{"id":42738,"date":"2025-07-20T13:24:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T20:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42738"},"modified":"2025-07-20T13:55:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T20:55:04","slug":"im-a-former-member-of-the-russian-parliament-america-is-closer-to-putins-russia-than-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/20\/im-a-former-member-of-the-russian-parliament-america-is-closer-to-putins-russia-than-you-know\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a former member of the Russian parliament. America is closer to Putin\u2019s Russia than you know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OPINION<\/a>\/\/OPEN FORUM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t understand the machinery of autocratic power, the mechanisms of control, the unspoken rules of party discipline. Now I do. And I see it developing here<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a state-of-the-nation address to the Duma, Russia\u2019s parliament, in 2012. What’s happening in the U.S. today is eerily similar to Russia’s slide to a dictatorship. Sasha Mordovets\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Oxana Pushkina<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 19, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I tell my American friends that they\u2019re closer to becoming Russia than they think, they laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a Constitution,\u201d they say. \u201cWe have democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But everything we once said about Russia \u2014 \u201cthat could never happen\u201d \u2014 has long been a reality. And what I see in America today feels eerily familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t say this as an outsider. I\u2019m a former member of the Duma, Russia\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t enter politics right away. For nearly 25 years, I hosted my own television show, where I told the stories no one else would \u2014 especially women\u2019s stories. Domestic violence. Gender inequality. Discrimination. Loneliness. Despair. I tried to help \u2014 with words, with visibility, with human connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But eventually, I realized that storytelling wasn\u2019t enough. You can\u2019t protect a woman from abuse when there\u2019s no law recognizing domestic violence. You can\u2019t change a broken system just by exposing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in 2016, I ran for office. And I won. Even though I wasn\u2019t a member of United Russia, President Vladimir Putin\u2019s party, it officially nominated me. Under Russian electoral law, that\u2019s possible: You can be an independent candidate with a party endorsement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People often asked, \u201cWhy are you with them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I always answered \u2014 and still do: Because I was pushing through legislation to protect women and children, and at that moment, I needed political power behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I entered politics with one clear mission: to create fundamental, enforceable protections for women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, the party didn\u2019t take me seriously. It certainly didn\u2019t see me as a threat. I was a TV journalist, yes, and popular. But convenient. Safe. Someone the party could use to bring in a huge female audience when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, my public visibility gave me power \u2014 and I used it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had limited support in parliament, but strong backing from civil society. Human rights groups stood with me. So did ordinary people. At one point, 90% of Russian citizens supported a draft law on domestic violence. Still, it never passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, I didn\u2019t yet understand the full weight of what I had walked into \u2014 the machinery of autocratic power, the mechanisms of control, the unspoken rules of party discipline. I only began to understand it once I was truly inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2018, the conservative lobby tightened its grip \u2014 infiltrating every corner of public life. Reformers like me were edged out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I fought for a law on domestic violence prevention, I was called a \u201cforeign agent.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf he hits you, it means he loves you.\u201d As if that were part of the sacred \u201ctraditional values\u201d of the Russian people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tried to humiliate me, to silence me, to break me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They didn\u2019t. But I left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I read the news: The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the president<\/a> the authority to fire federal employees and restructure entire agencies without congressional approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People tell me: \u201cIt\u2019s just a temporary decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes \u2014 formally, it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in substance, this is a significant crack in the wall. This is how centralized, unchecked control begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Russia, that moment came in 2004, when Putin abolished gubernatorial elections \u2014 also in the name of \u201cefficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, many accepted it. The country was exhausted \u2014 by instability, by economic hardship, by weak regional leadership. The official line was comforting: \u201cWe need unity. We need order. We need strong vertical control.\u201d People wanted stability so badly, they let themselves believe it. Others were simply afraid to speak out. And some turned away \u2014 weary, cynical, numb. That\u2019s how authoritarianism takes root; it\u2019s not always with tanks in the streets, but through fatigue, fear and false promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., the Supreme Court decision was issued per curiam, with no author named.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m told, \u201cThat\u2019s normal. It\u2019s standard practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I remember how this became a way to blur responsibility in Russia. It ended in complete judicial subordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, it was low-key. Judges who ruled against the state were quietly removed \u2014 reassigned, not reappointed or pressured into silence. Then came the warnings. Those who tried to uphold constitutional rights or challenge powerful officials were smeared in the press, disciplined or even prosecuted. Over time, loyalty replaced professionalism. Obedience became the price of survival. The message was unmistakable: independence was no longer welcome \u2014 it was dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, even ordinary judges make decisions with one eye on politics, afraid of crossing an invisible line. There are no independent courts left. Not at the local level. Not at the regional level. Not one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America is not there yet. But I see the tilt toward a judiciary that acts, not as a neutral arbiter, but as a political actor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say, \u201cThe president still has to follow the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I know how that game is played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Russia, the government also \u201cfollows the law.\u201d Because laws can be rewritten. Circumvented. Ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how elections were canceled. That\u2019s how nongovernmental organizations were shut down. That\u2019s how journalists were labeled \u201cforeign agents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s executive order has no mechanism for congressional oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut Congress can still intervene,\u201d some argue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Russia, the parliament still exists \u2014 on paper. But it\u2019s called the \u201cmad printer\u201d because it rubber-stamps whatever it is told. Independent political candidates have been effectively frozen out of elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No debate. No resistance. Just speed and silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America isn\u2019t there. Not yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if a president can bypass Congress \u2014 as Trump\u2019s order suggests \u2014 the legislative branch ceases to properly balance power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., the word \u201cdemocracy\u201d is still spoken. But listen closely \u2014 it\u2019s increasingly met with sarcasm, with cynicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Russia, \u201cdemocracy\u201d became a dirty word. It\u2019s been replaced by talk of \u201cspiritual values,\u201d \u201csovereignty\u201d and \u201ctraditional norms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t happen overnight. It took decades of propaganda. But it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., I see the early signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You think this is far away? So did I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought a modern country couldn\u2019t be dragged backward by a regime built on fear, nostalgia and brute power. But in Russia, it didn\u2019t take long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, we had a free press. We had honest elections. We had independent courts.\u00a0Now we have illusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America still has a choice. But the window is narrowing faster than you think. Absolute power doesn\u2019t lie in executive orders. Or in purges. Or in fear. Real power lies in trust. In transparency. In the separation of powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If America wants to remain America, it will have to fight for it daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxana Pushkina is a former deputy in the Russian Duma. She now lives in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 19, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxana Pushkina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OPINION\/\/OPEN FORUM I didn\u2019t understand the machinery of autocratic power, the mechanisms of control, the unspoken rules of party discipline. Now I do. And I see it developing here Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a state-of-the-nation address to the Duma, Russia\u2019s parliament, in 2012. What’s happening in the U.S. today is eerily similar… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42738"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42742,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42738\/revisions\/42742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}