In Russia, Obama’s Star Power Does Not Translate

[Beacool]

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY and ELLEN BARRY
Published: July 7, 2009

MOSCOW — Let other capitals go all weak-kneed when President Obama visits. Moscow has greeted Mr. Obama, who on Tuesday night concluded a two-day Russian-American summit meeting, as if he were just another dignitary passing through.

Crowds did not clamor for a glimpse of him. Headlines offered only glancing or flippant notice of his activities. Television programming was uninterrupted; devotees of the Russian Judge Judy had nothing to fear. Even many students and alumni of the Western-oriented business school where Mr. Obama gave the graduation address on Tuesday seemed merely respectful, but hardly enthralled.

“We don’t really understand why Obama is such a star,” said Kirill Zagorodnov, 25, one of the graduates. “It’s a question of trust, how he behaves, how he positions himself, that typical charisma, which in Russia is often parodied. Russians really are not accustomed to it. It is like he is trying to manipulate the public.”

Others suggested that after decades of social turmoil, Russians were simply exhausted with politics, and had been so often disappointed by Western leaders that they were not inclined to get excited by the latest one. Asked by one Moscow newspaper what they expected to come out of Mr. Obama’s visit, most respondents had the same answer: traffic jams.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/europe/08russia.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper

The Russians have always been a tough nut to crack for the US.

[Jennicut]

1. They actually like Putin. Enough said.

[Beacool]

5. True..............

;(

[napi21]

2. I think they're still very skeptical after Shrub! Can't say that I blame them. n/t

[JTFrog]

3. You mean the country that believes it's for whites only?

Go figure.

:eyes:

[Beacool]

6. Yeah, that's mentioned in the article.

The youth is much more open to a black US president than the older crowd.

[Bumblebee]

4. Don't underestimate the element of racism in their reaction. Many Russians are

still, alas, quite bigoted when it comes to blacks, Jews, gays, or people from the Caucasus, to name just a few...

[Beacool]

7. Russia has always had racial and ethnic tensions.

I remember that at one time Raisa Gorbachev was accused of not being Russian enough because she was born in Siberia (her father was from the Ukraine and her mother was Siberian).

:eyes:

[junkiebrewster]

8. Yep...

I've spent some time there. Great people, until the subject of race comes up. They can be very insular, racist and xenophobic.

However, one of my Russian friends, who is younger, loves her some Obama. His speech to the NES made her cry. So, all is not lost.

[Blue_Tires]

9. yeah, a couple of eastern european leaders had some interesting

comments after the election in november (Poland especially)...it's just difficult for them to see someone of THAT color in THAT position wielding THAT much global power and attention...

[inna]

42. what are you basing your "assessment" on?

mere prejudice on YOUR part, me thinks. looks like classic russophobic bigotry. :shrug:

[dionysus]

10. hey Bea!

:hi:

[Beacool]

11. Hi, Dionysus

See? That's no fun.

:(


I like Banky better.

:D

[mkultra]

16. you just went up to level four humor.

spend your skill points.

[Beacool]

24. It's a private joke between the two of us.

Stay out of it and go smoke your pipe somewhere else.

;)

[mkultra]

25. seemed appropriate none the less

[Number23]

28. lolol

:rofl: :rofl:

[treestar]

12. My first reaction is that they still have a lot of racists

And another is that there is an inherent US/Russia competition of sorts - they might be a little jealous that our President is popular world over now - and they are no longer a superpower and their heads of state don't make a splash abroad.

[junkiebrewster]

13. Jealousy may play into it some

However, they are most certainly still a superpower. Thousands of nuclear warheads + controlling most of Europe's oil and natural gas gives them plenty of power.

[treestar]

26. I've unconsciously gone along with the media insisting the US is the only

superpower for the past 18 years - but then to my admittedly shallow understanding, the Russian economy has had problems. But nuclear warheads they do have - so at least there is no superpower wanting to undo the U.S. as the USSR was.

[junkiebrewster]

36. Their economy bottomed out in the 1990s

However, up until this current mess, they had been seeing record economic growth in the past decade.

They are easily still a superpower. Their vast natural resources and advanced technological capabilties insure that. Obama acknowledged that in his speech, which is one of the reasons my younger Russian friend was crying. (That and the Pushkin quote. Russians love their Pushkin.) They just want recognition of the fact. If we were to recognize it more, I think less little flare ups like Georgia would happen, as Russia wouldn't need to prove that they still retain a sphere of influence.

[alsame]

21. This comment about race is pretty telling:

“It looks weird to them. They just think that America has gone crazy.”

Wow.

[treestar]

27. Yes, and they liked Bill Clinton OK per that article

What's the big difference?

[Born_A_Truman]

14. State owned media

One of the shows said last night (I think it was Rachel) that only one tv network covered his speech, one tv network ran a 3-week old re-run of a sporting event, and their radio ignored it altogether.

[Beacool]

23. That's probably part of the problem.

The media is controlled by the state.

:(

[applegrove]

15. I think the state still controls the press over there.

[mkultra]

17. the importance of their opinion is paramount

:sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

18. (shrug) That's nice.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. not a surprising post coming from an Obama-hater

why do you hate him so much
:sarcasm:

[Autumn]

20. No surprise that the state run

media would ignore it.

[CakeGrrl]

22. Yet they still think more of him than the OP.

;)

[Number23]

29. And in other news:

Black Russians Curious to See Obama Straight Up

"MOSCOW -- The visit to Russia by Barack Obama, the first black man to be elected president of the United States, is significant for many Russians. But for Russians of African descent, in particular, the new U.S. leader is a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome.

It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. :)

[CakeGrrl]

30. Thanks for posting an alternate perspective, Number23!

I hope the President's visit has the impact that she hopes it does.

[junkiebrewster]

35. HEh

Black Russians (both of them) Curious to See Obama Straight Up

I'll be here all week, try the veal.

[Dappleganger]

31. Russians are historically skeptics

and rightly so. They've been betrayed/burned a LOT.

[FrenchieCat]

32. Well, he certainly isn't Putin.....

that is sure!

[Beacool]

40. And I bet he has better aim than Cheney.

:scared:

[crimsonblue]

33. fuck them.

let's nuke their ignorant asses.

[NatBurner]

34. their olympic judges are always dicks too. they'd give this post a 6.1

freakydeaky

[Hutzpa]

37. They probably need the Nazi

to kick some sense into them.....:evilgrin:

[Beacool]

39. The Nazis didn't defeat them.

Hitler and napoleon encountered the same problem: Russian winters.

;-)

[Cali_Democrat]

38. I'm going to lose a lot of sleep over this.

:sarcasm:

[hileeopnyn8d]

41. hmmm

Russians really are not accustomed to it. It is like he is trying to manipulate the public.

Yeah, that never happens in Russia.
:sarcasm: