As Clifford Levy wrote in The Times last week, Russia’s national networks, the most powerful media in the country, are routinely deleting news or opinions critical of the Kremlin.I'm guessing Elmo and the Socks would be just fine with this, admittedly less than elegant, solution.
In one notable case, Mikhail Delyagin, a well-known political analyst, criticized Vladimir Putin during the taping of a talk show. When the program aired, Mr. Delyagin was missing. Or, most of him was missing.The most intriguing part of this, is how the Russians themselves are reacting...
His disembodied legs remained in the picture.
A troubling aspect of this slide toward those dark old days is that many Russians insist they are fine with government-controlled TV. In the Web commentary after Mr. Levy’s article appeared online, quite a few Russians said a free press is unnecessary.But of course... that evil George Bush... again.
One called the idea “American propaganda.”
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RELATED: Hey, dumbstick... you just bring it
"And we have to tell them, you know what, if you're not going to allow us to do that, there will be consequences. You will be taken to the human rights commission, you will be taken to the press council, and you know what?"Oh please, please, please...
"If you manage to get rid of the human rights code provisions [on hate speech], we will then take you to the civil courts system."
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LAST WORD: Speaking of self-censorship
"Why are mainstream news organizations in Canada shirking their duty to present the news fully and honestly?"*