Alexei Navalny, Putin’s top critic, was imprisoned under bogus charges and harsh arctic conditions cruelly calculated to destroy his health. Yet Navalny, 47, remained chipper, even managing to smuggle out anti-Putin messages. So the dictator just had him killed. Adding to a long list of Putin’s murders.
I thank President Biden for his cogent statement, I couldn’t have said it better, so I’ll use his words:
“I am both not surprised and outraged . . . [Navalny] bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence, all the bad things the Putin government is doing. In response, Putin had him poisoned, arrested, prosecuted for fabricated crimes, sent him to prison, he was held in isolation . . . even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth. He could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020, which nearly killed him . . . Instead, he returned to Russia, knowing he’d likely be imprisoned, even killed.*
“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death . . . even more proof of Putin’s brutality. He inflicts terrible crimes on his own people . . . [Navalny] was brave, he was principled, he was dedicated to building a Russia where rule of law existed and where it applied to everybody . . . He knew it was a cause worth dying for . . . His courage will not be forgotten.”
In a world with evil strutting all over, it’s a consolation hearing human decency upheld with such moral force.
The contrast with Trump could not be starker. Nothing to say about Navalny. While he’s idolized Putin and excused his many murders before. Biden’s statement condemned Trump’s comments encouraging Russia to attack our NATO allies, which are still reverberating. Just by saying that, Trump has undermined those alliances, and our national security. Calling it treasonous is not hyperbole.
I weep for Navalny. Don’t make me weep for America in November.
* I wrote about this at the time: https://rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/alexei-navalny-courageous-hero/