I’ve written about Putin before.  This narcissistic dictator trying to keep Russian in line thinks Sochi will bring him good PR.  I don’t get it.  The tyrants from the three Stans—the Three Musketeers of Thugdom—are featured guests at his Olympic extravaganza.  I’d guess they don’t have to stay in half-finished hotels, drinking brown water and being revolted by half-naked pictures of the great leader showing off his abs.  Rumor has it that bribes from a Russian Mafioso working for dear fearless leader Vladimir paved the way of obtaining the Olympics for Sochi.  Dunno.  It wouldn’t surprise me.

There’s the terrorist threat, of course.  Those antiaircraft installations above Sochi?  They’re ready to bring down any plane, commercial or otherwise, that even gives the hint of threatening the Olympic village.  I can’t see that they will be much use for stopping the famous Black Widow bombers—if Putin et al killed my husband, I’d probably be pissed too.  Maybe that famous ring will stop them, but watching the Russian police hasn’t given me a great deal of confidence.  And I’d bet they’d take a bribe in a minute—maybe a pair of blue jeans and some vodka?

More of a worry is that there are good looking blond and blue-eyed females in and around the Olympics, athletes and fans, and they might be temptations for the human traffickers from the Stans.  Sharapova is an example, although she might have her own security entourage.  Across that Black Sea you’ll find Turkey and the Middle East too.  Any emirs out there wanting to add to their harems?

While this is all a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, am I too harsh?  Maybe Russia is trying to come into the 21^st century in spite of Putin et al.  After all, Larry King is now on RT America—oh yeah, Larry King is a zombie from the 19^th century!  How’s it going so far with the Olympics?  Forget the snowflake that failed to turn into a ring.  The rendition of War and Peace in the opening ceremonies was just about as boring as the book.  Moreover, that little girl’s view of Russian history is very different than mine, but maybe she’s dreaming in a fairy tale.  Most of the Czars were brutal tyrants (including featured Peter the Great) and Russia never has lost its paranoia and embraced the West—Putin is just as paranoid as any other Russian dictator too.

Of course, we should try to put politics and Putin-bashing aside and focus on the athletes.  Whether winners or just participants, the Games are about them.  Western perceptions are irrelevant; Putin and his cronies are irrelevant.  Every event challenges the participants to do his or her or their best.  Sports and sporting events should be apolitical.  While hosting the Games allows countries to strut their stuff (why aren’t all of them in Greece, by the way?), spending billions of dollars to impress the world, what impresses me are the athletes’ performances.  I’m filled with awe and wonder at their grace and physical prowess.  It’s simply amazing that human bodies can perform in this way.

One thing I haven’t mentioned, though, is a huge negative for these Games—they take place in a country with LGBT laws as antiquated as many African countries (for example, Nigeria).  I’m sure Russian versions of Oscar Wilde are enduring persecution as bad or worse than he did under the Brits.  Government-legitimized Russian bigotry, even if sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church, is simply not appropriate in the 21^st century.  Sure, Putin can make the argument that gays are hammered (sometimes literally) in NYC and across the U.S. by American bigots.  But we call those hate crimes now and punish them.  I’m not sure what Russia would do in similar circumstances.  Give the bashing bigots Olympic medals?  One of those with a piece of meteor in them?  Of course, this is only part of the Russian paranoia—they still think of LGBT rights as a dangerous blight on their society.  What sorry bastards!

I suppose Russian censors would heavily censor this post.  Will I feel the radioactive tip of an umbrella sometime in my near future?  Nah, they wouldn’t bother with me!  I’m harmless—I just throw words, not stones or grenades.  Fortunately, I live in a country that has largely learned that people’s rights, whether LGBT rights or voting rights or whatever, are worth pursuing and preserving.  We’ve come into the 21^st century, although some of us, the bigots and racists and hotheads left among us, still resist, kicking and screaming.  Russia might not ever make it.

And so it goes….

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