Tuesday, February 10, 2004
DEMOCRACY CAN WORK:
Strong man Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing how it can be done. The key is to treat liberals like the marginal ideological fanatics they are. Ivan Rybkin, Presidential candidate of the oxymoronically named "Liberal Russia Party" has been missing, possibly killed or kidnapped, for days. The state police are not investigating, claiming it is a publicity stunt. So far they have also failed to convict anyone for the recent murders of two other leaders of that party, perhaps seeing the killers as public benefactors. This policy of "open season on liberals" seems to resonate with the obedient Russian public. Putin "has a 70 percent popularity rate and is expected to win by a landslide. Recent polls showed fewer than 1 percent of voters supporting Rybkin." The missing candidate had denounced the incumbent for the war in Chechnya and for "curtailing democratic freedoms in Russia," according to "Mystery of missing Russian deepens". The strong response from the Kremlin has reduced the liberals below even Howard Dean levels -- now they're at the microscopic level of a Dennis Kucinich. Bush, Ashcroft, and especially Rove should all be watching and taking notes.
Strong man Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing how it can be done. The key is to treat liberals like the marginal ideological fanatics they are. Ivan Rybkin, Presidential candidate of the oxymoronically named "Liberal Russia Party" has been missing, possibly killed or kidnapped, for days. The state police are not investigating, claiming it is a publicity stunt. So far they have also failed to convict anyone for the recent murders of two other leaders of that party, perhaps seeing the killers as public benefactors. This policy of "open season on liberals" seems to resonate with the obedient Russian public. Putin "has a 70 percent popularity rate and is expected to win by a landslide. Recent polls showed fewer than 1 percent of voters supporting Rybkin." The missing candidate had denounced the incumbent for the war in Chechnya and for "curtailing democratic freedoms in Russia," according to "Mystery of missing Russian deepens". The strong response from the Kremlin has reduced the liberals below even Howard Dean levels -- now they're at the microscopic level of a Dennis Kucinich. Bush, Ashcroft, and especially Rove should all be watching and taking notes.
