Quote of the Day 17th Sept 2004

(Well, I missed a day. Sorry)

Terrorism schmerrorism. 9/11 changed nothing – the neocons would rather support al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels than give one iota of support to Putin.

-Justin Raimondo

But the entire section is too good to pass up:

The neocons hate Putin with a passion because he is a patriot. He puts Russia first– not the "international community," not the oligarchs and their Western partners – and that, to them, is treason. He failed to support the Iraq war. He stood up to the West as best he could when President Clinton attacked the former Yugoslavia – yet another country that had never attacked us, and represented no threat to our legitimate interests. When Putin cracked down on the criminals known as "oligarchs" for looting the quasi-"privatized" Russian economy … well, that was the last straw. The knives were out.
Terrorism schmerrorism. 9/11 changed nothing – the neocons would rather support al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels than give one iota of support to Putin.
Whether or not Chechnya ought to be independent, or part of a larger Federation of nations, is not for American diplomats and politicians to decide. Before they get too critical of the Russian system for its lack of "democracy," so-called "human rights activists" and other international busybodies ought to acquaint themselves with the difficulties Ralph Nader is having getting on the ballot in Florida (not to mention Pennsylvania). It is far easier for a political party to gain ballot status in Russia than it is in most states in the U.S. The professional democratists are criticizing Putin for substituting party lists for individual candidacies, but why aren't they equally critical of the many other nations that have a similar system, such as the Netherlands and Italy, which do not suffer from either a death of democracy or a lack of small parties?