LISTVYANKA, Russia — On the edge of this Siberian village is a resort with a veiled guest list and armed guards at the front gate. When local officials have expressed unease about what goes on inside, the reply has always been the same: do not interfere.
Two and half years ago, the village’s mayor, Tatyana Kazakova, had enough. A major construction project at the resort had exposed a hot water main, threatening the heating supply for the entire village as temperatures plunged to 30 degrees below zero.
Ms. Kazakova was not a typical bureaucrat. She was one of the most successful businesswomen in this vast region, a real-estate magnate with a blond ponytail who represented a new breed of Russian entrepreneur.
She filed a lawsuit against the resort, and asked the regional prosecutor to open a criminal inquiry.
A criminal inquiry was indeed opened — against Ms. Kazakova.
The resort belongs to the F.S.B., the main successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B., and the F.S.B. arrested her and had her prosecuted.
Much as I usually scoff at sincere expressions of patriotism, Obama & Rubashkin have recently occasioned so much distasteful "frum" talk in the opposite direction that this post by R' Eidensohn putting things in perspective is very much welcome.
ReplyDeleteEspecially worth revisiting is Miriam Shear's open letter of a year-&-a-half ago, all too nogeia in light of so many recent Jewish scandals (H"y):
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/11/kosher-retailer.html
For background, the reader can find her run-in with Rubashkin covered around the same time by the Village Voice in an article that has been copied all over the J-blogosphere, esp. on sites none too friendly (for obvious reasons):
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-03/news/the-fall-of-the-house-of-rubashkin/3
Her response to mailings prompted by the Voice is posted here
http://haemtza.blogspot.com/2008/12/mrs-miriam-shear-responds.html
And as for the anti-govt vitriol specifically excited by Rubashkin's sentencing, I personally find Micah's Comment on this same blog most thoughtful:
http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2010/06/abuse-expressing-outrage-or-supressing.html?showComment=1277831419837#c6583342321462467339
Americans, on this 4th July: Labriyut!