When President Bush first met, then President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin early in his first year in office he stated:
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country."Oddly enough I agree with Hillery Clinton - he is former KGB and probably does not have a soul. The minute he took office he started to consolidate political power. I could argue that purging the Kremlin of nearly anyone related to Boris Yeltsin was important house cleaning or that condensing the number of governors and political territories was need to better manage the country - many of the events of the past years point to less benevolent reasons. Let me be clear: this is a man who spent much of his life working his way through the KGB - starting in the Fifth Directorate (irc) which is charged with quelling descent of the government. I do believe that he has the best interests of his country at heart; it just so happens that it is always in the country's best interest to have him near the top of power. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's current president, has served under Putin since the fall of Communism in the early nineties and it is believed by many that hey his mealy Putin's proxy in office. The political party they share (and Putin is the current leader of) is generally considered a nationalist/center-right (the European definition of right). One of its main planks is to limit "radicalism". Additionally it has been reported (I don't recall where I saw it) that a push is being made to lessen the power of the rich oligarchs that run most of the countries manufacturing, transport, and natural resource concerns - possibly leading to the nationalization these industries. Now the PM and the President are pushing for a constitutional change to allow the president to serve a 6 year term instead of the current four. As a package it looks less than fair for a real Russian Democracy - I hope I'm wrong.
Two articles I've read in the last week spawned this quick reminder of who runs Russia today. The first was this one discussing the heavy handed break up of opposition protests. Many people are extremely unhappy with the current political situation in Russia and this has been exasperated by the lack of foreign investment and the current global financial mess. The investment issue is a major one and worthy of a book or two.
The second article is much more frightening. I thank God they we have the Bill of Rights. Voicing a descending view is treason... that very thought frightens me until I remember the old adage: "the 2nd Amendment protects all of the others." Read the article. This is a basis for a totalitarian state. I pray something occurs to heel Russia's current course or I fear a return of the USSR, though resembling Germany circa 1938 to a degree.
edit: This is what may happen in an extreme, but it is in the back of my head when ever I read someing like this.
