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Thread: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

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    Default Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    We better watch out.

    This is an excerpt from the Guardian
    www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4962096,00.html

    Russia's Putin: Soviet Collapse a Tragedy


    Monday April 25, 2005 8:31 PM

    By ALEX NICHOLSON

    Associated Press Writer

    MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin lamented the demise of the Soviet Union in some of his strongest language to date, saying in a nationally televised speech before parliament Monday that it was ``the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.''



    In his annual address to lawmakers, top government officials and political leaders, Putin also sought to reassure skittish investors about Russia's investment climate - just two days before a ruling in the tax evasion and fraud trial of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.



    His statements on the collapse of the Soviet Union and its effects on Russians, at home and abroad, come as the country is awash in nostalgia just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe - a conflict Russians call the ``Great Patriotic War.''



    Putin, who served as a colonel in the KGB, has resurrected some communist symbols during his presidency, bringing back the music of the old Soviet anthem and the Soviet-style red banner as the military's flag.

    In the 50-minute address at the Kremlin, Putin avoided mentioning the need to work more closely with other former Soviet republics - in contrast to previous addresses - and he made passing reference to the treatment of Russian-speaking minorities in former Soviet republics.



    "First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century," Putin said. "As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory. The epidemic of collapse has spilled over to Russia itself."



    Russia regularly complains about discrimination against Russian-speaking minorities, particularly in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.



    There was no immediate reaction to Putin's speech by officials in the three Baltic countries, which have often stormy relations with Moscow. Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said he disagreed with the statement.



    "If I was in the place of the authors of the statement, I would say that the biggest event of the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet Union, which completed the process of the emancipation of nations," Rotfeld said in Luxembourg.



    Putin's popularity has been dented in the past year by widespread street protests over painful social security reforms and his unsuccessful attempts to head off a popular uprising in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.



    Critics also have slammed the Russian leader for reacting to terrorist attacks last year by pushing through legislation ending the election of independent lawmakers and the popular elections of provincial governors.



    The Bush administration has been stepping up its criticism of Putin, albeit gingerly so as not to alienate a partner deemed vital in the global war on terrorism. President Bush said he raised the issue of Putin's commitment to democracy during meetings with the Russian leader in Slovakia in February. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern over democratic backsliding and the need for the rule of law during a high-profile visit to Russia last week.



    The 60th anniversary Victory Day celebrations, to be held May 9 in Moscow, will be a major celebration for Russia. Dozens of heads of state are expected to attend, including Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Workers are frantically painting and scrubbing the city; red, star-studded posters hailing war veterans are plastered around the capital and vintage Soviet war films are being shown almost nightly on television.



    Much of Putin's speech centered on assuaging the fears of investors who have been spooked by a series of contradictory and sometimes punitive legal and regulatory measures.



    He said tax inspectors do not have the right to "terrorize business," and repeated a call for the time for challenging the results of past privatization deals to be cut to three years from the current 10. Foreign companies need clear "rules of the game" on which sectors of the economy are open to investment, Putin said. Russians should be encouraged to bring their undeclared earnings home rather than squirrel them away abroad, he said.



    "That money must work in our country, in our economy, and not sit in offshore zones," Putin said.

    Investors and analysts are closely watching how a Moscow court will rule as early as Wednesday in the criminal case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky - once Russia's richest man and now its most famous inmate. Many see the criminal trial and a parallel tax assault that has dismantled his Yukos oil empire as a Kremlin-instituted policy.

    ... (I dropped a couple of paragraphs at the end, added some bold, and altered the quote chars and end of paragraph marks.)
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

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    God/dess Casual Observer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    Why do people expect the Russians to have a democracy a la American democracy?

    For Christ's sake, these people had only known rule by czars for over a thousand years, and yet we expect them to implement 21st century Western liberal social democratic goverance in less than 20 years time.

    Putin is as good a leader as Russia could ask for...
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    Good. I hope communism makes a comeback.

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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    ^ Let's not get crazy here.

    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    Quote Originally Posted by Nicolina
    Good. I hope communism makes a comeback.
    I agree. Someone needs to keep those gosh darn gulags and re-education camps going.

    Communism collapsed on itself under its weight. It bred a scientific and industrial mindset that was based almost entirely on fear of death. Successful risk and innovations were rewarded, but failed innovations and risks were truly punishable by death. This caused an entire society to produce a "just good enough to not get me killed" mentality.

    The Soviet Union had only itself to blame for it's collapse.

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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    The collapse was a geopolitical and economic catastrophe to the country because Russia lost most of its power, resources, had to completelty restructure the government, bureacracy, and military.

    Many comforts afforded in Soviet life went away. Some have come back, but poverty and ethnic conflict is rampant over there, whereas it was kept in touch in the past.

    The tragedy was to RUSSIA ITSELF, not to the world. Putin is just spinning some nice statements that the older voters can feel good about. Its just politics as usual. I wouldn't put too much stock in that one statement. His decisions for the country is what you all should be looking at now.

    BTW, the state governer elections were extremely corrupt, unlike the ones in the US ()

    They needed restructing, as only the wealthy and crime bosses were taking advantage of those elections. Again, that would NEVER happen here

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    Default Re: Will the REAL Putin please stand up?

    This is STILL an issue in the press.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

    NOTE: anything I post here, outside of a direct quote, is my opinion only, which I am entitled to. Take it for what you estimate it is worth.

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