A Model for Patriotic Dissent Found in Russia
Re “A Top Advisor to Putin Calls Oil Takeover the ‘Scam of the Year,’ ” Dec. 29: One notes with no small irony the following cri de coeur from Andrei Illarionov, a key economic advisor to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, expanding on his criticism of the Putin administration’s ruinous assault on the once-mighty oil giant Yukos:
“The position of a presidential advisor is a state position, and I am doing what I consider required, useful and necessary for my country. I am doing all I can to help, not to sabotage. To say publicly today that everything is splendid and that with current policy in all spheres we will be a success, in my opinion, is to undermine not only the president but the entire country.”
Illarionov is no doubt alone in his criticism and powerless to affect the course of Putin’s authoritarian juggernaut. But one is still forced to ask: Who in our own president’s circle of advisors would dare express such patriotic dissent in public?
Andrew S. Wolfe
Los Angeles
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
