Gorbachev: Russia Must Preserve Democracy

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Tuesday that Russians must do their utmost to preserve democracy, and he criticized a number of Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies as a step backward, in some of his sharpest words yet on the Kremlin chief.

Gorbachev said perestroika ended totalitarianism and gave birth to freedom in the then-Soviet Union, and today there is "no turning back." But he criticized Putin's annulment of direct elections for governors and district elections for parliament and said he disagreed with the way the state had conducted the campaign against the Yukos oil company, particularly the arrest of its former CEO, Mikhail Khodorkovsky - though he voiced support for the policy of going after tax cheats.

Gorbachev also objected to the growing state control over Russian media. "The one thing I can say is that it's pointless today to watch television," he said.

Gorbachev, whose nearly seven years in power ushered in a period of free speech that helped to shed light on the worst excesses of the dictator Josef Stalin, warned that the legacy of Stalinism was a threat that still needed to be combatted. "Stalinism is a special Russian form of slavery. We have to fight the remnants of Stalinism, I say this every day," he said.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-eur/2005/mar/01/030105026.html

He'll preserve it in a jar of piss, and label it with a Florida punch card ballot.

One of my heroes, watching his life's work getting flushed down the toilet.:-(

and trying to introduce some freedom and respect for human dignity in his country. That was really terrible of him wasn't it?:eyes:

world of reaganites.

bit him squarely in the ass...

should criticize Putin or any of his policies.:eyes:

n/t

and making life measarable for millions is a thing nothing to be proud about.
Nobody in former SU likes Gorby but the West.

Imagine the USA is gone due to Bush policies, and you have 60 dollars a month to live on? Scary? Would you still praise Bush?

That's how many Russians are living today.:-(

If you're going to blame anyone for the decrease in standard of living, blame Boris Yeltsin and his radical, unchecked, unregulated market reforms. Those are what led to the unemployment. That is what led to the inflation. That is what led to the huge gap between rich and poor. And guess what? The Russian People elected Yeltsin. Not just once...but twice. In addition, they also approved his ridiculous constitution where he was able to implement these radical market reforms even when the Communist-controlled Duma opposed them...

All Gorbachev did was let the Russian people determine their own destiny. They did...and they put themselves in the situation that they are in today. The Russian people are to be held responsible for their situation because they voted for these ill-advised reforms by electing Yeltsin and his constitution...just as the American people are to be held responsible for Bush and what he has done.

Gorbachev is fantasising if he thinks Putin is somehow crushing freedom in Russia - there wasn't any in the first place. All Putin is doing is making an authoritarian system more visibly authoritarian.

The only thing getting crushed in Russia are the living standards.

Exactly what I meant.