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Another Interesting Idea out of Russia
So why am I starting a post with God Save the Tsar, a song not seriously sung in over a century? Because the biggest new idea out of Russia seems to be a revival of the monarchy. Seriously.
It seems to be an effort to keep Putin in power after he finishes his second term as Russia’s president and cannot stay in that office again (or return to it). Revive the monarchy and name Vladimir Putin as Tsar. (He would be Vladimir IV, and the first new Tsar Vladimir since the 12th century.)
It seems there are a few issues to be ironed out. Will the revived Tsar be an autocrat like the previous one or a constitutional monarch like the current Queen Elizabeth II? How will the succession work? Will the position of Tsar be inheritable, and if so, must it pass down the male line or can Tsarinas rule? (Putin only has daughters.) Another possibility is Tsar would be an elective office, but one elected for life. (The game plan there is for the Russian Parliament to elect the Tsar rather than the people.) Don’t laugh. There have been elective kings in history. That is how the Holy Roman Emperors were chosen.
If you are interested in all the ghastly details, here is an article discussing the concept.
As a student of history, I am not quite sure how to feel. I should be appalled or amused. (After all, I once used the handle “No Truce With Kings.”) Yet, face it. Many so-called “presidents,” “premiers,” “first citizens,” and “chairmen” are really kings, emperors, and tsars by other names. Could a real one be worse?
Meanwhile, if you want to brush up on the lyrics, here is a second round of the anthem. This one with words.
https://youtu.be/0bOjT3fvKy0
Yes, they are in Russian. What did you expect?
Published in History
I dunno. They look pretty serious to me. And the conductor’s mustache is simply magnificent.
Quite possibly. In fact, I’d say, in this case, most definitely.
Gosh, that whole thing is bizarre. But I wouldn’t put anything past Vladimir Putin. In one of the few moments of fondness I was ever able to muster for John McCain, I remember him riffing on George W Bush’s line that he’d looked into Putin’s eyes and gotten “a sense of his soul,” by saying that he (McCain) had looked into Putin’s eyes and “seen three letters: A “K,” a “G,” and a “B.”
I think I read somewhere that McCain may actually have stolen that line from Colin Powell. Either way, it pretty much nails Putin. Because a leopard, you know, spots.
There isn’t any good form of government for a society as backward as the former USSR. Whatever form happens to take shape will be good for those in charge and bad for the masses of ordinary people. Good for the ranchers, bad for their beeves.
And the Papacy is also an elective monarchy with leader chosen by something equivalent to the parliament.
I think it very interesting the number of people who stood for it.
Don’t tell the Choral Society of Washington DC that they aren’t seriously singing it every July 4th. (God Save the Tsar begins at 1:20)
You know, I have been jokingly calling him Czar Vladimir IV for a while in private conservations whenever his name comes up. Which is to say… I am not at all surprised that someone would propose naming him Czar in all earnestness. Not that I necessarily think it would be a good development but that I am not surprised in the least.
I noticed that, too. Didn’t mention it because I wanted to see who else did.
Shouldn’t it be Tsar Putin? Or maybe upon being crowned he will assume a new name. I think Putin should take a DNA test that will prove he is in fact a decedent of the Romanov, Capet, Plantagenet, and Medici families.
I think he would rather be a descendant than a decedent.
But should he take the test, I am sure it would show he could trace 1:1024 of his ancestry to each family.
Well there was Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and although Stalin was not a Czar he was known as The Breaker of Nations. I think in Putin’s case I’ll opt for Vlad the Shirtless.
The new Seal of the Tsar of all the Russias:
I knew someone would finally remember something so that I could go back to liking McCain a little.
Wasn’t there a Vlad the Impaler?
That sounds so weak and puny (spoken with an Austrian accent). Now Vlad the Bare-chested sounds right.
Think nothing of it. Vivo ut serviam.
Why do we always look at Russia with Western eyes? Russia is in Europe but not European – never has been, never will be. You have to buy the nonsense that all countries follow the same evolutionary path to think that it ever will be.
Russia is too large and important to ignore. Russia will make its presence felt.
I hope he does become a new tsar and it will be hereditary with his daughters coming to the throne. It will give Russia stability, which we should hope for.
That photo of Putin on the bear is creepy. I can’t see whether or not there’s a perfect crease in his pant leg, but perhaps Russian women (or even Chris Matthews) look at it and feel a thrill, somewhere. De gustibus non est disputandum, I guess. Ugh.
Do bears actually run like that? With both front feet off the ground at once? Or is the bear stuffed, with a central pole holding him up, like a carousel horse? The bold (and probably Photoshopped) splashing would hide that, of course. The bear also looks extremely happy and carefully posed. (He’s smiling, I think.) Just the way Putin would want his bear to look. I’m suspicious as to whether he’s even alive, or if he came from the Moscow Taxidermy Museum (surely there is one).
At any rate, that’s the sort of thing that runs through my mind when I come across that photo unexpectedly (that’s the only way I ever do come across it). The bear is much more interesting than the man, I think.
He wasn’t Russian.
So? Why not a Tzar? Do the Russians not have a right to govern themselves as they seem fit?
Yes. The photo manipulation was simply putting Vlad on the bear, but the bear is real and alive. If you search for images of “bear running,” you will see many examples where the feet are off the ground. You might even find the original picture that was made from.
FJ / JG,
This is a perfectly legitimate question. The very same people who are most hysterically afraid of the Russians have no problem that Juncker will not be standing ever for re-election because he was never elected in the first place. They seem not to notice that the EU parliament is a rubber stamp with no power to actually legislate. This doesn’t bother them in the least. Their inconsistency is just astounding.
After the English Revolution, the monarch was put back on the throne except without the Divine Right of King’s power. Parliament was securely in control of legislation and continues to this day. If the Russians were to actually take that as a model, and I’m not going to certify in any way that they would, then their government would have more democratic legitimacy than the EU.
We are living in a world whose values have been massively distorted by brainless socialists in the last 30 years. We are to the point where we barely know up from down. Those guys in the yellow vests are speaking for the whole human race at this point.
Regards,
Jim
Crimenutely.
Concur.
My sentiments exactly.
I forget what the guys name was, but I heard a Russia expert say if you polled Russians, they literally prefer a police state to chaos. I guess it’s a big worry over there.
Ten minute podcast on why monarchy is superior.
Putin has been called czar for years now. It is accurate and unmasks the continuity of the Russian Empire. Understand that we have always been dealing with the Russian Empire and you get to understand patterns of Russian/Soviet behavior over the centuries.
A year ago, the Economist wrote of Putin: “As the world marks the centenary of the October Revolution, Russia is once again under the rule of the tsar.”