Well, Well, Russians say we elected a Communist.... (i guess we just were not supposed to know that ?)

Politics
Russian News Outlet Pravda (Previously the Official Press of the USSR) Labels Obama a ‘Communist’ in Scathing OpEd

Posted on November 26, 2012 at 10:48am by Tiffany Gabbay
Editor’s note: We’ll be discussing this story and all the day’s news on our live BlazeCast at 1pm ET:


Vintage Pravda cover during the days of the USSR.

The famed Russian news site “Pravda,” which ironically was formed as the official Communist publication of the former Soviet Union, recently released a scathing opinion column entitled, “Obama’s Soviet Mistake,” in which the author unabashedly labels the U.S. president a “Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so.”

The author, Xavier Lerma, goes on to note how Obama’s “cult of personality” has mesmerized the ignorant in America, who will follow the hope and change icon in much the same way as ”fools” still praise Lenin and Stalin in Russia.

“Obama’s fools and Stalin’s fools share the same drink of illusion.”

Adding an interesting twist to the article, the author juxtaposes President Obama with Vladimir Putin, noting that the Russian president has been sounding more and more like “Ronald Reagan” or other “conservatives in America” who seek to promote smaller government and lower taxes. Lerma attributes the following remarks to Putin regarding the country’s taxes and the economy:

“…we are reducing taxes on production, investing money in the economy. We are optimizing state expenses.

The second possible mistake would be excessive interference into the economic life of the country and the absolute faith into the all-mightiness of the state.

There are no grounds to suggest that by putting the responsibility over to the state, one can achieve better results.

Unreasonable expansion of the budget deficit, accumulation of the national debt – are as destructive as an adventurous stock market game.

During the time of the Soviet Union the role of the state in economy was made absolute, which eventually lead to the total non-competitiveness of the economy. That lesson cost us very dearly. I am sure no one would want history to repeat itself.”

Reading Putin’s speech “without knowing the author,” begins Lerma, “one would think it was written by Reagan or another conservative in America.”

“The speech promotes smaller government and less taxes. It comes as no surprise to those who know Putin as a conservative,” Lerma writes with irony.

After referring to liberalism as a “psychosis,” Lerma blasts ”O’bomber” over Fast and Furious and goes on to state:

He is a Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so. How shrewd he is in America. His cult of personality mesmerizes those who cannot go beyond their ignorance. They will continue to follow him like those fools who still praise Lenin and Stalin in Russia. Obama’s fools and Stalin’s fools share the same drink of illusion.

The author questions if Americans have ever read history and concludes that American schools have been “conquered by Communists long ago,” paving the way for a revisionist history that would only lead to the election of a Communist president in the U.S.

“President Vladimir Putin could never have imagined anyone so ignorant or so willing to destroy their people like Obama much less seeing millions vote for someone like Obama,” Lerma quips. But the American president wasn’t the only one to draw the author’s ire. He also noted the pervasive influence of the ACLU and the eroding of America’s Christianity — something that was, of course, also a key tenet of the Soviet Union:

The red, white and blue still flies happily but only in Russia. Russia still has St George defeating the Dragon with the symbol of the cross on its’ flag. The ACLU and other atheist groups in America would never allow the US flag with such religious symbols. Lawsuits a plenty against religious freedom and expression in the land of the free.

“Christianity in the U.S. is under attack as it was during the early period of the Soviet Union when religious symbols were against the law,” Lerma notes astutely.

In terms of all of the U.S. States that have filed petitions to secede from the union, Lerma coins these Americans” hostages to the Communists in power” who will eventually need to rise up in the face of “tyranny.” Lerma concludes with a powerful comparison of the suffering endured for nearly a century under the oppression and brutality of the USSR and quotes Don Mclean’s famed song, “American Pie”:

Russia lost its’ civil war with the Reds and millions suffered torture and death for almost 75 years under the tyranny of the United Soviet Socialist Republic. Russians survived with a new and stronger faith in God and ever growing Christian Church. The question is how long will the once “Land of the Free” remain the United Socialist States of America? Their suffering has only begun. Bye bye Miss American Pie!

Those who recall the days of the former Soviet Union, or who have friends and family members who fled a life of degradation, will see much truth in Lerma’s words. Even envisioning the now-famous “Hope” and “Change” campaign posters, which elevated Obama to a cult of personality, strikes fear and anxiety into the hearts of those who lived through eerily similar propaganda behind the iron curtain. It is ironic that this opinion column, so scathing of Communism and so keenly perceptive of how history is repeating itself in President Obama, comes to us from the publication that was formed to be the official Communist mouthpiece of the former Soviet Union itself.

Perhaps that is what lends it all the more weight.

Now should one be mindful of the fact that the author of this opinion column also considers Vladimir Putin a “conservative”? Yes, however, more disturbing still is that Lerma finds Putin conservative in comparison to Obama. Opinions on Putin vary greatly among those living in Russia in much the same way as Americans differ in opinion con President Obama. What’s more, Lerma’s personal views on Putin do not necessarily negate that there is merit to his observations on President Obama. Russians who have witnessed the trappings of the former Soviet Union either during its height or in its aftermath, tend to speak from a place of personal experience — something that warrants careful consideration. Based on our Google search of the author, he does appear to be a Russian columnist for Pravda who also maintains his own conservative-leaning blog.

Shortly after TheBlaze published this article citing Pravda’s opinion column, author David Frum posted a hair-trigger response on his Daily Beast Blog, accusing TheBlaze of agreeing with Pravda on President Obama. Frum disparages Lerma’s “journalistic” credentials and goes on to focus solely on Lerma’s opinions on Vladimir Putin, as well as the Pravda author’s reference to attacks on Christianity in America. Frum does not address any other points raised by Lerma concerning the cult of personality that has been build around Obama, nor the parallels Lerma sees between present-day America and the former Soviet Union. Frum also appears to miss the irony that was the true crux of this Blaze article: That the former official mouthpiece of the Communist Party believes Obama is a Communist and that Putin is Conservative by comparison. That, of course, was the point.