Conservative and imitator

The right American publicist considers Vladimir Putin his ally

"Is Vladimir Putin a conservative related to us in spirit?" Such is the descent that made a lot of noise in America the articles of Patrick Buchenen, a prominent figure of the right camp and political commentator; In the past, he was the speaker of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and even ran for US presidency. “I am fascinated by Putin’s speeches in defense of traditionalism,” Buchenen admits. "In the struggle of adherents of the antagonistic systems of values for the future of mankind, isn't he an ally?" - the author asks a question.

In the last message of Putin to the Federal Assembly, Conservative Patrick Buchenen emphasizes the phrase scouring the adherents of modern morality, who went much further than to defend freedom of conscience, political views and inviolability of private life and opened the embrace of "ash and barren tolerance." That is, the principle of equality of traditional and same -sex marriages. Harshes of modern morality also allegedly authorize promiscuity, pornography and abortions on demand. “All this is tantamount to recognizing the equality of good and evil,” Buchenin cites Putin’s words, who leave him no doubt in the vector of moral guidelines of the Russian president. “If Reagan quite rightly called the USSR the“ Empire of Evil, ” writes Buchenen, “ how Putin makes us understand, in the 21st century, America Barack Obama, experiencing a consistent dechristianization and relapse of paganism, can be honored in the 21st century. ” No outskirts and outlets. Putin, the author insists, is absolutely right, arguing that modernist values are imposed on humanity, if not always with the help of military force, then invariably undemocratically, from above, through courts, and not parliaments, because they do not have roots in national culture and are rejected by the overwhelming majority of the population. Putin sees perfectly, believes Buchenin that polarization in today's world is taking place in relation to progressive and traditional morality. And it’s good that the latter has a strong supporter in the person of the head of a large world power.

So, in sympathy for traditionalist Putin, one prominent figure of the right camp in America openly admitted. Is this swallow first? Does the construction of a conservative international, as a communist International, once under the leadership of the USSR, once under the leadership of the USSR, squealed on the horizon? This question is answered by the professor of the University of California in Los Angeles Vladimir Paperny .

- The fact is that the main profession of Patrick Buchenen is a provocateur. He is not afraid to make statements that shock both his friends on the right and his enemies on the left. Moreover, he clearly gives him more pleasure to shock his friends on the right. This is clearly a statement when a person who has always called himself the right, says that for us now almost an ally of Putin. This, in my opinion, is a gift for the left that they will say: well, here we see the true face of American conservatives, and a certain shock for his right friends.

For Vladimir Papaperny, an article by Buchenen is meaningfully uninteresting, although provocative. Is the meaning of its spelling in this circumstance?

- For a new generation, for young people, he is generally an unknown figure. Therefore, perhaps one of the goals is to attract people who have never heard of him. Of course, this is a game for Buchenen. If you look at what Putin said and what he did not say, it is clear that he has no conservative story. They have never been a conservative. He, most likely, can be assumed, never shared any ideology.

“What Putin says now is a conscious imitation of conservatism for the sake of some momentary political calculations, which fit the idea of a conservative international,” said Vladimir Paperny. In the same vein, one should probably consider Putin’s recent meeting with Pope, for the Catholic Church, in the ideas of many, is a stronghold of the ideology of traditionalism. According to Professor Papernaya, all this undertaking, however, is capable of captivating the Kremlin much more than Patrick Buchenen's nominal associates in America. For thinking right bekenen, it was always a little charlatan. Of course, the bulk of the conservatives remains, of course, and it is quite numerous, but its demographic weight in the United States falls, the likelihood of the victories of progressive democrats in the presidential election is becoming more and more, and Russia, carried away by the game of conservatism, cannot ignore this trend.

