When you are repeatedly told a one-sided story where a person, in this case Putin, is constantly demonized, then all those who fail to accept this framing can easily be seen as people to hate also. We see today the ultimate result of consistently spreading a one-sided, hate-fuelled narrative about Russia and those who choose peace over war. The assassination attempt on Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia is the direct result of the hatred spread against him by media and opposition politicians alike. The U.S. embassy in Bratislava without any doubt has its hands deep in this particularly ugly trough. As have figures such as George Soros who think they ought to form governments or bring them down rather than by anything approaching a truly democratic process. No one who forms an opinion contrary to the demanded narrative of the elite western political consensus can feel safe to voice their views. Not in an environment where the general population of all western countries are fed a diet of anti-Russian hatred and 100% skewed narratives which paint those who wish to attain a balanced view as traitors. Robert Fico has been subjected to a campaign of virulent hatred for many years now, a hatred which has massively intensified since he and his party were elected to govern Slovakia and a colleague was then elected to be Slovakia’s president. Massive demonstrations have been held on an almost daily basis flagrantly ignoring that both were elected democratically by the will of the Slovak people. Wishing to see a renewed peace in Ukraine rather than a continued war was Robert Fico’s crime. This along with his willingness to look at both sides of the story in relation to the long running disputes between Russia and the Ukrainian authorities. In an environment where it is almost a crime to look deeply into the facts seeking to discern the true genesis of events in Ukraine’s Donbass region and Russia’s concerns over NATO expansion into Ukraine made Fico a marked man. To hold the view that there are always two sides to every story means you may well risk your career and perhaps even your life itself. Western governments and their compliant media stenographers demand you accept and parrot their fixed, unquestionably views. If you do not submit you become a target. If you are a public figure then you risk character assassination if not a very real assassination attempt as Robert Fico has suffered today. Is this the region of the world of free speech? Is the USA any more the land of the free? When you are forced to behave in a certain way, watch what you say and submit to those who are supposed to be YOUR public servants then we have surely moved far away from those noble concepts of freedom of speech and democracy that our leaders (now rulers) preach about. Hopefully Robert Fico will survive his grievous injuries. After five hours and more surgeons continue to try to save his life. But free speech and anything approaching democracy is also on life support. And unlike Mr Fico it appears they are no longer capable of being saved in this sanctimoniously puritan western world of an increasingly dictatorial “democracy”.