Back in the USSR

Today, one of my Facebook friends, who has not pulled the plug on me – yet – reminded me that I should count my blessings and not the number of FB friends. Another, hearing the news about the sentencing of three members of the Russian female band Pussy Riot for “hooliganism,” reminded me that with all the fussing that’s going on in this country righr now, at least it isn’t Russia. There’s one for the blessings list!

This band staged an anti-Putin protest in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. Inappropriate, perhaps – but getting locked up for two years? By those standards, we’d have to build a huge new prison here for the folks at Fox News and another for those at MSNBC. Poor CNN, their problem is these days that they can’t get arrested – but that’s another story.

This Pussy Riot thing will be one to watch. The Putin regime has a repressive track record, most recently supporting the regime in Syria and blocking action there by the rest of the world -- but this time, in a social media age, entertainment celebs – young women – are being messed with, band members who have the support of Paul McCartney and Madonna. Keep an eye on this one, folks – this story will definitely have legs. Those who have lived for decades under repression of various types tend to be a little passive, but will this incident wake up the Russian people?

The only saving grace here is that Mr. Putin tends to care what people think of him. He has expressed support recently for leniency toward these young women. What do you want to bet that he steps in and commutes their sentence (I assume he can do that), so the rest of the world will think he’s a nice guy after all?