It appears Kossacks are not the only ones questioning Palin's fitness for duty...so are the Russians ( and maybe the Cossacks, too).
There have been a number of articles about Palin...written with amusement, and/or a lifted eyebrow...
From an article in the Washington Post, with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies...
The authors of a recent article in the Russian daily newspaper "Izvestia" questioned the dubious logic linking the Alaska's proximity to Russia with Palin's foreign policy know-how. They concluded, rather sarcastically, that the former alone is enough to qualify the Alaskan governor as a global politics 'specialist.' The article further discussed Palin's publicity stunt of visiting the Minneapolis Museum of Russian Art in early September and noted that journalists present at the scene somehow failed to probe her familiarity with Russian artwork.
Another highly unflattering article in the daily Moscow paper "Pravda" was even more scorching in its discussion of the Alaskan governor, calling her "A Mrs. Nobody Know-it-All" and classifying her threats of initiating war with Russia as "the most irresponsible thing anyone could do at this moment in time
( Update: I have been advised by a Kossack whom I respect, that the writer of the Pravda piece , Timothy Bancroft-Hinchley, is not a writer to whom we should give much ( if any) serious attention...or respect).
Much more to this article, and it is well worth reading.
Palin is not pulling the wool over the eyes of the rest of the world.
In other news from Russia,...something rather more important.It appears that Moscow ( and decidedly Putin) would rather that McCain wins the election. Curious, no?
It appears that the elements are:
Race, class, strategic calculations, and ...a love for lobbyists.
Racism is a large part of it...Russian society is apparently increasingly racist.
But even more...
The strategic reason that makes the Kremlin pro-McCain is the fact that the policies that McCain advocates suit Putin's Russia.
Russia's strategy is to re-gain its status as world power through rhetorical confrontation with the West. In this sense, McCain's tough rhetoric plays into the Kremlin's hands, both domestically and internationally.
Domestically it helps Putin to convince the public that Russia is under siege, and internationally McCain's toughness helps Russia to position itself as the challenger to America's global hegemony. At the same time Moscow does not need to pay a price for its anti-Americanism, first, because America is overstretched and second, because in the current financial turmoil McCain's toughness is nothing but rhetoric. There is no enthusiasm for a call economic sanctions and McCain's uncritical support for Georgian President Michail Saakashvili does not go well in Europe.
Another piece well worth taking the time to read... and a big tip o'the hat to brit, over at My DD, where I first saw this.
http://www.motleymoose.com/...