New Russian President: U.S. In No Position To Dish Out Advice

New York Times:

Russia's new president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, less swaggering than his predecessor but as touchy about criticism from abroad, said in an interview that an America in "essentially a depression" was in no position to lecture other countries on how to conduct their affairs.

With soaring oil revenues bolstering the Russian economy and Kremlin confidence, Mr. Medvedev brushed aside American criticism of his country's record on democracy and human rights. He also said that a revived Russia had a right to assume a larger role in a world economic system that he suggested should no longer be dominated by the United States.

Mr. Medvedev made his comments on Tuesday in a meeting with a small group of foreign journalists a day after the American treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., appealed in Moscow for Russian investment in the United States. The symbolism of the visit resonated here, in that only a decade had passed since the Russian economy was in shambles and the country was desperate for Western aid.

Mr. Medvedev seemed to be seeking in the interview to raise his profile before attending the Group of 8 meeting of industrialized nations next week in Japan. Mr. Medvedev leads Russia in tandem with his predecessor and mentor, Vladimir V. Putin, who is now prime minister and is still widely considered Russia's pre-eminent leader.

In the interview, Mr. Medvedev was asked about a call by Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to bar Russia from the Group of 8 because of its record on democracy. Mr. Medvedev, who easily won Russia's presidential election in March after the Kremlin hobbled the opposition, responded that the question of democracy was irrelevant to the Group of 8 and, besides, the United States had more pressing matters to attend to.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[numbnuts]

Look at where the Bush Admin. has positioned us in the world view.
We don't have room to talk.
How far we have fallen!
Jan 20 2009
It's time for a change.
I believe!

[geobushono]

if the Russians would have done this 5 years ago, it would be Bush's problem...­.....waiti­ng this long just puts Obama into a bad situation where the 'patriots' will scream at any move toward detente.
Once again military might will get all our money.

[bob5701]

Who really won the cold war. Were we find our self's, today ,was fostered on us by Reagan.

[mathme]

Yes, my self's are fostered everywhere.

[mathme]

Ray Liotta is their president?

[RJC]

why not, he can't act

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

Hey, is this true?

I read in a Canadian reader's digest that two towns in Vermont have declared Bosh and Chainy war-crimes fugitives, to be arrested on sight if they ever passed through.

It's symbolic and non-binding, but it still makes me happy.

[dentuso]

It is true.

[ignorantwillyharper]

Wait until they leave office and then leave the country and find themselves really under arrest for war crime, I can' hardly wait!

[TheOneironaut]

B U S H, I heard, already has land in a country with no extradition treaty and the U.S. never signed on to be part of the war crime tribunal! It all makes sense now doesnt it!

[riverhouse]

Many more than two towns in VT have put Bosh and Chainy on the fugitives list. Vermonters know what patriotism is all about in the great scheme of things.

[sakibov]

Firstly, Americans like things that are big and chip, and that is why you have Walmart and Home Depot.
Secondly, your president is just like you, stupid and arrogant. The last seven years has showed exactly what america is about - stupid and arrogant.
I wish McChimpy is the next president - Americans like 'little Adolphs"

[mathme]

No, our president is not "like us." He's an idiot and didn't win an election.

[owiseone]

How DID it happen that we who are honorable have left him and his accomplices in office?
It's like watching someone set fires and no one comes to put them out.

[mathme]

And the phrase was "little Eichmanns.­.." People who are complicit in the crimes of the country but are just, in reality, boring little bureaucrat, hence "The banality of evil."

[sonicfilter]

Seems to me that arrogance is not exclusive to the US. We don't throw the owners of major oil companies in jail on false charges so we can steal their profits. And Mcthief is now your Prime Minister for who knows how long. Good luck with that...

[riverhouse]

Well, true, we celebrate our thieves and cheats because they are the administration and its friends, but we do throw Iraqis in jail on false charges so we can steal their oil.

[Dianekkdi]

Wow, I just spent 10 minutes writing a thoughtful comment. I was informed my comment was removed by internet explorer ba..d words filter????

I don't even think I swore. I mentioned b.u.sh boy.

I said the truth hurts.

I wasn't too kind to mcins...an­e. How can one be? The idi...ot will get us all k.il.led, p.edp.ed, pillaged, poor.... Should one be kind to he who will do you great harm?

Did anyone else note the twice used comment by Me.dved.ev that the U.S. is "essentially in a depr..essi­on?"

Tough times are ahead. We need to pay attention and get our country back on track.

[geobushono]

yeah?! try d.u.m.b.y.­a. w/o the dots.

[marko77]

Medvedev is correct and he's stating the obvious, becuase In America we no long produce or sell anything of substance to ourselves or to anyone else. As a result, we've become a Third World country. Only W Bush seems to think our economy is doing just fine......­....and it is - for a few American investor - but not for 99% of us.

[AbstractImp]

Yes, and neither is Russia in possession of the moral high ground here, being home to the shortest democracy in history.

