Putin wants to strip Russians of voting right

[lovuian]

Putin wants to strip Russians of voting right
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin, seeking to overturn post-Soviet institutions, is about to submit a draft law to scrap Russians' right to elect regional leaders, a senior parliamentarian said yesterday.

The reform is part of Mr Putin's plan to bolster central authority after a militant attack in Beslan left more than 320 hostages died.

more....

This sounds vaguely familliar 9/11 Patriot Act

Wonder where putin got the idea!!!

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,274921,00.html?

[Vox_Reason]

1. Another massive foreign policy failure

Of the * junta.

Kerry should be harping on this big time. If BushCo stands by and lets Putin turn back years of democratic reform in Russia, the repudiation should be intense and emphatic.

I understand there's a debate coming up this week on foreign policy... Anyone in the Kerry camp listening??

[Matilda]

5. Is Bush in a position to take a high moral stand?

He'd probably like to do exactly what Putin is doing. The rot began
with Yeltsin - what a tragedy that the West (led by the US) chose
to back the sleazy drunk instead of Gorbachev.

How sad it all is for the Russian people, who were just beginning
to find their voice after centuries of oppression.

I certainly think it should be dicussed by the EU and the UN, and
they should urge Putin to reconsider. It's so clearly a grab for
total power.

[LisaL]

12. Russians did not like

Gorbachev. Only people in the West liked him.

[TheLastMohican]

16. What good did the failure of the state bring the Russians?

Most of them live on meager wages, and elderly people are completely broke and penniless, democracy my ass!
Who needs democracy when you can't feed your kids or help your grandma because she has an illness nobody is going to cure for free? The world is not so black and white as most of you think.
UN is irrelevant, remember?
And Gorbachev is the most likely figure to be hanged in Russia these days, the common folks hate him, he sold a powerful country to a third world status for a golden credit card.

[Matilda]

22. I think Gorbachev really tried to achieve his idea,

which was a socialist state that was more accountable than it had
been under the previous decades of communism.

Given that the Russians have never really known democracy at all,
it was probably a better idea to first reform the Communist system
and make it more open before attempting full capitalist-style
democracy. But the people were impatient, and Yeltsin exploited
that. I do believe Gorbachev was sincere - he never tried to
pretend that he was anything other than Communist, but he knew the
system was about to implode, and he wanted to save it, whereas
Yeltsin was never anything more than an opportunist, and an
incompetent one at that. Incompetent at everything except lining
his own pockets. But he said all the right things to the West
about rejecting socialism in any form, so he got the loans he wanted.
Unfortunately, none of it benefited the people.

I wish I could believe that Putin is simply trying to tighten up the
system for the general good, but I don't. Why else would he claim
that his "reforms" are being made to fight terrorism, when they
are nothing of the sort? Another opportunist, albeit quite a clever
one. I certainly wouldn't underestimate him, but I don't think
he'll turn out to be the saviour of the Russian people.

[Toronto Ron]

2. Remember, b*sh looked into Putin's eyes

and saw the goodness in Putin's soul. I'm sure Hitler said the same of Mussolini. Turds of a feather...

[alcuno]

11. "Freedom is on the march."

So says *.

[Zorra]

3. Putin should just buy a batch of electronic voting machines like Bu$h did.

It is so much to retain a dictatorship when people think they are voting for the candidate of their choice when it is in actuality the candidate of your choice.

[lovuian]

4. LOL!!! Zorro

Yep maybe we should send him Jeb Bush to show him how to put innocent people on the felons list

[LisaL]

6. Or he should just make Russians to register using 80 Lb paper only.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/27/112229/106

[lovuian]

8. OMG!!! Get OUT!!!

Putin are you writing these things down

Wasn't it in the old days when people were denied to vote because of the intelligence tests.... like writing but America decided that was discriminating....

Old tactics coming back!!!

So Sad to see America going backward

[GHOSTDANCER]

7. nice

[Carla in Ca]

9. Now I believe it...Meet the new U.S.S.R everybody

n/t

[mom cat]

10. Putin is going directly to Red Alert! Dimdon must be jealous. Rove

must be taking notes. :evilfrown:

[AP]

13. I think he's anxious that oil money is going to buy governors who aren't

on board with Putin's plan to make the oil companies less politically powerful.

[Dirk39]

14. democratic reforms?

Hello from Germany!

I simply don't get it. For decades during the "cold war", the lack of democracy in Russia and the former Soviet Union was an "ideologic issue" related to "communism" and every kind of alternative to capitalism. Now, about 17 years later, what's left of Russia is one of the most brutal free market systems on the entire globe. But no democracy. It would even be wrong to suppose there ever were "democratic reforms".
Gorbatchev was plain and simply an idiot, who sold his country out. One of the most hated man in Russia. He was just loved by the west for being as stupid as he is - sorry for this, but I beg everyone of you to read his "books" without just shaking your head.
Then there was Jelzin: a corrupt piece of garbage.
Where the fu** are all those freedom loving "western democracy" and capitalism-fans? Where are they?
Would it be unfair to suppose that they were never interested in any kind of democracy, human rights or freedom? They were only interested in selling out Russia and destroying every kind of alternative to capitalism. And now capitalism can show it's real face again without compromising. In the west as in the east.

Since the Soviet Union was destroyed, it doesn't just seem that there's no democracy in Russia, it seems there is less and less democracy in Europe and the USA, along with the subversion of the remaining parts of the so-called welfare-states. The next victims were the "New Deal" in the USA as the "rheinische Kapitalismus" in Germany.

No Solschenizyn, no Havel, no Valensa...
And the reason can't be a lack of talent.
Such mediocre talents exist even in Russia today, I guess...

If history has shown one thing during the last two decades: there's is no kind of relationship between capitalism and freedom or democracy or human rights. Rather the opposite is true...

Dirk

[lovuian]

15. clap clap clap!!! Dirk!!! Great Point!!!!!!!

Your right Capitalism never did support Democracy....

as you can tell in America

[leftchick]

17. Excellent must read post Dirk!

Thank you! :)

[moondust]

20. Democracy was

a little bit too unpredictable for corporate profitability. It had to go. :evilgrin:

[Bridget Burke]

21. Bush, Sr., reacted to the fall of the Berlin Wall...

With all the intelligence his son was to show in that classroom on the morning of 9/11. Such a big surprise--what is it, exactly, we pay the CIA for?

That was the time when we & our allies should have reached out to the former Soviet Union. Could the inefficient old economic system have been replaced with something more free but humane? Their "Greatest Generation" fought Hitler--but were left in dire poverty.

[daleo]

23. Good post, Dirk

It's always interesting to hear from you.

[tom_paine]

18. I see that BushPutinism continues apace

Of course, Putin doesn't have to put on the elaborate show like Bunnypants* does.

I bet he's VERY jealous of his Soulmate Pooty-Poot now.

[rman]

19. oh i see, democracy is the cause of terrorism.

it all makes sense now.

[saigon68]

24. He could follow the Florida example

LOL