OPINION
If you wondered why Vladimir Putin agreed to the Tucker Carlson interview, consider how Putin opened up Pandora’s Box on the West. He really didn’t have to say much; in fact, some of what he said was confusing. Carlson said it might take him a year to figure Putin out: “There’s no question Putin is smart, but he is not good at explaining himself.”
Putin didn’t have to explain himself as the stark contrast between life in Moscow and life in a large American city said it all and is music to Russian ears.
“What was very shocking, very disturbing was the city of Moscow, where I’d never been … it was so much nicer than any city in my country,” he said, calling the Russian capital “so much cleaner, and prettier aesthetically — its architecture, its food, its service — than any city in the United States.”
Tucker Carlson 14 Feb 2024 The Hill
Before the interview was aired, I mentioned my keen anticipation to a friend who watches the six o’clock news religiously. She said, “Who is Tucker Carlson?”
Prior to the interview Russians on the street were asked to comment on the upcoming interview.
Putin’s predilection for Russian history, which he rather painfully traversed for the first thirty-five minutes of the interview, and his love for the Orthodox Christian church because it is the historical and current backbone of conservative Russia, were both surprises.
It is anathema for Russian tots to be schooled by drag queens in public libraries or Russian school children taught to challenge the gender they were born with.
Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.
The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.
The Guardian
The stark contrast between Russia and the West is not confined to the loss of Christian morality (which has largely fled Western countries). There is also a stark contrast in leadership and in economies. Despite Russia’s war with Ukraine, according to Putin Russia outstrips western economies. Probably because we bogged ourselves down in increased costs due to “climate change” financial commitments which have also hit the farming sectors hard.
“They predicted decline, failure, collapse — that we would stand back, give up, or fall apart. It makes you want to show [them] a well-known gesture, but I won’t do that, there are a lot of ladies here,” Putin said to a round of applause. “They won’t succeed! Our economy is growing, unlike theirs.” Russia’s president gloated that Russia’s economy had not only withstood an onslaught of sanctions from western countries — but was now bigger than all but two of them. He was referring to the World Bank’s ranking of GDP by purchasing power parity, by which Russia slightly edges ahead of Germany. “All of our industry did their part,” he said.
Financial Times 3 Feb 2024
The distinction in public transport is shocking too. Major western cities have filthy, unsafe underground railways while Moscow has a fully functioning and stunningly beautiful subway.
Is there censorship in Russia? Certainly, says Carlson, but don’t discount US censorship. Here in New Zealand, six years of Ardern’s propaganda machine might have gifted us the most repressive years in our history.
Carlson didn’t ask Putin about propaganda but just in case you wondered, here’s a little segment of a very proud teacher explaining what children are taught in US schools today.