First of all let me say thank you to 'SoD' for sending me a fascinating and, I think, a perceptive article from Der Spiegel written by their weekly conservative column writer, Jan Fleischauer - I didn't even realize that such a Leftie mag like Spiegel had a regular conservative writer! In it he proposes that any notion entertained by the Left that somehow Putin is a new generation embodiment of the old communist apparat is very mistaken. In fact, Herr Fleischauer suggests, Putin is merely the latest in a new wave of 'born again' Fascists:
So what is it that drives Putin? The central theme of all his speeches is the fear of encirclement -- the threat represented by powers that want to keep the Russian people down because they fear its inner strength. "They are constantly trying to sweep us into a corner because we have an independent position, because we maintain it and because we call things like they are and do not engage in hypocrisy," he said in a March 18 speech before the Duma. In a television interview in April, he said: "There are enough forces in the world that are afraid of our strength, 'our hugeness,' as one of our sovereigns said. So they seek to divide us into parts."
Immediately you have a Russian variation on the old Germanic nightmare, the fear of being surrounded. That is followed by resentment at territories lost after the Cold War ended and foreign parties took advantage of temporary Russian weakness. But it's not just Russian land that that these outsiders were after but the Russian soul!
But what's at the heart of this soul? Putin has provided some insights here as well. "It seems to me that the Russian person or, on a broader scale, a person of the Russian world, primarily thinks about his or her highest moral designation, some highest moral truths," he said in the interview. In contrast to this is a West that is fixated on personal success and prosperity or, as Putin states, the "inner self." In the view of its president, the battle Russia is waging is ideological in nature. It is a fight against the superficiality of materialism, against the decline in values, against the feminization and effeminacy of society -- and against the dissolution of all traditional bonds that are part of that development. In short, against everything "un-Russian."
In true Fascist style, Putin has passed anti-homosexual legislation which, now that the winter Olympics are over, you can bet will be pursued vigorously. It is an irony of delicious proportions that Fascist regimes never cease to parade their masculinity which, of course, comes across to outsiders as being as camp as a row of tents! Thus, these days we are bombarded by photos of Putin stripped to the waist and 'flexing his pecs' at every opportunity, and 'Red' Square is once again filled with rank upon rank of big butch soldiers! Meanwhile, he indulges in penis-size boasting with Obama to the effect that his armed forces are bigger than anyone else's:
When they were first introduced one year ago, people also failed to recognize the true meaning of Russia's new anti-gay laws. But today it is clear that it marked the emergence of the new Russia. What began with an anti-gay law is now continuing at another level: The logical progression of the belief that certain groups are inferior is the belief in the superiority of one's own people.
And when Putin evokes the myth of Moscow as a "Third Rome," it is clear he is assigning the Russian people with an historic mission. Responsibility is falling to Russia not only to stop Western decadence at its borders, but also to provide a last bastion for those who had already given up hope in this struggle. But he is also saying that Russia can never yield.
Before we snigger, we should remember that the essence of his message is being echoed, albeit with a slightly different accent in the rest of Europe:
Enemies of freedom on the far right in Europe sensed the changing political climate early on. They immediately understood that, in Putin, someone is speaking who shares their obsessions and aversions. Putin reciprocates by acknowledging these like-minded individuals. "As for the rethinking of values in European countries, yes, I agree that we are witnessing this process," he told his television interviewer last Thursday, pointing to Victor Orban's victory in Hungary and the success of Marine Le Pen in France. It was the only positive thing he had to say in the entirety of a four-hour interview.
Of course, we all know that politics does not run in a straight line from Left to Right but in a circle on the far side of which, 'where the sun don't shine', the extreme Left and Right hold hands. We could, probably, handle a straighforward ganster fairly easily but we need to beware of a gangster with a mission. Anyway, here's a bit of Russian:
Один народ, одна империя, один лидер
What does it mean? Oh, that's easy, er, with Google Translate to hand:
Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer
Sound familiar, does it? Well, better get used to it!
