Russia's New Democracy

I used to wonder how a country like Russia or China could call itself a democracy, until I leaned that calling itself anything is less important than behavior.  The Russians are ramping up for a big election, only it won't be like the one they interfered with in the United States.  In ours, had it been the same kind of democracy, Hillary Clinton would have arrested Donald Trump, harassed his organizers, planted false stories about the positions he had taken, and beat up a few people in the news media writing favorable things about him.

Yesterday, Alexis Navalny, the anti-corruption advocate in Russia was arrested again.  It seems like such a pointless activity running into the wall of the State which is not going to give very much ground.  You have to admire a guy who is principled.  The last time he did this his supporters and anyone walking by, got detained [see previous post ] and roughed up a little, kind of like what happened to the Trump Campaign in Chicago.  Given the rhetoric we have coming out of Washington these days, I wonder if a few people are thinking those Chicago thugs may have had the right idea.

Yes, politics is ugly, and you can't put lipstick on the Russian pig and call it democracy.  That is probably why they want the US to be disrupted and internally fighting until their election is over.  Look the other way, and this will all be over soon enough.  There is some of that in this country - maybe a little too much.

There is not enough decorum when a US Senator speaks the F word in a public speech, or a comedian thinks a decaptitaed head is a joke.  These are people who do not know how to behave, but that is what the Russians are saying about Navanly.

I saw decorum in action several times when I worked in Congress.  It is subtle.  When a person does something that is bad behavior, you don't make a fuss about it and spend time making the issue worse.  You cut off funds, move them to committees where they can't speak about anything anyone cares about, and don't offer them any support when it comes time to be reelected.  These things require patience, perserverence, and directed political will, but they work and don't cause the kinds of disruptions we see in both countries right now.