Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the members of Pussy Riot who spent the longest time in jail and were recently freed, have said the 'musical experiment' is over and they will now form a human rights group. (RT: Pussy Riot abandons ‘brand,’ will form human rights group)
All things except red states will evolve so perhaps this is a natural flow from where they were based on what they experienced in prison ... or perhaps this whole event has been well-played as entry into politics was the target the whole time. The motivation isn't tremendously important as what they have been doing has been a classic case study in non-violent resistance. Through that resistance they almost single-handedly exposed the plasticity of Vladimir Putin's public relations campaign.
The problem is that the girls may not be making such a good decision on their human rights group as they have said already they want Khodorkovsky to replace Putin in leading Russia. Khodorkovsky was freed from prison after ten years and is labeled an activist but, in his case, there is quite a bit more to the story. He was a tycoon in Russia but he was more than a businessman as he is said to have ordered at least three or four executions. Khodorkovsky is currently in Germany and has said he has no interest in direct conflict with Putin so there's no telling where this leads.
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said in a news conference that they will not accept any money from Khodorkovsky to fund their human rights group and this is an excellent decision as it's likely very dirty money. It would also give Khodorkovsky the opportunity to play them for his own purposes and that may not be exactly what anyone wants.
As to the musical experiment being over, sometimes it's better that way. Pussy Riot was brilliant as a social experiment but their music was like that of a lot of punk bands in that they had lots of passion but very little training. Part of the nature of music is knowing you will never make it to MTV and continuing to play anyway but Pussy Riot has decided not to do that. I don't fault that decision but I question where it leads.
All things except red states will evolve so perhaps this is a natural flow from where they were based on what they experienced in prison ... or perhaps this whole event has been well-played as entry into politics was the target the whole time. The motivation isn't tremendously important as what they have been doing has been a classic case study in non-violent resistance. Through that resistance they almost single-handedly exposed the plasticity of Vladimir Putin's public relations campaign.
The problem is that the girls may not be making such a good decision on their human rights group as they have said already they want Khodorkovsky to replace Putin in leading Russia. Khodorkovsky was freed from prison after ten years and is labeled an activist but, in his case, there is quite a bit more to the story. He was a tycoon in Russia but he was more than a businessman as he is said to have ordered at least three or four executions. Khodorkovsky is currently in Germany and has said he has no interest in direct conflict with Putin so there's no telling where this leads.
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said in a news conference that they will not accept any money from Khodorkovsky to fund their human rights group and this is an excellent decision as it's likely very dirty money. It would also give Khodorkovsky the opportunity to play them for his own purposes and that may not be exactly what anyone wants.
As to the musical experiment being over, sometimes it's better that way. Pussy Riot was brilliant as a social experiment but their music was like that of a lot of punk bands in that they had lots of passion but very little training. Part of the nature of music is knowing you will never make it to MTV and continuing to play anyway but Pussy Riot has decided not to do that. I don't fault that decision but I question where it leads.
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