Marcus King: The War Against Putin

As of the date of this publication (April 2014), a Google Search for the term “Putin thug” yields an astonishing 850,000 results; about the same as for “Putin murderer”. Coming in at about 500,000 results is “Putin tyrant”. Even the whimsical “Putin the Terrible” is pushing 100,000. Most of these negative results source back to some bloviating American politician, commentator, editorial writer or journalist for a major American publication. Others trace back to European parliamentarians or periodicals.

To be sure, favorable Western reviews for Russia’s enigmatic leader are also readily available; but the preponderance of the Western sourced adjectives used to describe Vladimir Putin, be it from the “left” or from the “right”, is clearly of a negative nature.

But in Russia itself, the perception is vastly different. Ever since his rise to power, Putin’s approval rating among the Russian people has hovered between 70 -80%; far higher than that of any American President or European Prime Minister. {1} 1 Search Term: Putin approval rating Indeed, many Russians regard him as the savior of Mother Russia; with some referring to him as “Putin the Great”. Some among Russia’s Orthodox Christian faithful today believe that Putin was God sent, literally!

Even Putin’s most hysterical Western detractors unanimously concede that his talents and abilities are unusually formidable. Putin came from a very humble background. As a young boy, he was full of energy, fond of Martial Arts, and not one to shy away from trouble. His 5 thgrade teacher, Vera Gurevich, recalls young Vlad:

“In the fifth grade, he still hadn’t found himself yet, but I could feel the potential, the energy and the character in him. I saw that he had a great deal of interest in language; he picked it up easily. He had a very good memory and an agile mind.

I thought, something good will come of this boy, so I decided to give him more attention, to distract him from the boys on the streets.” {2} 2 Search Term: Vera Gurevich Fifth Grade Putin

In High School, Putin studied Chemistry at a Technological Institute (which is probably very close to obtaining a Chemistry Degree from some American colleges) . He would later obtain a Law Degree from what was then known as Leningrad State University. Brainy Putin later earned a Ph.D in Economics, while also mastering the German language in his spare time. He is basically conversant in English and French. Putin is also well versed in History and Literature (including English & American works) and an aficionado of Ballet, Ice Hockey, Opera and both Classical & Blues music.

In 1983, Putin married Lyudmila Shkrebneva, a beautiful Flight Attendant with whom he would have two daughters. He is a passionate outdoorsman, animal lover, good with a gun, and holds a Black Belt in Judo. He served 16 years in the Intelligence Service, rising to Russia’s Intelligence Chief after the USSR collapsed.

Love him or hate him; one thing is for sure; Putin is no joke. To parody a well known beer commercial, “He is, the most interesting man alive.”

Clearly, the negative Internet Search super majority and the Russian population super majority cannot both be right about Mr. Putin. So, who is right? Or does the truth about Vladimir Putin lie somewhere in between? Why so much Putin-hating in the West?

As the astute reader has probably already deduced from the title — The War Against Putin: What the Government-Media Complex Isn’t Telling You About Russia — this work intends to set forth a body of evidence which will strongly support the Russian majority’s perception. Though the style may seem much more breezy and conversational than the conventional academic sedatives which normally deal with such matters; be assured that the scholarship displayed throughout is as unerring as it is meticulously sourced. This is no opinion piece. It is an organized, concise collection of hard and proven facts which, when weaved together, will state their own conclusions; conclusions which the Western “Powers That Be” have concealed from you, but cannot refute.

And so, dear reader, turn off your TV news and put down your morning newspaper for a while. As the late comedian and social commentator George Carlin used to say; “It’s all bullshit, and it’s bad for you.”

Just pretend that you have never even heard of Vladimir Putin, until now. With confrontation looming (if certain players have their way) , the people of the “free world” cannot afford to be misled any longer. Of course, you will render your own final verdict regarding Mr. Putin. But how can it be a just one until you have at least considered the organized array of facts which are about to be presented?

That said, let’s climb into my time machine, and enjoy a wild ride from past to present.

More than 1100 years ago, diverse groups of seafaring Norsemen known as ‘Rus’ settled in modern day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia; giving their name to the latter two. The Rus governed over native Slavic and Finnish tribes. Some historians believe that these Vikings were invited in to bring order. Others theorize that the Rus conquered the territories and then established their rule over the Slavs and Finns. In any case, the history of Russia is long and storied

In 988, the Rus state, centered in Kiev (modern day Ukraine) converted to Christianity; which it adopted from the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) . For this reason, Russia is sometimes referred to as “The Third Rome”. That fusion of Rus, Slavic and Byzantine cultures formed the basis of Russian culture for the next 1000 years.

Kiev Rus ultimately disintegrated as a state because of the brutal Mongol invasion of 1237–1240 and the death of about half the population of Rus. Remnants of the Mongol invasions can still be seen in the faces of some modern day Russians (Tatar Mongol mix) .

After the 13th century, Moscow became the cultural center of Russia. By the 18th century, the Tsardom of Russia had become the enormous, resource rich Russian Empire, stretching from the Polish–Lithuanian Union eastward to the Pacific Ocean. The word for king, Tsar, is Russian for Caesar.

Expansion towards the west introduced Russia to Western culture, which, at that time was far more advanced. In the late 1600’s, Tsar Peter (Peter the Great) led a cultural revolution that replaced some of Russia’s medieval social and political system with a scientific, Western oriented, system. The Tsarist House of Romanov (which takes its name from the Roman Empire) indirectly traces its lineage back to Peter. The Romanovs will rule Russia until 1918.

The Golden Age of Russian culture and imperialism blossomed under the Reign of Catherine the Great during the late 1700’s. Catherine presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment. The Smolny Institute, the first state institution of higher education for women in Europe, was founded by her. Catherine also founded the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Hermitage is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world and has been open to the public since 1852. Its stunning collections, of which only a small part is on display, comprise about three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world.