Fw: Pure Bush
Pure Bush
http://www.mosnews.com/column/2004/11/05/spasohouse.shtml
Created: 05.11.2004 16:47 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:47 MSK , 14 hours 32 minutes ago
Yevgeny Kiselyov
Moskovskie Novosti
The presidential elections in the U.S. and Ukraine are now behind us. George W. Bush has defeated John Kerry, whereas neither of Ukraine??s leading candidates Viktor Yuschenko and Viktor Yanukovich won the top post and for them the race will continue in a run-off.
On the evening of Nov. 2, as Americans queued up to the cast their vote, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow hosted a reception at his official residence, the famous Spaso House, to celebrate the 55th U.S. presidential election. All prominent Moscow-based political figures were invited.
The turnout was not high. The only political party leader to show up was the communist Gennady Zyuganov; of the well-known parliamentarians only Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council committee for international affairs was present.
Almost none of the high-placed Kremlin officials came, which is scarcely surprising as representatives of the presidential administration have rarely been seen at diplomatic get-togethers, and not just in the Spaso House mansion.
How different things used to be before! I am not speaking here of the distant times of 1935, when the celebrated ball was hosted by William Bullit, the first U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. The event featured bears and other beasts from the Moscow Zoo, and was later caricatured by Mikhail Bulgakov in his novel The Master and Margarita.
No, what I am recalling here are quite recent times, the mid-1990s, when gatherings at Spaso House were attended by almost all those on Russia??s top-100 list of influential politicians, with the sole exception, perhaps, of Yeltsin.
Things changed overnight in 2000. Virtually on the eve of the most grand reception held by the U.S. embassy once a year ?? Independence Day on July 4 ?? the newly-fledged Russian President Vladimir Putin let a historic remark drop, that Russian citizens should not converse with foreigners unless on business, and only with the approval of the leadership.
Putin, of course, did not mean all citizens ?? although, everyone was worried by the remark ?? but only the government officials who took the advice to heart. On the following day, when the reception was held, Spaso House was empty. Poor Jim Collins, Alexander Vershbow??s predecessor almost cried. A new era had begun.
The Spaso House reception held last Wednesday, too, was attended mostly by political scientists, economists, businessmen and journalists.
At the entrance each guest was offered to choose for themselves ?? depending on their liking ?? a round badge with an emblem either of the Republican or the Democratic Party. Ekho Moskvy host Matvei Ganopolsky who provided live radio broadcast coverage of the event noted that the Republican Party??s elephants seemed to be in higher demand.
I, on the contrary, thought that the Democratic donkey badges were the first to run out by the end of the reception. Be that as it may, Matvei was absolutely right to notice that the embassy employees who wore the badges wore both of them, out of a sense of political correctness.
However, some U.S. diplomats, when addressed with the politically incorrect question: ??Who did you vote for??? did not hesitate to say that they backed Kerry. Someone asked one of those bold ones: ??Aren??t you afraid you will have problems because of that??? The poor fellow was confused thinking his interlocutor was pulling his leg, for it had never seriously occurred to him that he could have any problems with his work because of his civic position.
Even more so as it is commonly believed that had Kerry won the race the relations between the U.S. and Russia would barely have undergone any changes, and therefore, not much would have changed in the U.S. diplomats?? work.
Most of the Russian guests ?? with a rare exception ?? did not manifest their political sympathies and discreetly hid their elephant or donkey badges in their pockets. They were also invited to pose for a picture with cardboard images of presidential candidates President Bush and Senator John Kerry. TV host Svetlana Sorokina posed with Kerry, which triggered an animated discussion among the guests; later it turned out that she had posed between Bush and Kerry and thus the balance was observed.
Just as the reception was just about to begin ?? at 1900 Moscow time ?? it was still 1100 on the east coast of the U.S. But some of the guests for some reason had hoped that they would find out who had won as soon as they entered Spaso House.
