Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Friday, February 07, 2014

Sochi Olympics Kick Off With Grand Opening, But Not Without Its Blunders

Music, dance and plenty of Russian bravado unleashed the ultimate achievement of Vladimir Putin's Russia on Friday - a Winter Olympics to showcase the best athletes on ice and snow that the world has to offer.

The opening ceremony on the edge of the Black Sea and subsequent games are Russia's chance to tell its story of post-Soviet resurrection to the world, and dispel the anger, fear and suspicion that has marred the buildup to these most expensive Olympics ever.

Just after the sun set over the Caucasus Mountains and along the seashore just outside Fisht Stadium in the wet-paint-fresh Olympic Park, Russian TV star Yana Churikova shouted to a crowd still taking their seats: "Welcome to the center of the universe!"
More

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The seats in the stadium were empty

Anonymous said...

who cares, I like putin, at least he tells Obama to go f himself!

Anonymous said...

I thought the Opening Ceremony was spectacular.
Sochi is a seaside coastal town, catering to tourists, but it wasn't always that way. President Putin saw that Russians were taking their money to other countries like France for vacations and pushed to develop Sochi into a Russian vacation destination. The results were positive. He's a brilliant man.

Anonymous said...

The whole event including nbc coverage is turning into a puff piece for communism. It makes me sick. Tributes to Stalin.. Enough

Anonymous said...

"a puff piece for communism?" I didn't see that in the Opening Ceremony. Quite the opposite actually-From the red balloon symbolizing communism floating away, on down to Tolstoy's (an anarchist who believed in limited government) War and Peace story told in ballet. Some like to say Tolstoy was a socialist because he attacked capitalism. His attacks were grounded in the belief that an economy flourished when workers were paid decent wages. He also injected his Christian beliefs into his ideas which is hardly socialism.

Anonymous said...

Russian political parties 101--

1. Vladimir Putin leads the United Russia party (which is Nationalist and pragmatic)
2. Gennady Zyuganov leads the Communist Party (old style Marxism and the offical opposition)
3. Liberal or "Progressive" Leftard parties don't exist because .. Russians don't vote for them.

In simple terms:
Putin opposes the communists and Russian people oppose all leftards

Anonymous said...

There was no "tribute to Stalin." That's the leftists spin on the segment during the celebration of the History of Russia that focused on the industrial revolution which occurred under Stalin. They are trying to turn this into a Stalin tribute because Putin is forever insulting their idol obama and their leftist beliefs.

Anonymous said...

Putin knows the score.He needs to watch Obama,who incidentally has an axe to grind.