In Russia, opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was promptly arrested upon his return to Moscow in January. This spawned protests across the country, as people condemned the action and pushed for democratic reforms. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, US Senators declined to condemn President Donald Trump, who spawned a protest against Congress, which was trying to carry-out the democratic process. Ironic.
Alexei Navalny had been a critic of Vladimir Putin and an advocate for democratic reforms in Russia since 2011. In August, he was almost assassinated on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was poisoned with an old Soviet-era nerve agent, only accessible to government officials. He survived and recovered in Germany. He then returned to Russia, where he was arrested at the Moscow airport. This sparked protests across Russia, with over 120,000 people decrying the fraudulent abuse of power and attack on civil liberties. Meanwhile, in the US, the Senate acquitted former-President Donald Trump, who had for months declared a lawful presidential election fraudulent and used the power of his position to inspire a protest that attacked the democratic process in the name of authoritarianism—his own. Amazing.
The Russian protests were conducted for democracy. The US protest was not done in the name of democracy, or even conservatism for this was not a conservative issue. Rather it was done in the name of authoritarianism, which runs perpendicular to the left-right spectrum. A spectrum implies a choice, and that riot was not about giving people a choice—it was about taking away the choice people had already made. It was about replacing rule-of-law with rule-of-force—much like Putin has done during his quasi-permanent administration. Sad.
After the Russian protests, thousands were beaten and jailed by Moscow police. After the attack on Congress, one capitol police officer died after being assaulted by protesters. With his acquittal, Trump will reside in Mar a Lago. With his conviction, Navalny will spend two-and-a-half year in a prison camp. Tragic.
Source:
Samuel Green and Graeme B Robertson, “Putin’s new war on the opposition suggests he sees it as a real threat,” Washington Post, 31 Jan 2021, B2; also https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/01/27/putin-opposition-protests-navalny-russia-repression/
Dana Milbank, “The ‘civil war’ for the soul of the GOP is over before it began. Trump won—again,” Washington Post, Opinion, 31 Jan 2021, A27; also https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/29/civil-war-soul-of-gop-over-trump-won/?arc404=true
Photo: The Guardian