by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Ordinarily Russian punk rock girl bands aren't my cup of tea. Call me old fashioned but my knowledge of and interest in Russian composers and their music ends with Prokofiev.
But I am making a strenuous exception in the case of what is now Russia's most celebrated band, Pussy Riot. In fact, consider me amongst their most enthusiastic fans... for all that I have never heard a note of their music... and neither have their fervent adherents back in the old USSR or anywhere else. Notwithstanding this admitted drawback, don't be surprised to find me outfitted shortly in their trademark balaclava with a lurid t-shirt with their name and logo. I shall be wicked cool for sure. Even more importantly, with this garish garb I shall be reminding not just the powers that be in the Kremlin but everywhere on Earth that injustice somewhere empowers injustice everywhere.
And as long as I have breath in my commentator body, I stand against injustice... I rise against the big guys who trammel the rights of the little guys... and I shall never accept the proposition that because we cannot solve every outrage, we should do nothing to remedy a single outrage.
That is why I am taking this opportunity to tell you about three young women in Moscow whose right to be outrageous, bombastic, uncivil and rude has been crushed by a man who never met a single form of free speech that he liked, approved of, or tolerated, except of course his own. This man's name is Putin, and he is reason enough for constant scrutiny of and grave doubts about the "new" Russia... for in such matters as this it looks remarkably like the pernicious aspects of the defunct Soviet Union itself and the tsars who preceded it.
In short, this is a thoroughly Russian story which could have taken place at the court of any ancient grand prince and where Mr. Putin's views would not only have been understood but appreciated, and that is yet another reason why I must write this story today, for the grand princes of Muscovy were masters of evisceration, eradication, and execution... liberty, save only for themselves, was never part of their dark rule.
The players.
To understand this event, you must know the players. There are essentially four of them. First, Vladimir V. Putin, president of Russia, shop-worn, re-elected in May, 2012 under questionable circumstances, a man determined that his views shall prevail, never mind detritus like bills of rights, constitutions and other paraphernalia of a democracy he disdains and subverts at his pleasure. Make no mistake about it, Putin understands power and never fails to use it, no matter the injustices that thereby ensue. So long as he gets his way, it matters not how many of these injustices he engenders. That is a mere detail of interest only to sentimentalists and cranks.
The Russian Orthodox Church. It is important to remember that in the days when consecrated tsars ruled all the Russias they did so with the ardent support of the Russian Orthodox Church. Indeed, tsardom without the church was unthinkable. Thus when the tsars fell forever, the Communists despoiled the church. But they could not kill it and so the bearded patriarchs bided their time always believing that they would return to the Third Rome that is Moscow and prevail. After all, they were God's elect. In Putin they found a man who would assist them; never mind he believed only in Putin, not the Eternal Father or anything else. They could, they both discovered, work together and profitably for all. It was an understanding the church had satisfactorily had with even the most barbaric and murderous of tsars.
The members of Pussy Riot. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, are three earnest young women dedicated to "revolution", a word which has caused Russia unbearable suffering, dislocation, miseries virtually unmatched in the calendar of human crimes and brutalities. It is against these women that President Putin has hurled the unmitigated apparatus of the Russian state, unknown when he did so... now heroines, if only for an instant.
You. The fourth group is a heterogeneous hodge-podge of protesting Russian citizens, fellow travelers, human rights organizations, and Western governments, including the United States... and, after reading this article... you, a person who must believe in the widest latitude for political free speech as an essential element of our freedom and thus stand firmly against its diminution as inimical to the most robust and challenging of human expression...for all that you may disagree with what is said, done, and promoted. Here is where Vladimir Putin and the civilized world part company, never the twain shall meet.
The incident.
The matter began in February when the women infiltrated the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. There they wore their colorful balaclavas and pranced around in front of the golden Holy Doors leading to the altar, dancing, chanting and lip-syncing for what would later become a music video of a profane song in which they beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin. And this was perhaps the key fact of all... for surely a man more powerful than the Romanovs rightly took umbrage at any act of lese majeste'. Such incidents must be dealt with, swiftly, thoroughly, with maximum punishment. It was only right.
And so three women who had no resources, no powerful friends, no standing were immediately jailed under the noxious conditions a by-word in Russia. In due course, they faced their ordeal... and a verdict that staggered the world, for in no way did the punishment fit the crime. It did, however, make a mockery of the "justice" of "new" Russia and the vengeance and vindictiveness which have always been Putin's own. While they might have faced seven years in prison, prosecutors had urged a three- year sentence; in fact they received two years. Moscow Judge Marina Syrova said in her sentencing the three women were a danger to society, their crimes "grave", insulting and humiliating the Christian faith, inciting "religious hatred." The fact that every word from the judge's mouth was wrong, a deliberate lie was irrelevant. It was what the regime and the church wanted... and they, not the hapless women, had the means to get it.
When the verdict was announced the awaiting crowd howled angrily, then fell into a stunned silence that suggested how terribly far Putin's Russia has to go and how hard the opposition must work. All over Russia that evening there was sadness, profound, haunting, despairing at all that must be done and how long it must take.
As for Putin, there was no compassion in his victory. Pussy Riot and the verdict had given him what he wanted, the opportunity to extol the church while excoriating his opponents as obscene, disrespectful rabble-rousers, liberal urbanites backed by the West standing against the great verities of Mother Russia as exemplified, of course, by Putin himself. It was Putin at his most hypocritical, master of a cynicism that has no superior and which delivered him of all people the plaudits of revered religion.
As for Pussy Riot, they will soon be forgotten and shunted aside unless they are able to turn this outrageous matter into a soul touching song that rekindles hope and inspiration in the downtrodden everywhere. Friends, I give you Woodie Guthrie's immortal song "This Land Is Your Land" (1944) with its sharp assertion that "this land was made for you and me." "This land" now means our planet itself and that includes Russia. It was all made for you and me. Go now and find it in any search engine. Let its soaring declaration ring out, even unto the Kremlin which so needs to hear it.
Sadly, it is unlikely anyone will ever hear such a song from Pussy Riot. Why? Not because they are persecuted but, far worse, because they have no talent and hence no adoring audience of fans and devoted listeners... and never will.
How do I know? You see, they have never recorded a single number or sent samples of their oeuvre to such major artists as Madonna and Sting who have offered to help them gain a worldwide hearing and following. Any ambitious, talented folks would have seized this opportunity to rise high fast, victims of an outrage that gave them e'clat forever. But Pussy Riot cannot... because the fickle Muse doesn't speak to them or inspire... and that is the most ironic and sad aspect of this case, for it only makes Vladimir's smile the broader and more sardonic. No wonder the opposition is chagrined today and sad, for while Putin and his message are clear, they have only a small band whose members cannot sing or raise up the people... and that is cause enough for their great despair.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today.
Photo Credit to New York Times. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
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