There was a definite selectivity in the answers to my initial post here.

No one addressed my question about which of the two flags are the more popular in Belarus? In such a Belarusian poll, I wonder how well the Russian tric-color would fare against the other two?

As for citing Dick Cheney – I don’t value his comments. The man recently portrayed Russia as a very undemocratic place while lauding Kazakhstan. Any fair minded person knows that Russia is much freer than Kazakhstan.

As for some of the other very broad and somewhat questionable replies, I find this site to offer a more reasonable overview of the situation in Belarus: http://www.bhhrg.org

Dear Global Voices:

I found the first reply to my initial post to be in violationof your stated standards. Please make note of this.

Here’s that post:

“What planet are you from, Mr. Averko? Are you sure you can trust everything you see? Do you really believe that everything you see is what it actually is? Do you understand the concept of “sekretno” and “dlya sluzhebnogo pol’zovaniya”?

Do you believe in western governments’ conspiracy against Lukashenko? Do you believe is western governments’ conspiracy against Russia?

Do you know where to use a question mark?”

Many of those carrying white-red-white flags ended up in Minsk jails after you saw them on tv.

Back in the Soviet times, if you decided to walk around with the current Russian flag (or the current Ukrainian one) and demand a regime change, you’d end up in a Soviet jail, too. And the folks in power didn’t really need “legal codes” to justify their actions.

If I were you, I’d ask vice president Dick Cheney for clarification, too. He said this about Belarus in Vilnius:

“Peaceful demonstrators have been beaten, dissidents have vanished, and a climate of fear prevails under a government that subverts free elections and bans your own country’s flag.”

Thank you,
Veronica Khokhlova

Do you believe in western governments’ conspiracy against Lukashenko? Do you believe is western governments’ conspiracy against Russia?

Do you know where to use a question mark?

During and after the recent Belarusian presidential election, I saw a number of such flags evident in Belarus.

In Belarus, which of the two flags are the more popular:

- The one currently used

- The first post Soviet Belarusian flag