during campaigning on forecasting results and requires candidates to be given equal coverage - a practical impossibility because there are 44 parties. A media outlet can be shut during the electoral campaign after two warnings."

        According to Alexander Shishlov, a member of Russia’s leading liberal party, "the law substantially limits press freedoms…. Its adoption is a very alarming sign."

        But it seems the "Practicing Christian", like any Soviet dictator, is not subject to the laws that repress the rest of Russian society. As The Guardian notes: "[Putin] appeared on national television last week endorsing Valentina Matvienko for election as governor of St. Petersburg, although the law prohibits officials using their posts to promote their parties or re-election." A court tried to investigate Putin’s appearance by conducting a hearing, but — wouldn’t you know it? — "some high-ranking officials are, under the constitution, immune from prosecution." That includes — surprise, surprise — the "Practicing Christian".

        One newspaper in St. Petersburg has protested the new law by leaving "its front page blank in protest while filling its inside pages with articles about a fictional election in a faraway land - in reality the St. Petersburg vote, but with candidates’ names changed." One thing the Russians have is a sense of humor about their benighted condition. No wonder Sister Lucy referred to Russia as "that poor nation."

        But not according to the dupes of Fatima revisionism, who continue to insist in the face of a mountain of contrary evidence that a consecration of the world that deliberately omitted any reference to Russia has produced a "miraculous transformation" of Russian society. Tell that to the journalists of St. Petersburg who, along with the rest of the Russian people, await with dread the "Practicing Christian’s" next step on the road back to Stalinist Russia.