16
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Looking
Outward
Dan Glode
Columnist
Putin deserves
no admiration
“It is always a great honor
to be so nicely complimented
by a man so highly respected
within his country and
beyond… I tell you what I think
in terms of his leadership,
he (Putin) is getting an ‘A’.”
— Donald Trump
s
s
s
Let me get my bias out of
the way early: I think Donald
Trump is a narcissistic, bel-
ligerent, bellicose bigot and
bully. I think he is extremely
dangerous and has done a tre-
mendous amount of harm to
this country already. I could
go on with negatives, but
space does not permit.
I have a laundry list of
things about him that disgust
me, but when I heard him
utter the above statement I
was practically apoplectic
with rage. To call Putin some-
one who gets an A-rating as
a leader is not only nonsensi-
cal, it also shows a complete
misunderstanding of Russia
today and the effect Vladimir
Putin has had on that country.
I had the privilege of
working in Russia from 2004
to 2008 and lived in Moscow
much of that time. It was a
wonderful experience. I was
working for the American
Bar Association’s Central
European and Eurasian Law
Initiative Program (CEELI).
The ABA had several projects
going in Central and Eastern
Europe since the fall of the
Soviet Union. (They have
now gone worldwide.)
The projects were numer-
ous and varied, but could
loosely be called democracy-
building and civil society-
strengthening programs. We
worked on such things as
assisting lawyers on how to
conduct jury trials (a new
thing there), helping law
enforcement with human
trafficking cases, gender pro-
gram assistance, opening a
legal aid office, assisting in
training on presenting cases
to the European Court of
Human Rights, building bar
associations, etc.
For the most part it seemed
we were eagerly received and
welcomed. Change, positive
change was in the air. It was
very slow, as the Russian
bureaucracies were difficult
and stifling at times but we
did make some headway.
I went there at the begin-
ning of Putin’s second term.
Like here, there was a two-
term limit of four years for
president. He was presi-
dent from 2000-2008, then
skipped a term and a place-
keeper, Dmitry Medvedev,
came in for a term and then
Putin ran again. He changed
the term to six years so he can
serve until 2024 if he wishes.
He will get little opposition
since the United Russia Party
— pro-Putin — dominates
the Duma.
In effect, he is an authori-
tarian ruler with few controls.
The checks and balances
which existed under their new
constitution have since been
modified to the point where
they virtually no longer exist.
Human Rights Watch notes
many restrictive new laws
that make democracy diffi-
cult, including the harassment
of NGOs (non-governmental
organizations like the ABA),
new restrictions on the free-
dom of assembly, terming
NGOs “foreign agents,”
intimidating and imprison-
ing political opposition, for-
eign agent laws, treason laws
and many other things have
turned Russia from what was
considered a hybrid democ-
racy into an authoritarian
regime.
I watched the erosion
begin, slowly at first and then
speed up. There are 85 fed-
eral subjects (with sub-cate-
gories), which are kind of like
our states. They had elected
governors when I arrived;
they were appointed by the
president (Putin) when I left.
The Russian Supreme Court
had lifetime terms when I
arrived; then they were sub-
jected to term limits and were
appointed by the president
when I left. There was a fair
amount of free press when I
arrived. The television and
broadcast media became
government run by the time I
left. There were some peace-
ful protests when I got there,
but it became very difficult to
assemble and protest by the
time I left.
One of the saddest things
I witnessed was the out-
migration of young, idealistic
Russians to other places.
It became a very unsafe
place for journalists. Anna
Politkovskaja, a journalist,
was murdered in her apart-
ment when I was there. She
was writing a story about cor-
ruption in the Russian Army.
In fact, Russia was second to
only Iraq in being the most
dangerous country for jour-
nalists, and there was a war
going on in Iraq at the time.
It also was, and is, a very
unsafe place for political
opponents. Take, for exam-
ple, Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
the CEO of Yukos Oil, who
was mounting a political
campaign against Putin. He
was convicted (quickly, I
might add) of fraud and sent
to prison in Siberia. More
recently Boris Nemtsov was
shot and killed in front of
the Kremlin, one of the most
guarded places on the planet.
He was a courageous political
opponent to Putin. Sometimes
in these cases someone is
prosecuted, but no one seems
to determine who hires them.
So let me see, Donald,
the person you give a leader-
ship “A” has violated almost
every human right there is.
He has killed his opposition,
squelched free speech, assem-
bly and the press, limited
any form of political opposi-
tion, controls the media, ter-
rified foreigners and pretty
much eliminated democracy
in Russia. Some say he has
amassed a $70 billion for-
tune overseas. He is one of
the most corrupt leaders in
a world full of corrupt lead-
ers and he has virtual control
over the entire country.
I am afraid, Donald, we
admire different kinds of
leaders. Your problem is you
were born at the wrong time.
There was a place for you in
1930s Europe.
Dan Glode is a Sisters
resident and former attor-
ney and district attorney for
Lincoln County. The opinion
expressed above is not neces-
sarily that of the American
Bar Association.
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