What Russia and the United States now share is oligarchic tyrannies using fascist methods to usurp constitutional powers through false emergencies caused by your own proxy wars.

The ruling elites in Russia and America are gearing up for the coming wars over dwindling resources. In its usual way, rather than sharing, "humans" will slaughter one another and destroy the very resources they "need".

Russia, the largest empire with the shortest dictator, is in a prime position to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. With American bases coming to Iraq and American missiles to Poland, the great game for middle east oil and the Caucasus is getting tricky. And now Bush wants to attack Iran first. Can’t the Americans be satisfied with slowly undermining Saudi Arabia?

So Russia turned north and claimed the sea floor under the Arctic ice just before the ice disappeared for good. Maybe we can shovel Antarctica free of ice too and dig there.

More holes in the earth. More profits for pigs. More dead "outsiders". What a world. And this is the intelligent design!

Some day we will be able to capture whole planets, pull them right up next to earth, and drain them of every fossil and living fuel we can digest.

Just to preserve all those . . . American interests!

[Rog49Thomas]

Clearly, the Russian Federation is in no position to lecture the USA on human rights and democracy.

[lucky54]

Oh, Yes they are... since for a last decade we are using their manuals, they have every right to lecture us as an additional input.

[Rog49Thomas]

Three reactions.

First, as well demonstrated at HuffPo - everyone has a right to his/her opinion and to express it. Jerry Falwell can lecture me and you on our personal morality. Robert Mugabe can complain I suppose about the conduct of our elections in 2000 and 2004.
And either of these two "distinguished" gentlemen could be right. But to assert that they are speaking from some position of moral authority is (at least to me) manifest poppycock.

Second, frankly I am getting sick about all this "knocking" of the United States. Doesn't anyone at HuffPo have any national pride?

The USA has been running a torture school since 1946 (the School of the Americas). And if you look at the list of graduates - you will find some very distinguished names among the thugs of Latin America - nun murderers, people disappearers, etc.

By contrast the People Republic of China was founded in 1949.

The simple fact is that the torture we practice was made in the USA by proud Americans!

And to be "fair and balanced" not just an aberrant episode under Presidente Pan.

[moreupnorth]

I think you missed the point. With "enhanced interrogation" (read torture), extraodinary rendition(read kidnapping for torture), Habeus Corpus suspension(read no rule of law), unlimited detention without charge, unprovoked war, etc. The US no longer has the standing it once did with regards to human rights and democracy. But unfortunately those in charge still think it does!

[Rog49Thomas]

Please re read my post.

If you find anything in it, which asserts that the US has moral superiority, please point it out to me.

My post was short and to the point - the Russian Federation is not in a position to lecture the world from some position of great moral standing.

[jaschrod]

Of course they do. In the past 7 years we have sunk to a level as low as any country in the world. Even our past history was not that good, starting with how we treated the Indians, then the blacks. Our government is steadily taking away the rights of it's citizens, and destroying what the Constitution stands for.If that is not enough, we are invading countries half way around the world, and condemning those neighbors who stand up for their neighbors. We have killed more than a hundred thousand Iraquis, and misplaced at least four million others, all based on lies by our government. We are doing exactly what we used to condemn others for.

[Rog49Thomas]

Well is the logical conclusion I should draw from your post that you would consider Robert Mugabe in a position to give moral advice to the USA and the world, because of our current Administration's many and hidhly objectionable failings.

[DavidMG]

Too much. Georgie is going to look into Meddy's eyes....an­d Meddy won't be happy.

[fuzzwald]

We need a better understanding of how the dollar is linked to oil - or how it used to be. My understanding is that the dollar is in a free fall right now because it's not tied to much of anything that is extracted or manufactured. At one time, it was tied to gold, then to oil. And now what? Toys from Walmart?

We're screwed.

[danoj]

Maybe we should just pump our own oil.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

That'll work for about 5-10 years. Then what?

[mathme]

Tell that to the oil companies who are sitting on leases and doing nothing with them. Screw them, public land, public oil, public resources. We're just fisting ourselves for their pleasure.

[Rog49Thomas]

The US dollar is under pressure because we have been spending beyond our means. A lot of it is "burden of empire" stuff - exacerbated of late by President Pan's excellent adventure in Iraq.

Because the US Dollar has been the world "reserve" currency unlike other banana republics we have been able to get away with it for quite some time.

Unfortunately, eventually financial gravity reasserts itself.

If you want a trenchant analysis of the background, take a look at Michael Hudson's "Super Imperialism".

[schoolmaster]

Truth is bitter to the one spoken to. But sometimes we have to swallow bitter pills as remedial.

[partyofone]

I think he is right. Under George W. Bush and a Democratic-led absentee Congress, the United States has no authority, moral or otherwise, to criticize other nations on "democracy and human rights." If there is justice in the world, Bush and cronies, Reid and Pelosi, too, will be charged with international war crimes. It is difficult to believe what has happended to our nation, our government, our Constitution, our support for international law and human rights, and our moral standing and leadership in the world.

