Calling Out the 'Riot' Squad

And now the backlash? NYT op-ed writer, Vadim Nikitin--IDed as journalist and Russia analyst--hits support for Pussy Riot women, claiming folks here know little about them, their politics and aims, and that many are using their case as just a chance to bash Putin.  UPDATE:  Now a second piece at the Times online by Masha Gessen, much more pro-Pussy Riot and their impact.

Back to Nikitin:  "At the core of much of the media fever over Pussy Riot lies a fundamental misunderstanding of what these Russian dissidents are about. Some outlets have portrayed the case as a quest for freedom of expression and other ground rules of liberal democracy. Yet the very phrase 'freedom of expression,' with its connotations of genteel protest as a civic way to blow off some steam while life goes on, is alien to Russian radical thought. The members of Pussy Riot are not liberals looking for self-expression. They are self-confessed descendants of the surrealists and the Russian futurists, determined to radically, even violently, change society."