Article by: Mat Babiak

In a recent article on RT (aka Russia Today), the state-owned international network published an analysis on the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and in it, a shocking comparison that likens Russian President Vladimir Putin to former US President John F. Kennedy, and the Western world to Cold War era Russia.

“It seems to me the curtain is being drawn closed again, only this time by the NATO nations and not Khrushchev. It’s as if our roles are reversed somehow. Vladimir Putin acting like JFK, and western leaders bent on some convoluted socialism.”

The comparison is naturally bizarre for two obvious reasons: JFK was an unapologetic liberal (while Putin is a staunch, if not radical conservative), and it’s only those among the conservative right who would ever raise the specter and threat of (presumably) Obama-brand socialism.

The head scratching quote was written by Phil Butler, editor-in-chief of Everything-PR.com and a regular ‘policy and public relations analyst’ for RT. The article in question was published in their “Op-Edge” section (which one can only assume is for op-eds…but, you know, edgier). For good measure, we should also point out that Mr. Butler is an MH17 truther.

The JFK comparison was not the only oddity put out by RT today, with Butler describing what can only be assumed as a continuation of his alternate bizarro reality, one where NATO expansion was designed to prevent a brain drain at gunpoint of western dissidents pining for greener pastures in Russia.

“If Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s erecting the Berlin Wall was to keep the best and brightest in the Soviet Union, then NATO militarism’s spread can easily be seen keeping citizens within the western fold. Let’s face it, it’s impossible to defect from the western alliance once your military is solidly encamped.”

Included are also a number factual missteps, such as the myth of aggressive NATO “expansion” (disproven), Reagan’s alleged broken promise not to all countries to join NATO (also disproven), and the following gem:

“Russia led by Putin owes nobody and seems ready to emerge as the world’s dominant economic force right along with China.”

While it’s refreshing to see RT paint Moscow as the villain for once, maybe waxing poetic on Putin has its logical limits.

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Tags: international, RT, Russia, Russian propaganda