Stephen Lendman

Anything related to Russia is treated differently from similar events in the West.

Reaction to Monday’s St. Petersburg blast was far less compassionate than for similar incidents in Western cities - dominating feature news coverage for days.

A day after Monday’s St. Petersburg blast, it was yesterday’s news in America, not today’s.

No Tuesday front page NYT coverage. The Washington Post seemed more concerned about a student “d(ying) after a pancake-eating contest” than likely terrorist-caused deaths and injuries in St. Petersburg.

Wall Street Journal coverage was yesterday, not today. St. Petersburg’s blast was only fifth among top world news stories from Reuters and AP. Ahead of it were a classical singer’s death, Jordan king’s view on peace, Vietnam’s poisoned coast, and Somalia’s Al Shabaab.

The NCAA’s basketball championship game got more coverage than St. Petersburg - dismissiveness shown instead of compassion for victims, their families, loved ones and friends.

The state-owned and operated BBC deplorably suggested a possible false flag scenario, implying Putin’s responsibility for what happened - insinuating a diversionary tactic from domestic news.

Other reports suggested blowback for Russia’s involvement in Syria. New York Post columnist John Podhoretz tweeted: “Interesting that the bomb blasts in Petersburg come so hard upon the demonstrations - giving Putin cover for a huge crackdown.”

He referred to orchestrated street protests in Moscow and other Russian cities last month - discussed in previous articles.

Anti-Putin Western favorite Garry Kasparov tweeted: “Tragedy in St. Petersburg. Once again ‘unknown terrorists’ perfectly timed to serve Putin’s political agenda. Forget protests, back to fear.”

He’s overwhelmingly popular. Over 80% of Russians want no one else leading them. Orchestrated protests and other tactics used to try weakening his public support never work.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “(i)n a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump extended deep condolences to the families of those who were killed in a barbaric terror attack in St. Petersburg subway, and asked to pass on words of encouragement to the Russian people.”

“Presidents consider terrorism to be an evil that should be tackled in a concerted effort.” Both leaders “agreed to keep in touch.”

So far, 11 deaths were reported, around 50 others injured, at least four in critical condition.

Putin was in St. Petersburg on Monday - meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and participating in the Truth and Justice Media Forum. Many journalists attended it. The incident seemed timed with his visit.

He went to the scene of the blast - laid flowers at the city’s Tekhologichesky Institut metro station, where city residents paid their respects in memory of those killed.

Three days of mourning began Tuesday. Russian investigators will get to the bottom of what happened.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.