[jaschrod]

All of this has happened because we the people have been asleep, and do not demand anything different. We just sit back and let it happen. We need to get involved, get vocal, and force our government to change one way, or the other.

[CharlieMarlowe]

It might be too late. In a posting above someone mentioned "American interests" and I sarcastically thought: Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are all that interest America. That got me thinking about history. It is a generally accepted that American culture is anti-intellectual. Pondering is not valued; action is. This was not a bad thing, though, when America was young. Intellectualism was seen as a European disease leading to stagnation. It was better to avoid intellectual pursuits and get on with the business of building the country where every citizen could enjoy, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". However, new ideas are needed now but there is no foundation for ideas to be built upon, not way of implementing them and certainly no way of getting the general populace to engage in any kind of national debate. If you cannot adapt to the environment, you won't survive. Each country and culture has to be its own intelligent designer

[DC]

The American people got sidetracked by fear and religion. Many voted for Bush because he was a "good" man. They thought because he praised Jesus that made him presidential. Made him "good." Oh brother...­.

He and the crooks were let in and now the country is on a slide to third-world status and the American public is distracted by flag pins and faith based initiatives.

We are really in the deep stuff.

[trudem2]

Some bloggers here may hold the Russian prez in disdain for ingrained ideological reasons, but the man speaks the truth....a refreshing change from the unending horse manure fed to the masses here in the US.

In another article on this site a blogger disparaged universal health care as "socialized" medicine and we "better be prepared for the taxes". God forbid our own tax dollar should be used to pay for our own health care.... what an unbeliveably horrific thought!! Better the govt use it to pay for illicit wars, criminal contractors, unnecessary bridges, illegal immigrants, not to mention the health care of everybody in Congress (who spends two-thirds of their time AWAY from Washington, and the one-third in Washington fighting and NOT reaching consensus on our behalf). But any use of OUR tax money to secure OUR wellbeing is awful socialism.

When will Americans grow up? How utterly brainwashed can a people be?

Are we prepared for the demise of this empire?

[lucky54]

I agree with every word in your post. Unfortunately for Americans to wake up will take another 3-4 generations and better education system, which our government knows and that's the main reason they keep the school system the way it is ... brainwashing. Just add the MSM to it and we have what we deserve.

[geobushono]

real power comes from the barrel of a gun-Mao.

I have been watching the US march to the right for forty years.....­........Th­ose of us who were in the streets in the 60s have seen nixon-reag­an-bush-(c­linton)-bu­sh........­there is NO possibility of progress as long as Democratic voter don't DEMAND ans Support progressive Candidates.
The idea that *this* openly imperialist endevor will correct itself is nuts.
the Democrats currently have a Candidate who is courting the right.....­or as the msm likes to call it, "the center".

[Colmore]

Amen. Well said. We shold join other "civilized" countries, and take care of our own people. Have people vote - "War" or "Universal Health Care". When people are dying in Emergency Rooms, then surely it is obvious something is seriously wrong with the present system. Yje politicians don't care, they are well covered by the taxpayers for their health care.

[CharlieMarlowe]

Unfortunately, it will turn into "War on Universal Health Care"

[jaschrod]

How does he think the borrowing done by the Bush administration is going to be paid for? We are currently buried under so much debt that we cannot see out. How does he think we will pay this debt off? There are two ways to pay for what we do, and that is to tax up front, or borrow and pay later. Just the interest on the nation debt is 406 billion per year. If we had been told that our taxes would have to be raised to pay for the Iraq invasion, I bet there would not have been a war, so the government just borrowed the money, and everybody here was to dumb to understand what was happening.

[ljwaldron]

Excellent, have you thought of running for office? People like you are needed, unfortunately, it's people like you that are drummed out or not elected because the MSM will decide to pick on some minutia of your life and/or past and completely distract voters from any issues of substance.

Just like they are paving the way for McSame by reporting only 'nice' stories; especially FAUX.

As far as people being educated, we'd have to eliminate that joke of a network. More people listen to their drivel than any other because they are on Basic Cable, and the more intelligent stations are on the Premium Channels. So the masses listen to drivel.

[CharlieMarlowe]

I like that. It is so true. I can see the attack ad now: "Don't vote for MilwaukeeDan because we have proof he read the Huffington Post."

[MilwaukeeDan]

trudem, "are we prepared for the demise of this empire?", great point. I have compared this country to the Soviet Union circa 1985. Look at the situation we are in and then look back at 1980s Soviet history, there are many similarities. We never learned anything from history, we kept the Cold War going after the Soviet collapse, kept expanding NATO, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at great cost, now the bills are due. Americans need a good slap to get back to reality, $5.00 a gallon gas will be just the begining of that slapping. As for the Russian leader, he's smart and he speaks the truth, as did Putin before him, sometimes the truth hurts.