By Stephen Lendman

It's pure fantasy. None whatever exists. US-installed coup d'etat putschists run things.

Neo-Nazis have power. Ordinary Ukrainians have no say. Elections when held are farcical.

Expect scheduled October 26 parliamentary ones to reflect business as usual. Excluding democratic choices.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said Washington spent around $5 billion sabotaging Ukrainian democracy over the past 20 years.

She lied calling it "democracy promotion…We stand with the people of Ukraine," she hyperventilated.

USAID spent about $1.8 billion assuring ordinary Ukrainians had no say. Calling it "critical development assistance in support of the Ukrainian people."

Nuland was caught red-handed urging regime change on tape. Her conversation with US Ukraine ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt was recorded.

It circulated on You Tube earlier. It remains damning. More evidence of Washington's dark side.

Its quest for global dominance. No matter the human cost. Risking East/West confrontation. Possible global war.

Other US government funded agencies were involved. Including the National Endowment for Democracy, International Republican Institute, and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

They spent billions more. Right-wing think tank dirty hands were involved.

The National Endowment for Democracy sabotages what it claims to support. It's web site ludicrously claims it's:

• "furthering Ukraine's democratic transition;


• promoting accountability in Eastern Ukraine;


• (supporting and) monitoring human rights compliance by (Ukrainian) enforcement agencies;


• building advocacy momentum;


• supporting independent regional media


• promoting freedom of assembly;


• promoting the accountability of public officials;


• promoting civic activism and government accountability in Central Ukraine;


• promoting accountability in Southwestern Ukraine;


• enhancing civic journalism and NGO cooperation;


• promoting youth activism in Central Ukraine;


• fostering freedom of information in Eastern Ukraine;


• stimulating dialogue on transition processes


• promoting youth human rights awareness;


• monitoring freedom of the media in Ukraine;


• strengthening local democracy;


• fostering good governance


• promoting media sustainability;


• providing information and analysis on human rights issues;


• promoting local activism;


• promoting legislative accountability;" and


• various other so-called initiatives polar opposite its agenda

USAID and other US government funded organizations make similar claims.

Impossible with fascist putschists in charge. America does none of the above domestically. It goes all-out to sabotage democracy at home and abroad.

It tolerates none whatever. NED's so-called initiatives are laughable on their face. So are ones other US supported agencies claim to pursue.

Washington's Ukraine policy prioritizes hardline rule. Tyranny masquerading as democracy. America calling the shots covertly.

Controlling the crown jewel of former Soviet republics. Wanting it ncorporated it into NATO. Having US bases on Russia's borders.

Targeting its heartland with long range multiple-warhead nuclear missiles. Wanting regime change.

Wanting its sovereign independence eliminated. Wanting US-friendly stooge governance replacing it.

Wanting Russia looking like Ukraine. A puppet state Washington controls.

On October 17, Itar Tass headlined "Whole families run for seats in Ukraine's parliament, president hands down precinct to son," saying:

"Early election of deputies to Ukraine's national parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is still more than a week off but the voters already know the names of many future deputies, who happen to be relatives of active-duty politicians."

"These politicians came to power on the wave of promises to cleanse the ranks of officialdom from those who had been propelled there by family relations, but now they are working hard to feather lucrative nests in the system of state rule for their children, brothers and godparents."

Oligarch president Poroshenko's son, Oleksiy, is the "main VIP candidate for a parliamentary seat." He's running to represent Vinnitsa region's No. 12 precinct.

The same one his father represented years earlier. Bequeathed to his son. Mocking real democracy. It bears repeating. It's pure fantasy.

Oleksiy now serves as Vinnitsa region's parliamentary deputy. According to his father, he decided to participate in upcoming so-called elections on his own.

"I’ve always taught my son to take decisions independently and he didn’t take counsel from me about it," he claimed. "If there was no majority system, I wouldn't (have) place(d) him on the list," he added.

Other insiders are guaranteed parliamentary seats. Including former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, his wife Irina, parliamentary deputy Yuriy Stets, singer Oksana Bilozir, and parliamentary deputy Serhiy Pavlenko's daughter Okeksandra.

Formerly she served on Ukraine's so-called Central Election Commission. She's a Syina Ukraina party national bureau member.

A lawyer for the Ukraine Forward party. A representative of party leader Natalya Korolevskaya.

Nikolay Kravchenko heads Donetsk region's Ukrainian Communist party. He believes Poroshenko surpassed ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in numbers of cronies elevated to power.

"Nothing has changed," he said. "(N)othing. (E)verying has just gotten worse, and whole familial clans are marching to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) now."

Mykhailo Pogrebinsky heads Kiev's Center for Political Research and Conflicts. Poroshenko should have urged his son to hold off running for parliament until his term in office ended, he said.

"The president’s son is still a young man, and he could have waited for some time, but our politicians are dominated by old dogmas, which they just can’t throw aside," he explained.

According to Itar Tass:

"…Ukraine’s political class is built on the foundation of nepotism and cronyism, as all the political forces display the tradition of nominating candidates on the grounds of kinship."

"Performing in a duo in this election race is the former speaker of the Rada, Volodymyr Litvin, and his son Ivan who will become the youngest deputy in parliament if he is elected."

"Both have registered as candidates in majority constituencies. And to make Ivan's crash course in political subtleties meatier, the precinct of the town of Glukhov in the north-eastern Sumy district is supervised by his father-in-law Andriy Derkach, who in his turn is a son of the former chief of Ukraine's Security Service, Leonid Derkach."

Ivan already made headlines. Law enforcement agencies are investigating vote-buying allegations.

Ukraine's political system has no legitimacy whatever. It mocks real democracy. None whatever exists.

Oksana Kaletnik aims for a Vinnitsa region Yampol parliamentary seat. She's Rada agricultural committee chairman Grigory Kaletnik's niece.

She's former deputy Rada speaker Ihor Kaletnik's cousin. Grigory and Ihor are parliamentary candidates.

So is Yuriy Kruk. He's a former Party of Regions member. His two sons aim for Odessa region constituencies. According to Itar Tass:

"Yuriy Kruk Jr. has inherited the constituency in the south-western town of Izmail where his father emerged victorious from an election two years ago."

"He is competing with Volodymyr Bodelan, the son of the former Mayor of Odessa. Yuriy Kruk Sr.'s elder son Vyacheslav is running in precinct No. 133 in the city of Odessa."

Trans-Carpathian region is an electoral nepotism hotbed. Balog family members run things. Viktor formerly served as former President Yushchenko's administration chief of staff.

He's currently a Rada member. So are Balog family members Pavlo, Ivan and Vassily.

Dubnevich brothers Bogdan and Yaroslav are important agricultural producers. They aim for Lviv region Rada seats.

Former US House Speaker Tip O'Neill famously said "(a)ll (US) politics is local." Ukraine's version is largely a family affair.

It bears repeating. Democracy is pure fantasy. Don't expect media scoundrels to explain.

A Final Comment

Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples' Republics won't participate in Ukrainian elections. According to Lugansk Republic President Igor Plotnitsky:

"We will organize our own elections. Our people will hold (them). Ukraine will be our neighbor."

Donetsk Republic First Deputy Prime Minister, Andrey Purgin, said Kiev's scheduled October 26 elections won't be held in his region.

Local ones will be held before yearend. Democratic ones. Polar opposite Kiev's sham process. It has no legitimacy whatever.

Donetsk and Lugansk intend the real thing. They fought and died to assure it. They reject fascist rule. Freedom is too precious to lose.

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: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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