[I]f we were to use traditional measures for understanding leaders, which involve the defense of borders and national flourishing, Putin would count as the pre-eminent statesman of our time…
Democrats have gone to extraordinary lengths to discredit Putin. Why? There really is such a thing as a Zeitgeist or spirit of the times [and Putin embodies it for Russia]…
[W]e say the Russians don’t believe in democracy. But as the great journalist and historian Walter Laqueur put it, “Most Russians have come to believe that democracy is what happened in their country between 1990 and 2000, and they do not want any more of it.”…
So why are people thinking about Putin as much as they do? Because he has become a symbol of national self-determination.
Christopher Caldwell
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UPDATE: Comrades! If you really want a bellyful of this sort of thing, there’s a whole new journal full of Caldwell and his fellow travelers. Name: THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY: A USER’S MANUAL.
March 3rd, 2022 at 1:19PM
Caldwell is a useful idiot, thought Putin. If we have any available funds we should give him another slice.
March 3rd, 2022 at 1:29PM
“The Fuhrer was a better dancer than Churchill! He was a better dresser than Churchill. He was a better painter, too. The whole house in one day, two coats!”
March 3rd, 2022 at 3:44PM
And he was among the first to realize that the Russian people HATE democracy and thank God for their savior Putin, who destroyed it for them.