The Vladimir Putin Fan Club
In: Commentary, Band 137, Heft 5
ISSN: 0010-2601
First and foremost, there is Stephen F. Cohen of the Nation. The New York University professor, who taught for decades at Princeton, has put his compatriots on the left in a bind. After all, Vladimir Putin has recently prosecuted a feminist performance-art group, instituted a harsh anti-gay law that equates homoseniality with pedophilia, and taken the side of dictators in the Arab Spring. His invasion of Ukraine was the last straw for many looking for an excuse to ditch the authoritarian thug without appearing too much like the conservative hawks they disdained. Putinism, it appears, has something for everyone. No ideological glue binds the Putin fan club together. For paleoconservatives unnerved by the spread of progressive cultural values and willing to empower the state to stem the tide, Putinism clothes the naked public square. In reality Putinism is a violent, paranoid kleptocracy with no moral force, and those who make common cause with it, or seek to excuse it away, have surrendered any claim to moral probity. Adapted from the source document.