Vladimir Putin, the virtual dictator of Russia and wannabe star in an Old Spice commercial (I’m referring to his riding that horse shirtless), is either an idiot or completely living in the Dark Ages.  (This isn’t an exclusive or—he could be both.)  In press conferences referring to Sochi, he talked about Russia’s treatment of LGBT people in a manner that is not much more enlightened than Uganda’s.  Moreover, he seems to think gays are pedophiles—“Just leave our children in peace,” he says.

This clearly goes beyond the usual Russian paranoia.  It’s completely inexcusable for the leader of a nation that pretends to be important on the 21^st century’s stage.  Moreover, it’s a Neanderthal attitude not commensurate with 21^st century progressive thought.  Of course, Putin is light years from being a progressive.  He’s ex-KGB and longs for the good old days of torture and gulags, days when no one dared say anything against the Kremlin mafia.

In the U.S., people complain about Gitmo.  Russian prisons in Siberia would be like moving Gitmo to Nome and giving the jihadists exercise outside in bathing suits.  While these prisons aren’t at the inhumane level of Papa Joe’s or those of Russian dictators that followed, it’s a safe bet that no Russian thinks a trip there would be a picnic.  It’s part of their culture to fear those in power.  Putin’s sneer is probably used to threaten Russian children who misbehave.  No wonder they need all that vodka by the time they reach puberty.

Both California and the tri-state area have sizable Russian populations.  They probably consider the U.S. to be their rehab spa, a paradise compared to the Rodina.  Of course, running from the U.S.S.R. before and Putin and his oppressing and barely controlled chaos now has always been good motivation.  The industrialist who was recently released couldn’t wait to leave the country of the damned, for example.  It’s entirely appropriate that Snowden found asylum there.  He’s among his own kind, although he’s only a pissy little devil among many big ones in Putin’s cold inferno.

There are things of beauty in Russian culture, of course.  Once you get by the ponderous and verbose tomes of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky (always good as doorstops), you can find beauty in Chekhov and the poems of Dr. Zhivago.  (I had the privilege of reading some of the latter in the original Russian language.  As with German poetry, Russian poets take a harsh, guttural language and make it a thing of beauty.)  Russian music sometimes is also a cultural treat.  Forget syrupy Tchaikovsky.  Who can forget Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring or Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony (of course, the latter was always looking back over his shoulder for KGB agents—maybe Putin was one of them?).

What’s not beautiful is Russia’s treatment of gays.  I suppose we can explain it by saying Russia has never been known for respecting individual liberties and rights.  The country has always had an oppressing class that makes life miserable for the oppressed.  The names change—tsars, communists, Putin and his cronies—but any change has always been just the changing of the guard.  Individual liberties and rights remain the same.

But what kind of leader thinks gay men are pedophiles?  Putin says he does, but I can’t believe it.  Dictators use provide objects of hate for their subjugated people as a distraction.  The Ayatollahs hold up the Great Satan.  Apparently, Putin holds up gays.  Moreover, he plays to ignorance.  And by having homophobia legally sanctioned, authorities, including the Russian Orthodox accomplices of Putin, are sanctioning all sorts of hate crimes.

Like most people, Russians love their kids.  They don’t want them to be subjected to perverts.  But equating those perverts to gays is beyond the pale.  It means I can’t take the man seriously.  Moreover, I wish the ex-SSR Muslim republics well—they deserve to win their battle with Mother Russia.  I hope they can win it without terrorist acts that target innocents.  They don’t have a good track record there.  I also hope they don’t make Americans targets at the Winter Olympics.  We’re not their problem—Putin is.  Targeting American athletes or Americans who go to see them perform is counter-productive.  It might embarrass Putin, but it wouldn’t make any friends among Americans either.

And so it goes….

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