Kremlin stooges remove tributes to Alexei Navalny
Take a look—at the photograph. The Kremlin is doing its best to erase even the memory. The last thing in the world Vladimir Putin wants is for Alexei Navalny’s afterlife to be more powerful than his dissident one.
At his peak, Navalny, the Russian dissident who just died in a Russian prison, was just a dissident. Now maybe he is rapidly becoming a martyr. Putin wants to be Peter the Great. Putin’s view, death is for losers. He will do everything he can to turn his thuggery into an enduring crown.
The problem: Navalny chose honor over self. He represented leadership by principle.
He didn’t do showy rallies—they weren’t allowed. He didn’t hold office—he was banned. He chose a principled death over a submissive life.
I write on President’s Day weekend. Its title suggests we should honor our long list of Presidents. Its predecessor holiday was Washington’s Birthday. We recalled history if ever so briefly. Now President’s Day is known for selling things. Home of the Brave or Home of the Sale?
Thankfully, minutes before the Super Bowl kickoff, Reba McEntire, best known for her country music renditions, performed the National Anthem as a dedication, not a stylistic look-at-me performance. If Ms. McEntire had been singing the last stanza as Francis Scott Key wrote it, she would have sung these lyrics:
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’re the land of the free and the home of the brave.
These words draw the line. We know which side of the line Navalny occupied. He stood with George Washington. And Abraham Lincoln.
Americans have flirted with Soviet and then Russian versions of a different side of the line: communism. Radical Leftists saw Marxian utopia. Now radical Rightists admire the suppressive use of power, which exemplifies Putin’s Russia. Power over Ukraine. Power over Navalny.
While we should always pursue a better America, we should never lose sight of what free men and women have built. Nor the role America has played in encouraging and supporting a freer world.
America might stray from Key’s aspirational lyrics and McEntire’s tone-perfect rendition, but the underlying principles that birthed and have sustained America are worthy of “The Brave”—courageous persons who will stand on the right side of history.
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Paul Rybon says
Loved this piece until he brought political scorn into it. Just couldn’t help himself
Charles Barranco says
Thought there might be a comparison with Sergey Magnitsky. Putin had him beaten to death because he wouldn’t recant his actuations against a Russian take over of Wm Browder’s businesses. As a result, The Magnitsky Act was enacted and prohibits anybody guilty of Human Abuse from entering the United States. Nevertheless, Benedict Donald invited Putin to visit when he was President. Just another example of Trump’s genius and continued love affair with Putin.
Paul Rybon says
Mr. Barranco may not know that one of the POTUS primary job is diplomacy. Donald Trump wasn’t afraid to meet with anybody in that regard. Doesn’t mean he liked them or not. This Benedict belittling has got to stop. Not helpful.
Charles Barranco says
Mr Rybon wants to ignore The Magnitsky Act, which specifically targeted Putin and other dictators. Trump has never been known for diplomacy, far from it. Ask Judge Erongon how diplomatic Trump acted in his Court. Trump has never taken time to even know the facts relating to Anythig. I seriously doubt that he knows the details of the Magnitsky Act. So please Don’t Gaslight me about the Little Fingered, Coward in Chief, Benedict Donald.
FYI
Anybody who plans an Insurrection, Incites his base to attack the US Capitol for the sole purpose of obstructing the certification of another president and to arbitrarily change the Vote of it’s citizens, is guilty of Treason. The Courts will rightfully convict Benedict Donald, the most flawed president this Country has ever had. And no, it won’t stop because Trump continuously brings it on himself every day,
Paul Rybon says
Don’t think the Maginski act applies to presidents. And Mr. Barranco seems to forget that Trump was acquitted in his impeachment proceedings. Use of anatomical insults solves nothing. If Mr. Trump becomes our next POTUS, instead of incessant hate programs and personal destruction techniques, we need to get to learn how to get the best governance out of this remarkable patriot.
Charles Barranco says
Your Remarkable Patriot, just lost all his cash because of continuous fraudulent activities in NY. Maybe you could help him out a little and stock up on his new line of sneakers. Time is of the essence since another trial involving more fraudulent activity’s is starting on March 25, 2024. BTW, the line on this trial is he will be convicted of his First Felony charge. The SC must be getting tired of seeing the Orange Menace.
What is your bet on Presidential Immunity? I am betting the SC remans the case to the District Court for disposition!