In a similar way, our interlocutor, professor at the University of Michigan Vladimir Shlyapentokh spoke in a similar way about Buchenen. In his opinion, Buchanin is a marginal politician in the United States. “Its influence on the political process is small, and its words do not have a large weight for American politics. The Kremlin, of course, aware that political correctly progressive values in the West and in the USA, in particular, are many opponents, but this does not mean that he can easily make them his allies,” said Professor Shlyapentoch. True, in which the Kremlin can draw optimism for itself, albeit small, is in the tendency of part of the Western right to be fascinated by strong personalities, proclaiming outwardly conservative slogans about public order and traditional family structure. As it was, for example, with Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, who initially had their admirers in the conservative circles of democratic countries.

- Then it was a very powerful movement. The largest political figures were involved in it. But the comparison of these bison, in my opinion, will give us little. Judge that Putin’s image in the West is so unfavorable that it will be very difficult to assume that Fox or other conservative publications will quote it regularly and positively, ”said Vladimir Shlyapentoch.

The charm of the Western right -wing dictators quickly passed, as soon as they could see the conservative slogans by no means conservative essence of the regimes that declared them. And Putin’s charm, the handful of American conservatives, Vladimir Shlyapentoch is convinced, will also pass as soon as they understand the aggressive nationalist essence of Putin's traditionalism. "I would, for example, presented Dmitry Kiselev’s statements on the pro -Kremlin television channel that the Euromaidan in Kyiv arranged Sweden, overwhelmed by a thirst for a revenge for Poltava," said Professor Shlyapentoch.

Neither Vladimir Paperny, nor Vladimir Shlyapentokh reckoning themselves to the conservatives. Wanting to hear an assessment of what Buchenin wrote, so to speak, “from the inside,” we turned to a famous conservative commentator, professor of the University of California in Fresno Bruce Thornton . This is how he answered a question about same -sex marriages:

- Buchenin is partly right. In California, for example, according to the results of the referendum, same -sex marriages were declared illegal, but the full -time courts were canceled by the will of the people, recognizing it anti -constitutional, and the Supreme Court for procedural motives rejected the complaint of the organizers of the referendum against lower courts. Buchenen, however, is silent that this did not happen in other states, and there such referendums remain in force. He also does not say that conservatives follow the people, not trying to impose new values to him, but waiting until he himself grows up to them. So, with regard to same -sex marriages, these values undergo an evolution that is not favorable to the conservatives in America, and they need to be considered if they want to remain expressors of folk moods.

I don’t know what Buchanin may object to this, Bruce Thornton admits. "Of course, he is right that the believing Christian cannot but disturb the current spiritual fire in the development of the country. The oblivion of the Covenant of the founding of America cannot but disturb, including deist, such as Thomas Jefferson, that a free, individualistic society is not able to survive without transcendental ideals. However, attacking the progressive morality, beaning is an important important one. The ideal of conservatives is the respect of personality freedom. "

- It is not very clear to me how a person who calls himself a conservative can involve the state in the person of ships or legislatures to protect his moral views, which makes bekenen when it comes to religion, same -sex marriages, abortions, pornography, and so on. For a conservative in America, all this problem is being under the jurisdiction of individual states, not the federal government. Thus, through decentralization, society seems to experiment with different models of moral structure, empirically determining their suitability for a particular human team. Caesar is a caesarean, as Christ said. Faith is for personal, family or public life, not for politics. Do not wait for anything good when the state invades this sphere.

Patrick Buchenin refuses to admit,-Tornton notes, “that the traditional family in the United States was shaken not by single marriages of gays and lesbians, but by total liberalization of divorce proceedings, which, in turn, was a consequence of the deep socio-economic transformation of American society, and not at all the evil will of secular progressives, as Buchenin believes and it believes like -minded people. “And I’m just interested in me,” concluded the California professor, “that Vladimir Putin, who is not seen in excessive veneration of political, economic and social freedoms, can offer the original conservative America to stop“ creeping secularism ”and turn this transformation.“ He did not even offer Russian citizenship Patrick Buchenen, and I will very much doubt that he will take such a proposal, even if it will take such a proposal, even if it will take such a proposal, even if it will take such a proposal made".