Vladimir Putin is fooling no one in signaling he wants to be Russia’s prime minister when he leaves the presidency next year. Putin already has shown his willingness to bend democracy to serve his ambition. So odds are that if protege Dmitry Medvedev wins the presidency March 2, Putin will keep the power. The international community, including the United States, should not shrug off this phony transition. Saying, as White House press secretary Dana Perino did this week, that Putin’s latest gambit is “an internal political decision that the Russians are going to have make,†is not enough.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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24 Comments
Gee, what are the odds that he’d win a fixed election. All the opposition candidates who have a chance of winning have to flee the country. But Bush looked into Putin’s soul and saw he’s a likable guy. The sort of likable guy who has his metaphorical Russian version of Diebold.
Putin is the only one holding the Israelis in their box, along with their treasured WWlll.
Oh, and Ron Paul has the Israelis so worried that they pulled Sen Joe Lieberman out of their hat.
Desperate times bring-out desperate measures.
Isn’t it odd, the man who wanted to emulate Reagan, ends up being in office for the very undoing of Reagan’s best feat. So sad.
If the Bush administration had spent less time starting wars with nations that never attacked us, perhaps his Secretary of State, an expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union, could have spent more time and credibility on moving that nation to true democracy.
Yet another missed opportunity.
Sorry, Tom, have to disagree. Iraq has actually kept the Bush incompetents away from historically important tasks – in other words kept those dumb butts busy with less important things.
Check out this review of the new Condi biography – would you want this challenged person near anything important – I don’t.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180172/
Sorry, Tom, have to disagree. Iraq has actually kept the Bush incompetents away from historically important tasks – in other words kept those dumb butts busy with less important things.
Check out this review of the new Condi biography – would you want this challenged person near anything important – I don’t.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180172/
Sorry for the double post. That spam filter is tricking me today.
Steven,
Not invading Iraq would have been the decision of a competent administration.
And as far as Rice is concerned, Stanford doesn’t hand out Doctorates and department chairmanships to idiots. How she got sucked into the worst decisions by the worst. president. ever. is beyond me.
Let’s see an article on Putin and let’s see the first few responses…
BushRon PaulReagan
BushBushCondiRice
I’m glad I don’t have to depend on Libs for my education on International affairs. :D
And I’m glad that the narrow-minded fools who can’t see the bigger picture are going to be out of office in 13 months.
I count the days.
He’s fooling someone, he’s been selected for ‘Man of the Year, beating out Al Gore!From what I’ve read the election was about as crooked as ours.
If you like election outcomes in Russia, you’ll *love* ‘em in Venezuela!
(Dear Typepad antispam filter,This is not spam.
Sincerely,
CT)
Commenttater,
The most recent vote in Venezuela went _against_ Chavez. Venezuelans want no part of a “president for life,” and said so in overwhelming numbers.
Now we just hope that Chavez will respect the will of the voters.
Now we just hope that Chavez will respect the will of the voters.
Posted by: Tom | December 19, 2007 at 09:11 AM_______
Ummm… that would be the point of the post, Tom. Good job.
Well Rhonda,
What is ” The international community, including the United States” supposed to do? Invade Russia, whine to the UN,
It was a Russian election. It was likely rigged. And we should….. I know, I know! We should write useless blog entries (including this one).
If someone like McCain is elected here look for something similar with Putin’s soulmate. Secretary of State Bush?
Putin is a tough and smart politician. He plays his cards very carefully and calculates every move he makes. You might not like him much but he is effective.
“And as far as Rice is concerned, Stanford doesn’t hand out Doctorates.”
Actually, she got her Ph.D. in political science at the University of Denver.
From the Slate article I site above:
“Condi at Denver: Fashion Plate or One of the Guys?
“The most interesting chapters concern Condi’s days at the University of Denver, where she was an undergrad and a Ph.D. student in political science. The future Stanford provost wasn’t always a star pupil, and (shockingly enough) she knew how to let loose.
“Page 69: Arthur Gilbert, a Denver professor, said the future secretary of state “always was perfectly groomed. She knew a great deal about nice-looking clothes. She would come sashaying in, and this would lead to a very mixed response from the students—that she was social climbing.” (How’d she get to be so put together? Page 64: At age 19, she enrolled in a modeling school at a Denver shopping center.)
“Page 67: Alan Gilbert, another Denver prof, said Condi’s thesis on the works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich during the Stalin era was ‘not a fantastic piece’ of scholarship.”
Condi went into to an administrative position not long after going to Stanford. I think claims of her being very smart are over-estimating her.
an administrative position – so, she couldn’t DO and just “managed”
Putin is nothing but a Stalin in sheep’s clothing.
He may have a 70% approval rating in Russia, but then Sadamn was re-elected by a unanimous vote in his country, also.
Putin is a very real threat.
Well, a threat to the US as a lone world power anyway.
He will likely move on neighbor nations.
We will be able to do nothing even if we wished to.
OUR military is bogged down long term in Iraq.
WWlll
Oh, by all means, start another “war,” or a least move closer to one.
Putin is really Russia’s Cheney without the few controls we still have in place here. He’s(Putin) only just begun , and hopefully, Cheney’s nearly done!.
“Putin is nothing but a Stalin in sheep’s clothing.”
So true. Which explains why Bush saw his soulmate when he looked into Putin’s eyes.