Today’s quote comes to us from Vyacheslav Markhayev.
I suspect you have never heard of this man. But he is extremely brave.
Why?
Because this is what Markhayev, a deputy of the State Duma (Russia’s equivalent of our House of Representatives) is reported to have said to vladimir putin about his endless war against Ukraine:
“The time of illusions is over. The country is on the brink of a social explosion, and the blame for this will fall squarely on the entrenched ruling power.
“If the situation persists, social unrest and chaos will become more likely. The West will inevitably exploit this to destroy the remnants of Russian statehood.”
Given that the war against Ukraine was expected to last no more than a couple of weeks, but has gone on for over four years and is still in progress – with well over a million casualties, including hundreds of thousands dead – it is hard to argue with that assessment. But Markhayev’s likely accuracy is not why I award him Quote Of The Day honors.
No, I award Vyacheslav Markhayev Quote Of The Day honors for his bravery in publicly telling this to putin. That is because people who talk truth to vladimir putin all too often wind up dead: they are poisoned, they fall from high-floor windows, etc.. The mortality rate for putin critics is, to say the least, very high.
I can only hope for Mr.Markhayev’s sake that he survives. I can’t, however, say the same for putin.
There’s an old joke about this – originally told about yasir arafat, but perfectly apropos for putin as well:
putin goes to fortune teller and asks, “what day will I die”
The fortune teller looks at her crystal ball and says “You will die on a Russian holiday”.
putin asks “which one”?
The fortune teller says “ANY day you die will be a Russian holiday”.
