Whispered in Russia: Democracy Is Finished

[GeronimoSkull]

...On the streets, people live in dread of the next terrorist attack, and in law enforcement circles, authorities flinch from the demonstrated inability of Russia's famed security services to protect the population. In the last few weeks, more than 400 people have been killed in bloodshed that has included a suicide bombing near a subway station, nearly simultaneous airline bombings and a hostage siege at a provincial school.

Opponents worry that Putin's response has had almost nothing to do with terrorism, and everything to do with expanding the already formidable power of the government.

Putin responded to the school tragedy by saying that the nation was "weak — and the weak get beaten," and by taking steps "to ensure the unity of state power." On Sept. 13, he announced a plan to eliminate the general election of regional governors and of independent seats in parliament, essentially removing the last real checks on his personal dominion over the largest nation on Earth.


<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=5&u=/latimests/20040919/ts_latimes/whisperedinrussiademocracyisfinished>

[PartyPooper]

1. What would Ronald Reagan say?

:eyes:

[Just Me]

2. "Dubya" REALLY loved those eyes,....go figure,...

,...they would prove to be "kindred spirits",...

[PartyPooper]

4. Didn't Junior once say that Putin had such a "pretty face"?

Or, was that the diplomatic liaison from Canada that he was talking to?

Let's call Victor Ashe for the lowdown!

:evilgrin:

[redstateblues]

10. He said He Looked Into Putin's Soul- It Must Have Been a Mirror

[qwertyMike]

12. I remember watching Putin at Crawford

as Chimpy spoke. He had a look that said "This guy's an absolute MORON".

Putin rose to the top of the KGB in the USSR. You don't get there by promoting Democracy.

I like the guy.

PS: I think he'll take over Soviet-style.

[schultzee]

15. Demons recognize eachother.

[asthmaticeog]

3. Hmmmm

"Opponents worry that Putin's response has had almost nothing to do with terrorism, and everything to do with expanding the already formidable power of the government."

Doesn't sound familiar at all, no siree, not even a little.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Well Russian History is full of this

going all the way back to Peter teh Great....

the implications for the world are NOT nice though

[hansolsen]

6. Shrub's legacy: Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and now losing Russia. That

noise you here is Ronald Reagan spinning in his grave.

[agincourt]

8. Let me pipe in,

There are a lot of real American presidents spinning in their grave now.

[0rganism]

9. Get enough of them spinning and we could solve the energy crisis!

Just hook generators to the ankles of all those dead spinning presidents, veterans, cold war diplomats, nobel laureates, civil rights activists, and coherent speakers of the English language, and BLAMMO! A source of fuel that will last until bush leaves office.

That'd be the only reason I can think of to vote for a second term.

[Aidoneus]

11. "and now losing Russia"

hm?

[Gloria]

7. Warning from Yeltsin....sound familiar????

4//The Moscow Times, Russia--YELTSIN GENTLY RAPS PUTIN OVER HIS POLITICAL PLANS (In his most explicit public comments about his successor's policies, former President Boris Yeltsin issued a soft warning that President Vladimir Putin's plans to put more power in his hands could roll back democratic freedoms…"A stifling of freedoms and a rollback of democratic rights would mean, among other things, a victory for the terrorists," he said. "Only a democratic country can successfully resist terrorism and count on standing shoulder to shoulder with all of the world's civilized countries."…Yeltsin has to be cautious in criticizing the Kremlin because he has lost all the political connections he once had, said Andrei Ryabov of the Carnegie Moscow Center."I'm afraid that the current balance of power is not in Yeltsin's favor. He does not enjoy the influence that he used to. This is why he has to soften his words," Ryabov said.)

(from the new World Media Watch up now at URL below:)

[dansolo]

13. Isn't Condaleeza Rice supposed to be an expert on Russia?

Personally I think that she is completely incompetant in all matters of foreign policy, but I thought that she was supposed to be an expert on Russia, which was one of her qualifications when she was selected. Shouldn't she have seen this sort of thing coming. I don't think that they can spin this one away. How difficult would it be for Russia to keep the U.S. preoccupied with it's Quixotic pursuit of terrorists, while it builds itself back up. It amazes me how people don't see China and Russia as much greater threats to the U.S. in the long term.

[drdtroit]

14. She is an expert on Russia,

Russian vodka, Beluga caviar and Russian furs. Oh, you meant Russian foreign and domestic policy.

[AlCzervik]

16. I think after the last election democracy was finished for them all

together, Putin has been clipping away at for years now and his new Putin Patriot Act was just the thing he needed to finish job, no wonder bush loves him. I can already hear bush..."Thats what we should do, look at how much power Putin has now!"

[Voltaire99]

17. Dear Russia,

Sorry to hear you're losing your democracy. We know how you feel.

Signed,

America

[Moderator]

18. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=838430