Bush’s mixed messages on freedom

As Bush promotes the spread of freedom and liberty throughout the Middle East, his continued support of Russia — which is being transformed by Vladimir Putin into an authoritarian state — remains a contradiction.
Fred Hiatt writes of Putin in a column for The Washington Post: “This is the man whom Bush will visit in July when Putin hosts a Group of Eight meeting in St. Petersburg. There will be fine photo opportunities in repainted czarist palaces, and the message Putin wants to send his subjects will be clear: I am a czar, and the leaders of the world’s democracies do not care; they accept me. The question for Bush is whether he is happy to help Putin send that message.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley

10 Comments

  1. damoon
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 8:11 am | Permalink

    Of course Bush will always support Putin and turn a blind eye to the human rights violations taking place in Russia. Judging by his behavior and willingness to violate the civil rights of US citizens, Bush must also have a secret fantasy of being a czar.

  2. A guy from up north
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 10:02 am | Permalink

    damoon

    I coudn’t have said it better myself.Why do you think Bush is going to Russia – - It’s to learn how to make himself a czar.

  3. Joe Williams
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 10:18 am | Permalink

    Is that the real message?

    Russia is super corrupt and I don’t blame Putin for having an iron fist to stem the corruption and rampet terrorism. At least he is friendly to the USA instead of being hostle.

  4. Ben Huie
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 11:08 am | Permalink

    Lets play change the names with your sentence Joe: “I don’t blame Mugabe for having an iron fist to stem the corruption and rampet terrorism.”

    I don’t buy it with Mugabe; nor with Putin. That is the line used by despots the world over – from Khartoom to Karachi to Baghdad …

  5. Jed
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 12:08 pm | Permalink

    Of course Bush is looking to Russia. There are alliances and money to be made there. Those have always trumped human rights.

  6. XXX
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 2:47 pm | Permalink

    And there’s oil in Russia.

  7. ProudLiberal
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 7:04 pm | Permalink

    Tres Eches–

    Bingo!

  8. XXX
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 7:33 pm | Permalink

    Aliances,money, and oil…

    Another Trifecta!!!

  9. Rage
    Posted January 25, 2006 at 10:56 pm | Permalink

    “Freedom” is word that is easily used, but merely stating you support freedom doesn’t make it so.

    When most people speak of their love for “freedom,” they usually mean “freedom for ME.”

    That’s certainly true of Bush.

  10. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted January 26, 2006 at 10:20 am | Permalink

    Damoon, I dont think that czar fantasy is secret anymore. He isnt even bothering to hide it since the ‘merican people so clearly want it to be true.