Not Even Close

The BBC noted this bit of ‘Cold Warrior’ absurdity: John McCain takes aim at Putin in Russian press.

First off, you need to be aware that the newspaper, Pravda, was the official paper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which made it a very important read when there was a Soviet Union. It is now the newspaper of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which is a very minor party in Russian politics, and it is not read by anyone other than members of the Party. It is no longer available at news stands in Russia.

McCain didn’t even get his letter in the Pravda newspaper, it was published by Pravda.ru, a news site that is not affiliated with the newspaper or the Communist Party. [Note: Pravda means ‘Truth’, so it is generic.]

Pravda.ru is a nice enough site, but it doesn’t have a large audience when compared to Russia Today, and other competitors, so McCain’s letter at Pravda.ru definitely didn’t have the impact of Putin’s letter in the New York Times.

I would also note, that based on Russians in comments, and the opinions that were in Pravda.ru, the letter was a major failure. The Russians were insulted by McCain’s ‘Cold War rhetoric’ that was ’30 to 40 years out of date’.

My instinct tells me that the editor of Pravda.ru who solicited McCain’s letter, did so because McCain was known for his colorful opinions, the same reason he is constantly on the talk show circuit. John McCain is a known ‘entertainer’. People listen just to find out how off-the-wall he is going to get. Frankly, he is a running joke in American politics, and even editors of medium-sized Russian news sites know this.