Most Americans have by now read Vladimir Putin’s Op-Ed in the New York Times counseling America and Americans on the concepts of democracy, human rights, diplomacy, law and order, etc. and — most of all — on the need to remember that “God created us equal.”
Of course, Americans needed to hear that from the man who has trampled just about every one of those principles and tenets.
A couple of us here at TMV have responded in one way or another to Mr. Putin’s much-needed advice.
But hold on. You haven’t heard or seen anything yet.
Our own all-American maverick, John McCain, is about to tell it like it is in, of all places, Putin’s own newspaper Pravda.
Surprisingly, Dmitry Sudakov, the English editor of Pravda, a newspaper in a country that is “ranked 148th out of 179 in the world for respecting press freedoms by Reporters Without Borders” — according to Foreign Policy’s The Cable — has told The Cable that it would be pleased to publish a story penned by John McCain.
Foreign Policy’s The Cable reports:
In a first-of-its kind arrangement, the editors of Russian newspaper Pravda have tentatively agreed to publish a column by Sen. John McCain that will attack the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement comes one day after Putin criticized the United States in a widely-read column in The New York Times.
“If John McCain wants to write something for us, he is welcome,” Dmitry Sudakov, the English editor of Pravda has told The Cable. “Mr. McCain has been an active anti-Russian politician for many years already. We have been critical of his stance on Russia and international politics in our materials, but we would be only pleased to publish a story penned by such a prominent politician as John McCain,” says Sudakov.
Please read here how this surprising arrangement got started and was cobbled together, and stand by for John telling it like only he can.
In an “Update,” The Cable writes:
The McCain camp e-mails Pravda and promises a submission by Wednesday at the latest. Notice the note about translation:
Dmitry: Senator McCain appreciates your offer to publish a piece by him in Pravda. We will send you the op-ed early next week, by Wednesday at the latest. Please let us know if that works. We will have Senator McCain’s op-ed translated into Russian so that we can be certain of the accuracy translation, and we will send you a final version in both English and Russian.
Again, we greatly appreciate Pravda’s offer to run a piece by Senator McCain. From the reaction I have seen so far, I am sure that this piece will receive great attention.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Brian Rogers
Communications Director
Office of Senator John McCain
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