Russia set to decriminalize domestic violence

[smoltchanov]

Tell me again how this isn't a terrible country.

Russia is a great country and a great people but with a terrible political tradition and history that has left it at the mercy of nutcases.

+100. I say that as Russian by origin and presently living in Russia (Moscow)

[smoltchanov]

Introduced by a member of the "Social Democratic" opposition.

Yeah, I saw that before.  Controlled opposition, much?  Is the "left wing" in Russia all like that?

Almost all. "Left" is, usually, even worse then "right" in Russia.

[smoltchanov]

Introduced by a member of the "Social Democratic" opposition.

Yeah, I saw that before.  Controlled opposition, much?  Is the "left wing" in Russia all like that?

Most of Russia's "left wing" is pretty brown-shirted. Basically, to be a Communist in Russia these days means to be a rabid nationalist, anti-semite, and in cahoots with the Church (then, again, the Patriarch is planning a special liturgy to commemorate the glorious October Revolution - it goes both ways).

But, then, Mme Mizulina is not, even a "leftist" in that sense. She was a Communist party member only until the end of the old regime, at which point she joined the left-of-center liberal Yabloko, from which she jumped to the righ-liberal Union of the Rightist Forces from which she moved on to the servile pseudo-vaguely-leftish Just Russia (the main point of the party program being that it is more pro-Putin than the governing United Russia).  Now, it seems, she is leaving the JR - likely to move to the UR. There is a name for people like that, but I might be accused of misoginy here if I use it (though I would not hesitate to apply the same word to a man).

Thanks for the info.  I read a little bit about the Russian Communist Party a few days ago and what I got out of it was that its leaders (or one of its former leaders) are pretty generally anti-West and wanted to revive the USSR.  I didn't know that the rest of the left basically acted as a fodder for what is essentially a one-party (one-dictator?) state.

Now you probably understand why most of us (Russians by origin, writing here) are almost rabidly anti-left)))))

[smoltchanov]

Tell me again how this isn't a terrible country.

Russia is a great country and a great people but with a terrible political tradition and history that has left it at the mercy of nutcases.

+100. I say that as Russian by origin and presently living in Russia (Moscow)

     When your country has been ruled by varying degrees of strongmen since time immemorial, it's a tough mold to break out of. I like quite a bit about Russia, but its political paradigm strikes me as quite corrupt and authoritarian.

It is. And was for centuries. With, essentially, no exceptions. That's why it's naive to expect a "developed Democracy" in Russia in the near future - it will take considerable time to change a mentality not only of "ruling class", but general people as well. It took centuries in England , France and US, so it will take a comparable time in Russia....

[smoltchanov]

Introduced by a member of the "Social Democratic" opposition.

Yeah, I saw that before.  Controlled opposition, much?  Is the "left wing" in Russia all like that?

Most of Russia's "left wing" is pretty brown-shirted. Basically, to be a Communist in Russia these days means to be a rabid nationalist, anti-semite, and in cahoots with the Church (then, again, the Patriarch is planning a special liturgy to commemorate the glorious October Revolution - it goes both ways).

But, then, Mme Mizulina is not, even a "leftist" in that sense. She was a Communist party member only until the end of the old regime, at which point she joined the left-of-center liberal Yabloko, from which she jumped to the righ-liberal Union of the Rightist Forces from which she moved on to the servile pseudo-vaguely-leftish Just Russia (the main point of the party program being that it is more pro-Putin than the governing United Russia).  Now, it seems, she is leaving the JR - likely to move to the UR. There is a name for people like that, but I might be accused of misoginy here if I use it (though I would not hesitate to apply the same word to a man).

Thanks for the info.  I read a little bit about the Russian Communist Party a few days ago and what I got out of it was that its leaders (or one of its former leaders) are pretty generally anti-West and wanted to revive the USSR.  I didn't know that the rest of the left basically acted as a fodder for what is essentially a one-party (one-dictator?) state.

Now you probably understand why most of us (Russians by origin, writing here) are almost rabidly anti-left)))))

To me, it's difficult to understand Russian politics from a binary left-right perspective.  I don't view Putin as an ideologue much as someone who simply loves being in power and building his empire, and the only way he can maintain his popular support is by pandering to people and places of high influence, like the Russian Orthodox Church, by embracing socially conservative and reactionary initiatives.  Any "opposition" to Putin within the country is effectively neutered.

You are basically (IMHO, of course, as usual) correct. But i meant Russia-born people, who spent at least part of their life inthe West, and can compare first hand.

[smoltchanov]

^ Russian political landscape is a good example. Communist party leaders reconciled himself with notion of private property only in 1990s...... So, they are "far left"? Not so quick, on almost all social issues they are to the right of Santorum and Huckaby. And Russian "Liberal Democratic party", as everyone knows, is neither liberal, nor democratic (on the contrary - there are, probably, no more authoritarian party in Russia). Politics of other states may be fundamentally different from European-American "norm", and vice versa...

[smoltchanov]

Saudi Arabia might come close to being that unanimous. Iran? Not a chance.

http://www.womeninparliaments.org/parliament/russian-federation-state-duma/

There are currently 61 women on the Russian State Duma. Assuming all the opposition voters were women, that means that 95% of Russian female deputies of the State Duma actively support misogyny.

AND NO ONE THOUGHT THAT MIGHT BE JUST A LITTLE BIT UNLIKELY!?

No, this is a mysognist bill, and the victims of this bill won't be the women who support such a bill.

PROVE it. So far i hear an empty statements from "bona-fide progressives"....

BTW, you will not believe, but old russian saying says "If he (man, who heads a family) doesn't beat - he doesn't loves..."