Put in the slipper

In an article on the BBC entitled Putin rebuffs 'colonialist' West the following comments are made:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western critics of Russia's record on democracy of using "colonialist" rhetoric.

In TV interviews, he said it was unacceptable for the West to use the issue to interfere in Russia's affairs.

He singled out US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who earlier this year accused Mr Putin of backsliding on democracy.

"If you look at newspapers of 100 years ago, you see how, at the time, colonialist states justified their policies in Africa or in Asia. They talked of their civilising role, of the white man's mission," he said.

"If you change the word 'civilising' to 'democratisation', you find the same logic, you can read the same things in the press today."

Pete's Points:

How appropriate is it that the man's name is Putin?

I think Putin is "sinking the slipper", (a colourful Australian expression for a kick up the arse or "putting in the boot" or giving a "Kick up the Khyber" a colourful Cockney expression) into not just the US VP Dick Cheney, but the whole administration and especially the neo cons like Cheney, who are all hell bent (is that appropriate?) on creating the new Pax Americana by any means.

I wonder how many people recognise that all over the world there are more and more people who are simply becoming more and more disillusioned by American rhetoric and angry that the US government is trying to tell them what to do?

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The Roman Empire spread it's views through trade at first and then by the sword. Anyone see any similarities with the present day?

Let's just look at all of this rhetoric about "Democracy" again! Let's not forget that in the original version of "democracy" there were two distinct groups in society - the "haves" - citizens of Athens and the "have nots" - everyone else, especially slaves!

If memory serves, then the fall of the Roman Empire was preceded by:

• bread and circuses (reality shows being the modern equivalent),
• an empire that was simply too big to manage (over extension of US military might be a modern equivalent),
• competing interests from the 'barbarians' in the east (the economic growth of China and India both of which have different cultural (not to mention religious) backgrounds as well as the renewal of Islamic fundamentalism could represent this current reality) and
• moral decay within the Roman governing structure (I will leave the reader to add all of the issues pertaining to corruption, corporate greed, the increase in the divisions between the rich and the poor etc into this space)

I wonder if we are coming to the end of this new empire that Putin does not directly refer to, but has in mind!