44320350574

“You can do a lot more with weapons and politeness than just politeness.” – Vladimir Putin in Putin: Speak politely, but carry guns, too [at washingtonpost.com]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

51 COMMENTS

    • I don’t see anything polite about the USA funding another overthrow of an elected leader.
      Turn off the tv propaganda and wake up.

      • Giving money to pro-West political parties is not “funding another overthrow of an elected leader”, nor can the Maidan protests be characterized as such. They protested and rioted, he ordered his interior ministry to shoot unarmed people before fleeing like a coward.

    • “Polite people” is a recent Russian meme, after Putin referred to the soldiers as such, back when their presence was not openly acknowledged (and they were running around in uniforms without shoulder patches) – so he said something along the lines of, “we had special people – polite people – there to ensure safety during the referendum”.

      The “polite” part was largely due to the fact that they didn’t get into shootouts with locals forces, or really any other incidents. Just stood there with their guns.

  5. Have you ever wanted to hear something that President Theodore Roosevelt said eloquently over a hundred years ago restated in a clumsier, less compelling manner? If so, Putin’s your guy!

    • In post-soviet Russia….

      Actually seems a little closer to the Capone quote, but still quite clumsy. Maybe it sounds better in Russian.

    • It’s not merely restated – it’s a reference to a recent meme that came out of Crimea, “polite people”. Look it up and you’ll see where he’s coming from.

  6. I see what appears to be a Glock magazine in the gun he’s holding up there…. intriguing, anyone know what make/model that is?

    • Googled it.
      You can insert a long mag like a glock 33rnd in the back and it serves as a stock to shoulder the gun.
      What would the ATF say to that.
      Is it an SBR in that configuration or is it just an extra mag holder and your behavior defines it.
      Think SIG brace

      • The ATF would say “sure, why not”. There is already a gun sold on US market under the same principle – Extar EXP-556. It’s an AR “pistol”, but there’s a replacement rear plate for it that offers the ability to securely attach AR magazines. With a 40-rounder mag (preferably all steel, otherwise you’ll bend the lips), it’s basically a full length stock.

    • Sorry Russian knockoff of the 50 year old Polish wzor 63 machine pistol. The toilet roll sized illuminator under the front tells you where Russian technology is.

  7. I thing this saying is similar to another saying that is attributed to Al Capone.
    “You can get more done with a gun and smile than you can with just a smile”.

    • That’s right, he was cribbing from none other than Al Capone. The exact quote is “You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”

      • I’m willing to bet he said just that too, but going from English to Russian and back to English I bet it got lost in translation.

        In any case it enforces the idea that he is just a mobster, hell, maybe he’s flaunting it at this point since he knows no one will do anything.

        • No, what he said is exactly what the translation is, but it’s a reference to “polite people” as much as Capone.

  9. Is anyone besides me disturbed to live in a world where Putin is actually _cool_? Even knowing it’s largely bullshit, I have to admire his “tough guy” pose sometimes. He comes off well more often than Obama does.

    Admittedly, that may say more about the Neo-Pravda news media in Russia than it does about Putin himself. But it’s really disturbing to hear the enemy saying things that I wish our leaders would say.

    • What you’re seeing in Putin is called “leadership.” It’s most notable when you stick Pootie next to our current President.

      I knew there were things about Bush that I’d miss. But I never thought I’d be nostalgic for the Clinton administration.

    • I know people say the Putin photos are staged, but he was KGB back in the days when it meant something. Yes, he could have been a paper pusher, but paper pushers don’t get to the top in a country known for violence.

      Hey, Minnesota elected Jesse Ventura over pencil-neck paper pushers, and he did a better job than the crooks in most states.

  10. Lots of Putin supporters in the comments. It will never cease to amaze me how thoroughly the russians have been conditioned to reflexively reject western values and capitalism. It’s like someone was offering to stay out of your life, give you a raise, put your kids through college, etc., and you just spit in their face. Basically, a nation of democrats.

    • Russian values and communist values are not the same thing, For example, the Russian Orthodox Church is now a favored institution in Russia, and attendance has grown. Capitalism has growing support, though Russia is, for the moment, in an era that resembles in some ways our own “robber baron” era, 1870-1925. I don’t know that they have experienced Pinkertons-like hosing of striking workers with machine guns, as we did.

      I highly doubt Putin will go on TV tonight and ‘legalize’ five million Chechens to enter the Russian work force.

      • >> I highly doubt Putin will go on TV tonight and ‘legalize’ five million Chechens to enter the Russian work force.

        You do realize that Chechens are Russian citizens, right? They were already “legalized” ages ago, after Russia took Chechnya back.

        On the other hand, the government does maintain a steady stream of work immigration from Central Asian ex-Soviet countries – Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc. On the order of about 300,000 every year legally, and God knows how many (estimated 4-5 million) illegally.

    • Last time I checked, Russia has a simpler tax code than the U.S. I believe it’s still a flat tax.

      It seems that Eastern Europe and Russia are becoming more free as the U.S. Is becoming more of a socialist “hope and change” banana republic ran by a community organizer.

      • >> Last time I checked, Russia has a simpler tax code than the U.S. I believe it’s still a flat tax.

        LOL. No, it does not. It does have a flat 13% personal income tax, yes, but there’s a crapload of other taxes – VAT, payroll etc. In particular, payroll taxes that fund pensions and welfare social services are at 34%. It’s just that people aren’t well aware of that because the employers are required to report the figure after that tax is deducted.

        The code is simpler in that it has fewer exemptions.

  12. “You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” – Al Capone (1899-1947)

  17. There’s nothing like a gun pointed at a criminal that says “please stop assaulting innocent people”.

    • Cool is just a matter of perspective. I am sure there are plenty who are just giddy every time Obama says something that attacks the Constitution.

    • He did! Posed with a Biden approved OU shotty and said I support the constitution but… How much more do you jerks need before you compromise some? Just a bit, that’s all we want. Pinky swear!

  21. An armed society is a polite society. R. A. Heinlein

    And I must have missed the news spot where ordinary Russians are all now able to buy and carry any gun they want without restriction.

    That’s the only way to have a truly armed and polite society.

Comments are closed.