Suppose the president of the United States got tired of Congress refusing to do his bidding, dissolved Congress and suspended the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and ordered the marines to use heavy artillery to rout the opposition out of the capitol, so that he would be free to rule by decree.

Suppose he then ordered the army to shoot and kill demonstrating citizens and officials, arrested the speaker of the House and other opposition legislators, outlawed political parties, and took over TV and radio stations, and imposed a military dictatorship on the country.

That is what Yeltsin did in the recent “battle of Moscow”. The people of Russia were beginning to blame him for their suffering from rampant inflation, unemployment, homelessness, crime in the streets, a growing drug culture, all of which we are familiar with, but which they had never experienced.

If all this should happen in this country, major newspapers and TV are not giving us the truth about what is happening in Russia. Yeltsin is not a “democrat”. He is ruling by decree. Their parliament was elected by the people and the Russian constitution divides the powers between it and the president. Yeltsin, however, is insisting on ruling alone and has dissolved the parliament insisting unconstitutionally that new elections be held in two months, meanwhile ruling by military dictatorship. The members of the parliament are depicted in your major media as “hard liners,” whatever that is supposed to mean.

Unfortunately President Clinton is supporting the Russian dictator against the democratically-elected parliament.

Allen Weaver

Professor of Physics

Emeritus