I think I must have fallen asleep and woken up in the 1970s, much like that character from the BBC TV programme 'Life on Mars'. I mean Soviet (sorry Russian) tanks and troops are pouring into a neigbouring country that tried to assert a little too much independence from Moscow. Is it me or haven't we been here before.... Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968. Just as then, even if this stops short of regime change, it will nevertheless have demonstrated the limits of Russian tolerance in its near abroad.
So it seems were back to bad or good old days (depending on your point of view) when we knew clearly who are enemey was and where to find them. Yes its Cold War Redux. Well what did we expect? Putin has already brought back the old Soviet era national anthem, Hollywood has already dusted the cobwebs off Rambo and brought him back this year to fight in the jungles of Burma and in the States we have a Cold War veteran jostling with a black JFK to be the next President.
What was it Marx once said, "all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice... the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.”
Right I'm off in my Austin Mini to go and buy some flared trousers and a kipper tie.
So it seems were back to bad or good old days (depending on your point of view) when we knew clearly who are enemey was and where to find them. Yes its Cold War Redux. Well what did we expect? Putin has already brought back the old Soviet era national anthem, Hollywood has already dusted the cobwebs off Rambo and brought him back this year to fight in the jungles of Burma and in the States we have a Cold War veteran jostling with a black JFK to be the next President.
What was it Marx once said, "all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice... the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.”
Right I'm off in my Austin Mini to go and buy some flared trousers and a kipper tie.
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