They were disappointed to learn that no preliminary voting results would be released in the U.S. until all ballot stations closed, with television networks only able to conjecture on the outcome. Nor were any exit poll results published, although, unlike Russia, the U.S. does not ban the release of such data before the end of voting.
Upon learning that the victor would not be announced until the following morning many guests proceeded to the normal routine of any embassy reception ?? they raised their glasses with some strong ?? or soft ?? drinks and engaged in socializing.
And what do you think? What was it that Russian guests of the U.S. ambassador discussed on the day of the U.S. presidential election? Did they discuss Bush or Kerry??s chances? Nothing of the kind! The most actively discussed issue was the presidential election in Ukraine, the chances of Viktor Yanukovich and his rival Viktor Yushchenko and whose victory would be of the most benefit for Russia.
As usual, opinions were split. Those who had frequented Kiev lately in order to back the Kremlin??s favorite Yanukovich through cutting-edge campaigning, told horror stories about what would happen if Yushchenko, God forbid, wins.
They claimed that should he win, Yushchenko ?? that malicious Russophobe and NATO fan ?? would immediately evict Russia??s Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol, forcing Russia to spend $20 billion on the construction of a new naval base.
Of course, all Russians who live in Ukraine would be forced to speak Ukrainian, wear sharovary ?? those baggy trousers that form part of Ukrainians?? national attire, and grow forelocks like Ukrainians used to do their hair in olden times. And, perhaps most horrifically, Ukraine would enter the EU and NATO immediately, leaving Russia behind.
Some tried to object shyly, appealing to reason, democratic feelings, to rationale, saying, why put all the eggs in one basket? What if Yushchenko wins? And wouldn??t a Yanukovich victory bring about much more instability in western Ukraine than Yuschenko??s win could entail in the east of the country? Besides, how could Ukraine possibly sever ties with Russia, considering how dependent it is on Russian gas, let alone other matters? And who said that Ukraine is about to be accepted by NATO and the EU?
But soon the discussion petered out. The choice between Yushchenko or Yanukovich is not a matter of conviction but of belief.
The problem is that we revise our beliefs very easily, it occurred to me on the way back home from Spaso House. We back Bush under the banners of our union with the West, but Yanukovich under the banners of completely anti-Western ideas?? Then I was reminded of a skier whose skis slide in opposite directions. That skier??s not going very far??
On the evening of Nov. 2, as Americans queued up to the cast their vote, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow hosted a reception at his official residence, the famous Spaso House, to celebrate the 55th U.S. presidential election. All prominent Moscow-based political figures were invited.
The turnout was not high. The only political party leader to show up was the communist Gennady Zyuganov; of the well-known parliamentarians only Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council committee for international affairs was present.
Almost none of the high-placed Kremlin officials came, which is scarcely surprising as representatives of the presidential administration have rarely been seen at diplomatic get-togethers, and not just in the Spaso House mansion.
How different things used to be before! I am not speaking here of the distant times of 1935, when the celebrated ball was hosted by William Bullit, the first U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. The event featured bears and other beasts from the Moscow Zoo, and was later caricatured by Mikhail Bulgakov in his novel The Master and Margarita.
No, what I am recalling here are quite recent times, the mid-1990s, when gatherings at Spaso House were attended by almost all those on Russia??s top-100 list of influential politicians, with the sole exception, perhaps, of Yeltsin.
Things changed overnight in 2000. Virtually on the eve of the most grand reception held by the U.S. embassy once a year ?? Independence Day on July 4 ?? the newly-fledged Russian President Vladimir Putin let a historic remark drop, that Russian citizens should not converse with foreigners unless on business, and only with the approval of the leadership.
Putin, of course, did not mean all citizens ?? although, everyone was worried by the remark ?? but only the government officials who took the advice to heart. On the following day, when the reception was held, Spaso House was empty. Poor Jim Collins, Alexander Vershbow??s predecessor almost cried. A new era had begun.
The Spaso House reception held last Wednesday, too, was attended mostly by political scientists, economists, businessmen and journalists.
