Russia's Pathetic Defenders

Here's her quite literally insane thesis: "Many Russian youths come to the United States for college and then go back to Russia to help build our own democracy. Russians believe in democracy. … But I don't know whether many Russians will ever trust American media reports again."

Ms. Ivanov doesn't name one single such person who is "building democracy" in the Russia by means of her U.S. education, nor does she describe any action "Russians" have taken to show their "belief" in democracy since Vladimir Putin came to power.

And how could she name such a person? If a Russian journalist committed to democracy and schooled in the U.S. were to return to Russia, where would they work? Certainly not state-owned and operated TV. Surely not any of the major circulation newspapers, which are also controlled by the Kremlin.

That sums it up nicely..

What sort of journalism are they teaching at Duquesne these days? Don't they tell young reporters that they need to state specific facts, names, places, dates, to back up their claims?

I guess Duquesne is not the only American school that forgets these basics in journalism classes. I mean where were the unbiased news in the American media?

Great read, thanx for the seed.

The real danger the apologist and peace at any cost folk -- many of whom are sincere and honest in their beliefs -- pose is that in our desire that all be well in the world we disarm ourselves mentally and suddenly the world is upside down.

None of the events taking place today should surprise. They are an endless repetition of events past.

We attempt to parse others words so that we are more comfortable with the translation. We dismiss them as madmen, anomalies, or aberrant without real power. It makes us more comfortable and gives the warmth of false security. They are in fact intelligent, well educated persons with the power of their faith and convictions driving them and as such must be taken at their word.

It would be an easy pot-shot to say that if these folks had been around pre-WWII my German parents would have won the war and I would never have been a rubble-rat emigrating to the U.S.

But in fact they were here, and, although caught off guard, America quite literally saved the world in spite of themselves at times.

I guess Duquesne is not the only American school that forgets these basics in journalism classes. I mean where were the unbiased news in the American media?

So true. People fail to grasp that every nation's media is the same, state controlled or not. In the West, they require government licenses, business partners, clients, etc. These factors all combine to slant the news in a manner consistent with the goals of a nation.

Just because the methodology differs, does not mean the end result differs.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/08/georgi19575.htm

Sorry, but georgia launched a full scale military offensive on civilians. It sucks to be apologetic...

The rule against invading another sovereign country without being threatened or attacked first is an absolute of international law. So, every nation that hasn't made a habit of this kind of behaviour has the moral high-ground and the right to protest. What does the Bay of Pigs and 50 years of embargoes mean to Americans? Do they remember the invasion of Panama, the funding of the Contras, the invasion of Grenada, the failed coup of Nicaragua. Maybe they have forgotten all this, but they may still recall the merciless bombing of Lebanon by Israel, the invasion of a far-away country called Iraq and they may even be applauding their government's on-going threats against Iran and the occasional bombing of Somalia.

Quite recently the US suggested making Georgia a part of NATO, further surrounding Russia after the Baltic states and Poland became members. Then the US moved in with anti-ballistic missiles in Poland. Should the Russians be worried about this, should they learn from it? No, of course not, because the nation spending as much on arm as the rest of the world put together is such a peaceful country, only killing people they hate - all done in the spirit of pre-emptiveness in a war with no end called "the global war on terror".