Astounding how much progress Russia has made in the past 14 years since an unknown man with no experience walked into Russia's presidency and took over a country that was flat on its belly.

Sharon Tennison
Russia: Other Points of View
Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:15 CDT

U can't touch this

Friends and colleagues,

As the Ukraine situation has worsened, unconscionable misinformation and hype is being poured on Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Journalists and pundits must scour the Internet and thesauruses to come up with fiendish new epithets to describe both. 

So why do our leaders and media demean and demonize Putin and Russia??? 


Like Lady MacBeth, do they protest too much? 

Psychologists tell us that people (and countries?) project off on others what they don't want to face in themselves. Others carry our "shadow" when we refuse to own it. We confer on others the very traits that we are horrified to acknowledge in ourselves. 

Could this be why we constantly find fault with Putin and Russia? 

Could it be that we project on to Putin the sins of ourselves and our leaders? 

Could it be that we condemn Russia's corruption, acting like the corruption within our corporate world doesn't exist? 

Could it be that we condemn their human rights and LGBT issues, not facing the fact that we haven't solved our own? 

Could it be that we accuse Russia of "reconstituting the USSR" - - because of what we do to remain the world's "hegemon"? 

Could it be that we project nationalist behaviors on Russia, because that is what we have become and we don't want to face it? 

Could it be that we project warmongering off on Russia, because of what we have done over the past several administrations? 

Some of you were around Putin in the earlier years. Please share your opinions, pro and con .... confidentiality will be assured. It's important to develop a composite picture of this demonized leader and get the record straight. I'm quite sure that 99% of those who excoriate him in mainstream media have had no personal contact with him at all. They write articles on hearsay, rumors and fabrication, or they read scripts others have written on their tele-prompters. This is how our nation gets its "news", such as it is. 

There is a well known code of ethics among us: Is it the Truth, Is it Fair, Does it build Friendship and Goodwill, and Will it be Beneficial for All Concerned? 

It seems to me that if our nation's leaders would commit to using these four principles in international relations, the world would operate in a completely different manner, and human beings across this planet would live in better conditions than they do today. 

As always your comments will be appreciated. Please resend this report to as many friends and colleagues as possible. 

Sharon Tennison

Full article @ 

Is Putin incorruptible? U.S. insider's view of the Russian president's character and his country's transformation