At the entrance each guest was offered to choose for themselves ?? depending on their liking ?? a round badge with an emblem either of the Republican or the Democratic Party. Ekho Moskvy host Matvei Ganopolsky who provided live radio broadcast coverage of the event noted that the Republican Party??s elephants seemed to be in higher demand.
I, on the contrary, thought that the Democratic donkey badges were the first to run out by the end of the reception. Be that as it may, Matvei was absolutely right to notice that the embassy employees who wore the badges wore both of them, out of a sense of political correctness.
However, some U.S. diplomats, when addressed with the politically incorrect question: ??Who did you vote for??? did not hesitate to say that they backed Kerry. Someone asked one of those bold ones: ??Aren??t you afraid you will have problems because of that??? The poor fellow was confused thinking his interlocutor was pulling his leg, for it had never seriously occurred to him that he could have any problems with his work because of his civic position.
Even more so as it is commonly believed that had Kerry won the race the relations between the U.S. and Russia would barely have undergone any changes, and therefore, not much would have changed in the U.S. diplomats?? work.
Most of the Russian guests ?? with a rare exception ?? did not manifest their political sympathies and discreetly hid their elephant or donkey badges in their pockets. They were also invited to pose for a picture with cardboard images of presidential candidates President Bush and Senator John Kerry. TV host Svetlana Sorokina posed with Kerry, which triggered an animated discussion among the guests; later it turned out that she had posed between Bush and Kerry and thus the balance was observed.
Just as the reception was just about to begin ?? at 1900 Moscow time ?? it was still 1100 on the east coast of the U.S. But some of the guests for some reason had hoped that they would find out who had won as soon as they entered Spaso House.
They were disappointed to learn that no preliminary voting results would be released in the U.S. until all ballot stations closed, with television networks only able to conjecture on the outcome. Nor were any exit poll results published, although, unlike Russia, the U.S. does not ban the release of such data before the end of voting.
Upon learning that the victor would not be announced until the following morning many guests proceeded to the normal routine of any embassy reception ?? they raised their glasses with some strong ?? or soft ?? drinks and engaged in socializing.
And what do you think? What was it that Russian guests of the U.S. ambassador discussed on the day of the U.S. presidential election? Did they discuss Bush or Kerry??s chances? Nothing of the kind! The most actively discussed issue was the presidential election in Ukraine, the chances of Viktor Yanukovich and his rival Viktor Yushchenko and whose victory would be of the most benefit for Russia.
As usual, opinions were split. Those who had frequented Kiev lately in order to back the Kremlin??s favorite Yanukovich through cutting-edge campaigning, told horror stories about what would happen if Yushchenko, God forbid, wins.
They claimed that should he win, Yushchenko ?? that malicious Russophobe and NATO fan ?? would immediately evict Russia??s Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol, forcing Russia to spend $20 billion on the construction of a new naval base.
Of course, all Russians who live in Ukraine would be forced to speak Ukrainian, wear sharovary ?? those baggy trousers that form part of Ukrainians?? national attire, and grow forelocks like Ukrainians used to do their hair in olden times. And, perhaps most horrifically, Ukraine would enter the EU and NATO immediately, leaving Russia behind.
Some tried to object shyly, appealing to reason, democratic feelings, to rationale, saying, why put all the eggs in one basket? What if Yushchenko wins? And wouldn??t a Yanukovich victory bring about much more instability in western Ukraine than Yuschenko??s win could entail in the east of the country? Besides, how could Ukraine possibly sever ties with Russia, considering how dependent it is on Russian gas, let alone other matters? And who said that Ukraine is about to be accepted by NATO and the EU?
But soon the discussion petered out. The choice between Yushchenko or Yanukovich is not a matter of conviction but of belief.
The problem is that we revise our beliefs very easily, it occurred to me on the way back home from Spaso House. We back Bush under the banners of our union with the West, but Yanukovich under the banners of completely anti-Western ideas?? Then I was reminded of a skier whose skis slide in opposite directions. That skier??s not going very far??
posted by window at 5:20 PM
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