What's wrong with Pavel now?

So our friend Pavel is claiming that adoption is an American plot to take the oil from Siberia. This is not really a surprise--well, the level of crazy is, but not the intent behind it--because Astakhov has been vehemently against intercountry adoption his entire career. But I'm gratified to hear that he may not succeed.

Some of the American families who were in process when the ban was enacted have filed suit in the European Court of Human Rights. I heard a rumor today that the local courts in St. Petersburg have removed all of the children previously referred to American families from the list of children available for adoption. If that is true, and if other regions follow suit, then Pavel's plan to place all of the children with Russian families will at least have to be put on hold.

I really do wonder what the Russian government is hoping to achieve with this law. Perhaps they just feel ashamed that Russia has so many children available for adoption. Maybe they are living with a Cold War mentality, and the idea that Americans can offer a better life to these children just galls them.

Honestly, I hope that there is some explanation that involves corruption or manipulation, because if they really believe the garbage they are spouting, then they are insane.

I never added up the cost of our adoption because I don't want to think about it. As far as I'm concerned, we had the money, it's gone now, and the important thing is that Boo is part of our family. The money we've spent on Boo since her arrival would I'm sure come to an astounding total, were I to add it up. Just from a financial perspective, the notion that we could have adopted Boo for any reason other than parenting her is fundamentally nonsensical. And that's just the financial perspective.

Of course I am insulted by Astakhov's accusations. I'm also afraid that Boo will hear them and have to process that information--no child should hear accusations like that. But mostly I find it shocking that an adult who is in a position of power could spout utter nonsense like that and keep his job.

We're not immune--we have birthers and the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. But for us, that's part of diversity. In the Russian government, being crazy seems to be part of the dictatorship.

Hopefully, the European Court of Human Rights will come to a decision swiftly and Russia will abide by it. At least the local courts seem to be on the side of the children. Hopefully the central government will come around.

My thoughts are with all the families and especially the children who are stuck because of this outrageous law.