Hysteria finds ducting the issue

							                                                            THE RUSSIA JOURNAL February 21 - 27, 2003. PAGE 14

                                                                              OPINION

        I N T HE C ORRIDORS
          N HE ORRIDORS                                                  Hysteria finds U.S. ducting the issue
          By EKATERINA         LARINA
                                                                                                Matt Taibbi      at work in the elevated New York             Americans descending upon
                                                                                                                 coverage.                                    hardware stores in droves were
                                                                                                                    The warnings were issued just             fictional, or at the very least
                                                                                                                 days before a massive anti-war               exaggerations.
                                                                                                                 demonstration was expected in                   I had special reason to think that
Business and the Kremlin battle bureaucracy                                                                      Manhattan; in fact, specific warn-           way in Buffalo, where the idea of a
   People have long been saying that one of Russia’s biggest prob-                            Press Review       ings about cyanide attacks in New            terrorist attack being likely was
lems is its huge army of powerful bureaucrats. There have been                                                   York subways coincided exactly               beyond counterintuitive and actu-
attempts in various quarters to do battle with the bureaucracy,                                                  with news that the protesters                ally insane. Buffalo is probably the
but so far without result. This is hardly surprising given that the                                              would be denied a permit to march            only place in the world that would


                                                                         I
bureaucrats are essentially being asked to cut back and reform                know this column is sup-           past the United Nations for “secu-           be improved by a terrorist attack.
their own ranks. No wonder they are busy extolling the successes              posed to be about Russia-          rity reasons.”                               It would mark the first thing of any
of debureaucratization even though nothing has been done.                     related issues, but I felt that       It seemed clear enough that the           importance that took place in this
   But the public, especially its more active and influential part —     I would be remiss in my duty to         terror warnings, as far as New               city since the assassination of
the business community — isn’t giving the bureaucrats any peace.         The Russia Journal’s readers if I       York was concerned, anyway, were             William McKinley. What’s more,
The Kremlin has taken the side of the public and intends to join the     did not inform them about what          intended at least partly to both pro-        Federal Emergency Management
battle against the country’s octopus-like bureaucracy, which is a        is happening here, on the ground,       vide a reason for clamping down on           Agency cleanup crews would
breeding ground for corruption.                                          in the United States.                   the protest and also to dissuade             probably have a difficult time dis-
   The Duma will examine a package of draft laws on administra-             A thing so strange that it can       would-be marchers from coming to             tinguishing the bombed areas of
tive reform and local-authority reform on Friday. The package            scarcely be believed is taking place    Manhattan during cyanide season.             Buffalo from the untouched resi-
was drawn up by a commission headed by Deputy Head of the                in what for many of you is your         But forget about New York. What              dential ones.
Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak. Also this week,                home country. I write to you as a       was amazing was how quickly the                 There is nothing a terrorist could
President Vladimir Putin met with representatives of the Russian         reliable contemporary witness.          duct-tape phenomenon spread                  do to this city that the mayor and
Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) to discuss                 Many of you may have heard           straight from the front pages of             the city council haven’t done a
administrative reform.                                                   that at the beginning of last week,     America’s newspapers into the                thousand times over already; it is
   The meeting was in danger of not going ahead because tycoon           as the government elevated its          brains of Middle Americans. Not              the least-likely target in the world.
Alexander Mamut, the RSPP official who was going to be the               “terror alert” status to the (appar-    since the days of the “Reefer                Nonetheless, when I took a trip to
main speaker, fell ill. But the RSPP decided not to risk postponing      ently) dreaded “orange” level, the      Madness” movies have Americans               the local Home Depot, it took me
the meeting, all the more so as it had been six months since the         Department of Homeland Security         indulged publicly in paranoid luna-          just 45 seconds (I was timing it)
last one.                                                                issued a press release that recom-      cies of this magnitude.                      standing guard in front of the duct-
   One of the participants in the meeting said the RSPP members          mended that Americans purchase             On Feb. 13, a day after the               tape rack before I happened upon
were happy with its results. Putin admitted that the efforts to cut      a “disaster supply kit” to help pro-    Buffalo News issued its front-               my first customer.
back bureaucracy have had no result, but that there is nonetheless       tect them in case of a chemical or      page duct tape story (“Ready on                 It was an older woman, obvious-
determination to hack away at the roots of corruption by removing        biological attack.                      Homefront,” Feb. 12, by Ken                  ly well-off, with dyed blond hair, a
the various administrative barriers that are its fertile soil. Putin        Among other things, the depart-      Turner), I decided to do an exper-           silk scarf and a cashmere coat. She
also invited the meeting’s participants to get directly involved in      ment recommended that citizens          iment. I’d had a sneaking suspi-             nodded to me as she bent down to
preparing and implementing administrative reform.                        stock up on duct tape and plastic       cion as I read these stories that            inspect the tape. Having found one
   The best news for the RSPP was that Putin spoke in favor of           sheeting (to cover windows in the       this whole duct-tape thing was a             roll to be satisfactory, she then bent
further tax cuts. This was seen as a major statement, especially as      event of a chemical or biological       media end run, that these tales of           down and bought six more. Then
it comes amidst sharp debate in the government between Prime             bombing), flashlights, bottled                                                       she nodded to me again and disap-
Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin,            water, latex gloves and numerous                                                     peared down the corridor.
who wants to postpone further tax cuts.                                  other items that the concerned cit-                                                     I was stunned. It was like watch-
   But even with such high-placed support, administrative reform         izen may enjoy having handy                                                          ing “Close Encounters” on video
will still be a difficult matter, especially in an election year. Many   should a dirty bomb be exploded in                                                   and then seeing a cigar-shaped
deputies count not so much on their voters to reelect them as on         his worthless neighborhood.                                                          object whiz by your window 10
the so-called “administrative resource” — support from the                  Within a day after this relatively   It seemed clear                              minutes after the film ended. I
authorities — which, going by past experience, is known to per-          low-key statement was released,                                                      decided to follow her and raced
