I mean, really... when Vladimir Putin is defending your domestic surveillance and spying programs, don't you think that's a good sign that things have gone a bit off the rails?
Yeah, as soon as I saw the headline I sighed. Of course I see the article noted as much! "...offering an endorsement that the Obama administration is probably not thrilled to receive"
Maybe stalling for more time to get more ABM's into syria with all the "confirmations" of chem weapons going around on the mainstream channels? Because I'm sure the FSB wouldn't mind to get more "clarification" from snowden, as well as anyone else curious about the inner workings of IC systems…
>That’s not really true, of course – the United States doesn’t sentence people who sing anti-Obama songs to labor camps – but it is unlikely to convince many U.S. critics of NSA or drone programs.
They weren't sentenced about singing anti-Putin song. They done that for ages, as tons of other bands did and do. They were sentenced for doing it in a cathedral, disrupting the religious service, calling the religious leader a "bitch" and swearing, things that are considered a publishable offence against religion to do in a church (akin to a hate crime in the US).
Now, even if one says that this was just a pretext (which can be argued about, the offence was real though and a lot of European countries have laws against it), the US has been doing similar things with similar pretexts for ages.
John Sinclair comes to mind, closely watched for his political affiliations and send to prison for 10 years for offering 2 joints to narcotics agents that set him up, but generally this is the story of lots and lots of activists, black leaders, rockers etc.
Also the use of the term "labor camps" is misinformative without context, evoking gulag or concentration camps, whereas "labor camps" (prisons where prisoners work) are just the most common type of prison in Russia.
>things that are considered a publishable offence against religion to do in a church (akin to a hate crime in the US)
people from countries without freedom of speech (i.e. basically from countries other than US) frequently don't understand it. Expressing a religious (for example) hate isn't a crime in the US, while it is a crime in the Russia or Britain (and this is what the girls were punished for). Committing a crime motivated by hate of specific kinds (like religious, ethnic, etc...) is a hate crime in US and expected to be punished harsher than comparable crime without such hate motivation.
>Also the use of the term "labor camps" is misinformative without context, evoking gulag or concentration camps, whereas "labor camps" (prisons where prisoners work) are just the most common type of prison in Russia.
so, what has changed in Russian "most common type of prison" since Gulag?
The type of freedom of expression that Pussy Riot practiced in the Cathedral wouldn't be acceptable in any country, and likely not the US either. Had they performed it on the street outside, they would have escaped prosecution. Doing it inside the church would be unacceptable in any country, due to the protection any reasonable society offers to property belonging to an organization (like a church).
In Canada they would have been charged and convicted of multiple crimes, and likely spent nearly as long in jail. The only reason the west supported this group is because it happened in Russia...
>The type of freedom of expression that Pussy Riot practiced in the Cathedral wouldn't be acceptable in any country, and likely not the US either
as i said, people outside just don't get it - the perceived political and religious offensiveness of the action strongly weights in as the largest aggravating factor in their opinion about the action and punishment for it. The freedom of expression is protected in the US. The actual crimes committed - the trespassing and/or disorderly conduct, 2 misdemeanors, without priors ... - IANAL of course - seems less than 2nd non-felonious DUI, i.e. fine, community service (like picking up trash in parks and on roadsides) on weekends for few months, a month in jail if judge is in bad mood :)
ACT UP used to raise a fuss in churches (mostly, as I recall, Catholic), and get dragged out by the cops. In one demonstration mentioned by Wikipedia, about 100 protestors were arrested, but got at most community service sentences.
I suspect this is just Putin trolling (needling) Obama and the US. He knows very well that "approval" from Russia will not sit well with many Americans.
Exactly. "“He told us nothing we didn’t know before,” Putin said of Snowden" that reads like he is trying to make life pricklier for the people claiming that great damage was done to national security by revealing these secrets. That is exactly the sort of thing I would say if I wanted to amuse myself by annoying US politicians.
Russia has it's own internet surveillance system, likely even more invasive then PRISM. Would be really odd if he spoke against it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SORM
I wouldn't have been surprised if this was an Onion article headline. I hope Kim Jong Un also comes out voicing his support for PRISM/drones, and the circle will be complete.
It's quite sad actually, I can't even enjoy the Onion anymore because it's gotten to a point where their absurdist humor and the world we live in are not all that different. It's gone from being funny satire to a leading indicator of where we're heading as a society. Pretty scary and disturbing if you think about it...
> It's gone from being funny satire to a leading indicator of where we're heading as a society.
Back in 2005 or so I was given one of the _Onion_ collections. I was flipping through it for the first time, and it fell open at a January 2001 piece they had written on the inauguration of George W. Bush where the headline was the quote "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over" ( http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-our-long-national-nigh... ). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
From the parent's Onion article link from Jan 2001:
> During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"
On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.
I don't know if this Onion article was prophetic or if wars and recessions are just cyclic and inevitable, but either way I am spooked right now.
I can only imagine how many times he had to practice saying this without breaking into hysterical laughter before he could do it in front of the press.
