Support Belarus

Belarus is falling backwards towards Stalinism. So many dictatorships in the world, so little time. The whole world is moving backwards, and the democratic progress made in some countries is so fragile that a single event can steal liberty away. I wish them luck in crushing their depraved dictators so that they may enjoy the fruits of freedom, but here is some advice: don't let it get away from you once you have it. It is difficult to get and easy to take for granted.

With Simple Tools, Activists in Belarus Build a Movement

On Saturday, July 9, Belarusan special security forces burst into the home of Uladzimir Kishkurna, an opposition political leader. Neither he nor his wife was home.

They arrested Kishkurna's 22-year-old son, Anton, and claimed later that he had drugs and ammunition in his possession. But the real target of their raid appears to have been a printing press, a potent weapon in the hands of those seeking to topple the country's autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko. The press, confiscated by the authorities, was one of fewer than 10 of professional quality outside control of the state and was useful for printing tracts and posters against Lukashenko, opposition leaders said.

The authoritarian president has shut down so much of civic life that the opposition has been forced to use tools that are primitive in comparison with those of democratic movements elsewhere. Cell phones, satellite television, the Internet and instant messaging -- all of which played a role in popular uprisings in Ukraine, Lebanon and Georgia -- are too closely monitored by the government to be reliable, opposition figures said. The Belarusan upheaval, if it comes, will be built on printing presses, shoe leather and face-to-face campaigning, they added.

But I thought Reagan ended all of this! {cough}