form all sorts of miracles.                                              the press turned it into a massive,     enough that the                              down the aisle. Once there, I spot-
                                                                         coast-to-coast phenomenon, as it                                                     ted her loading her duct tape into a
The Kremlin wants a unified party system                                 headlined the front pages of virtu-
                                                                                                                 terror warnings, as                          carriage. I was amazed to discover
   Putin held another important meeting this week, this time with        ally every daily newspaper in the       far as New York                              the following other items in her
the heads of the regional legislative assemblies in the Federation       country. It was at the top of USA                                                    cart: A huge jug of bottled water, a
Council. Two things were on the agenda: Local-authority reform           Today, the Washington Post, the         was concerned,                               packet of flashlights, and about
and a new electoral system for regional legislative assemblies.          New York Times, the Los Angeles                                                      three dozen D batteries. In about 30
   Putin called for a more responsible approach and an end to unre-      Times, even my own hometown             anyway, were                                 minutes in the store I saw three
alistic promises. The problem is that local authorities often put for-   Buffalo News.                                                                        more people buy duct tape. Later
ward initiatives that have a good propaganda effect but don’t take          The New York Times, normally         intended at least                            on I asked the shift manager if he
into account what the budget can actually afford. Putin calculated       the most circumspect and least                                                       was doing good duct tape business.
that fulfilling all these announced promises would cost 6.5 trillion     credulous of the major dailies          partly to both pro-                          “Gangbusters,” he said. I asked
rubles — more than double the entire Russian budget.                     when it comes to covering the                                                        him if he thought that was strange.
   On the question of election procedures, Putin spoke in favor of a     Bush administration’s periodic          vide a reason for                            “No,” he said, eyeing me suspi-
mixed system for regional legislative elections that would be the        panic-button ploys, devoted             clamping down on                             ciously. “Why?”
same as the federal system and would see half the deputies stand         three whole pages to the duct                                                           These are some freaky times
in single-seat districts and half from party lists. Putin said this      tape story. Although New York is        the protest, and                             here in the United States. Several
                                                                                                                                                              of the network TV channels keep
would make deputies more accountable and that voters should              justifiably more paranoid about
know not only whom they are voting for but also their particular         terrorist attacks than other cities,    also to dissuade                             constant “Terror Alert” graphics
ideological platform.                                                    there seemed to be other factors                                                     onscreen to remind viewers, 24
   It might be regional elections that are under discussion, but the                                             would-be                                     hours a day, that they face immi-
motives behind the new proposals lie more at the federal level. The                                                                                           nent attack. More and more often
Kremlin is pursuing its idea of forming a clearly defined party-         A man tries out a gas mask              marchers from                                we hear warnings that instruct us
based political system, and strengthening the role of parties in the     at a store in the United                                                             to “keep our car gassed” and to
regions and making them work more actively with voters is a part         States. Since the terror alert          coming to                                    hold family meetings to “map out
of this overall project.                                                 level was raised to orange,                                                          disaster strategies.” Even when
   There is a risk, however, in today’s political environment. The       this store has been selling             Manhattan during                             evidence comes out revealing the
problem is that the party best-prepared to work at grassroots level      some 100 gas masks daily.                                                            absurdity of all of this, it gets
with voters in the regions is the Communist Party of the Russian
                                                                                                                 cyanide season.                              ignored. Last week, for instance,
Federation. Reliable sources say that the Communists recently                                                                                                 ABC News reported that the
received a considerable new inflow of financial aid and have hired                                                                                            Orange terror alert was brought
a good team of analysts. The Communists have clear positions on                                                                                               on largely by a bogus tip from a
various issues and have a lot of experience at grassroots work.                                                                                               Guantanomo inmate, one who
   As for Kremlin favorite United Russia, it suffers from the tradi-                                                                                          subsequently flunked a poly-
tional ailments of “parties of power” — formalism and a lack of                                                                                               graph test and was described
clear ideas. Many, including the more ideologically committed                                                                                                 even by the Homeland Security
among the party’s members, recognize this and say the party                                                                                                   Department as “unreliable.”
needs a purge. They were saying the same thing a year ago, but                                                                                                   Nonetheless,         the      alert
now time is running short, and United Russia can’t afford to take                                                                                             remained on. As I write this col-
the risk of an upheaval within its ranks . If it’s called “United,” it                                                                                        umn, I can see Buffalo City Hall
should make a show of unity, after all; otherwise, its image just                                                                                             outside my window. There are
won’t hold up. Polls back this up: Its rating fell from 27-28 percent                                                                                         extra policemen outside the front
to 14-15 percent a few weeks ago after a reshuffle at the top.                                                                                                door today. The reason? Code
United Russia is not yet sufficiently well-known as a brand to be                                                                                             Orange. Elevated terrorism
independent of specific names and market fluctuations.                                                                                                        threat. Orwell would have had a
    (Ekaterina Larina is assistant editor of The Russia Journal. E-                                                                                           hard time making this stuff up.
              mail Katya at katya@russiajournal.com)                                                                                                          Expats, it is time to start making
                                                                                                                                                         AP




                                                                                                                                                              plans for permanent exile.