Thursday, February 24, 2005
Defensive much, Vlad?
Putin swears his system is democratic, or at least, not significantly less democratic than the U.S.
While I share the lack of confidence in Vlad the Impaler's rhetoric about freedom, given the fact that Russia has like, three independent media outlets left, this was a comment I appreciated:
While I share the lack of confidence in Vlad the Impaler's rhetoric about freedom, given the fact that Russia has like, three independent media outlets left, this was a comment I appreciated:
Putin added: "We are not going to make up, to invent any kind of special Russian democracy. We are going to commit to the fundamental principles that have been established in the world."Nice reference to the tendency of autocrats to come up with a unique definition of "democracy" under which they never get removed from power, such as Uzbekistan Buttmunch-In-Chief Islam Karimov and Turmenistan's Megalomaniacal Nutjob For Life Niyazov. Every time a leader says "our people have democracy", there should be a follow up question. "Really? How then, would they get rid of you, if they ever wanted to do such a thing." And Putin should probably have an answer ready for that one, just to be on the safe side.
