This post is essentially just to get out this awesome photo taken in Moscow by James Hill of The New York Times.
Russia’s presidential elections are Sunday and it’s fairly obvious Putin’s established autocracy, in whatever form, will prevail. Putin hand-picked his successor, Dmitri Medvedev, to head up the Kremlin’s ticket. While Medvedev is largely expected to govern with a more “gentle hand” than did Putin with his iron first, many cast him as a puppet of the former KGB chief who will simply “labor according to Putin’s command.”
What’s more, there’s virtually no question about Medvedev’s success at the polls this weekend. The NY Times speculates that the three other marginal candidates — hailing from the communist, “democratic”, and ultra-nationalist parties, respectively — are nothing more than a troika, assembled by the Kremlin to create the appearance of a race. Polls put them together gaining less than 20 percent of the vote. Putin has also announced plans to run as Prime Minister. Nothing new.
I say bring back the reds.
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February 28th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
At least when Russians were Godless Commies they had amazing design and propaganda. That campaign poster looks like a Brokeback Mountain ad!!! “I would Judo you Dimitri, yes?” says Putin-ichka. “Don’t be svolach.”