"I'm sorry to hear comments on Russian news about Ms. Palin," says my friend Tanya. "Looks like the States is making a clown out of itself."And:
Regarding clowns, my student Sergey asks why I think Georgian president Saakashvili, whose country is so tiny, would fire on a huge country like Russia, with all its military hardware.
Answer: "Bush told him to."
Whatever George said, everyone here knows it wasn't about "democracy." When, on September 3, Azerbaijani president Aliyev turned down Dick Cheney's proposal of a gas pipeline that would bypass Russia, Cheney (according to the Moscow Times, September 8) "was so disappointed that he did not attend an official dinner in his honor."
She touches her fingertips, accordion-style. "Of course, we have more stability now than 10 years ago. But in a couple of years I wouldn't be surprised if 40 percent of our people are out of a job.No, they are not alike. America is a free country. Russia is not. Georgia acts to defend its interests, not in response to your imaginary neocon conspiracy. And Azerbaijan wants to bypass Russian control of oil pipelines.
"Because we still have war. Everywhere," she says.
She pauses, shoots me a sly grin. "Our two countries are alike, don't you think?"
Here we have a perfect example of lies and nonsense perpetrated through a cultural/intellectual channel.
We are NOT alike.
