Bette Dangerous
Bette Dangerous Podcast
Bette Dangerous Podcast Ep41 - ‘Gradually, Then Suddenly’ — How Freedom Slips Away
0:00
Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -8:13
-8:13

Paid episode

The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of Bette Dangerous

Bette Dangerous Podcast Ep41 - ‘Gradually, Then Suddenly’ — How Freedom Slips Away

Words from Vladimir Kara-Murza — why defeating Putin is imperative

This podcast is for paid members. If you would like to join our community at 25% off the annual price for the first year, please do so here or click the link below. You will receive invites to our special guest ‘Speakeasy’ zoom forums, our weekly wellness happy hours, access to all Bette print and podcast archives, and our private community chats.

Get 25% off for 1 year

In reading Vladimir Kara-Murza’s recent op-ed in the Washington Post, I was struck by how casually millions of people obey in advance — accepting their freedoms being taken away calmly and without protest.

As I help my friends defend themselves against lawfare brought by pro-Kemlin assets in America, the parallels Kara-Murza details are both alarming and important to confront head on. We cannot take democratic freedoms for granted. That’s why we are all here together, defying and exposing propagandists and defending truth.

Here is an excerpt:

“No one can pinpoint the precise moment Russia ceased to be democratic. But the year can be named with certainty,” wrote Kara-Murza, the protege of Boris Nemtsov.

He said it was 2003 — exactly 20 years ago.

Three things happened:

  • In June of 2003, Putin’s press ministry turned off TVS, the last independent television network. “Controlling public sources of information is a prerequisite to any dictatorship,” he wrote.

  • In October of 2003, Putin arrested Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Khodorovsky. “Stay loyal, or stay out,” was the signal, Kara-Murza said.

  • In December of 2003, Russia’s parliamentary election was assessed by international election observers as unfair.

“For those of us who had been involved in the democratic opposition to Putin from the very start of his rule, it was painful to watch how calmly most of Russian society seemed to accept the dismantling of the nascent freedoms of the 1990s,” wrote Kara-Murza.

On the Ukraine war, he wrote:

“There is only one outcome of this conflict that would be in the interests of the free world, of Ukraine and, ultimately, of the Russian people: resounding defeat for Putin, to be followed by political change in Russia and a Marshall Plan-type international assistance program both to rebuild Ukraine and to help post-Putin Russia build a functioning democracy so that it never again becomes a threat to its own people or its neighbors. That is the only way to make sure Europe can finally become whole, free and at peace — and stay that way.”—Vladimir Kara-Murza

This is an audio podcast for paid members. The print version of the article below is available for two weeks to all subscribers. Please consider becoming a paid member to support my work.

Get 25% off for 1 year

🩵🇺🇸

Stay kind, stay focused, stay loud.

🤍

****

Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with your generous coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. Some of you prefer making subsidizing donations via venmo, and it’s always greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who pitches in with a monthly membership - each time they come in, it always feels like pennies from heaven.

A private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous@gmail.com. 🥹

Our next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Sunday, July 2, 4 pm PT with Martin Sheil, whose words appear often on these pages in our ‘Follow the Money’ series. Marty is a retired IRS criminal investigator, and he will update us on Trump’s legal entanglements and the recent federal indictment; Paid members also receive invites to our weekly Bette’s Happy Hour, a wellness checkin every Tuesday. This Tuesday, our checkin is at 5 pm PT.

Get 25% off for 1 year

🤍

“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.

“May the viral hope for truth and humanity wash away the chaos of these years.”-S.C., Bette community member

“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, that can hear the invitation of Truth…”-words from a Bette Dangerous community member

“Nothing but blue skies from now on…”-Irving Berlin

🤍

Give a gift subscription

Share

🤍

Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Bette Dangerous to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.