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POPSDiplomatic Breakthru in Georgia: Red-Faced Russian Party Crashers Retreat continued.........but nobody thought it was going to turn into a big ugly scene." Russia's invasion prompted a quick stern response from GOP presidential candidate John McCain, while Democratic candidate Barack Obama urged Russia and Georgia to "work together to iron out their differences," and "chills, y'all." After learning that Georgia was a US ally, Obama clarified the remarks, demanding that Russia withdraw its troops north to Tennessee and West Virginia. "Everyone was just sort of staring at Russia, who's in the middle of beating the hell out of Georgia, and Russia's like, 'what? Come on man, you have to admit it's funny,'" said a source with UNSCOM. "So Russia's going around, looking for high fives and is like, 'don't leave me hangin', bro,' but the G8 gives him the total gas face, so he's like, 'whatever, dude, this party sucked anyway.'"
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POPSVladimir Putin Dictator for Life. The word "democracy" may be preserved as a nod to world opinion, but the weight falls entirely on the adjective, "sovereign," which in this case is clearly a euphemism for "we'll do things our own way, and don't butt in." As prime minister Putin controls Russia's government. His new job gives him sweeping powers over the Duma, Russia's lower house, where United Russia has 315 out of 450 seats, as well as over regional legislatures, also dominated by the party. Analysts say Putin's longterm strategy is to return as president in 2012, and by becoming party chairman, Putin has made himself virtually unsackable.
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POPSRussia Starting a New Cuban Missile Crisis? This is exactly the re-action expected, and precisely the point of comparison I made during the announcement of the US European missile shield earlier. Bush provoked this, the Cold War is back. The Joint Chiefs, being players on the global chessboard, surely MUST have predicted this counter-move by Russia, yet they did not prevent the administration's provocative action. Why? Do they want conflict? Clearly some party does.
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POPSDemocratic Party's Perverse Energy Policies And "Big Oil"
It would be possible for American oil companies to develop those reserves, play a far bigger role in international markets, and deliver gas at the pump to American consumers at a much lower price, while creating many thousands of jobs for Americans. This would be infinitely preferable to shipping endless billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela. The largest American oil company, Exxon Mobil, is only the 14th largest in the world, and is dwarfed by the really big oil companies--all owned by foreign governments or government-sponsored monopolies--that dominate the world's oil supply. Because the Democratic Party--aided, sadly, by a handful of Republicans--deliberately keeps gas prices high and our domestic oil companies small by putting most of our reserves off limits to development. China is now drilling in the Caribbean , but our own companies are barred by law from developing large oil fields off the coasts of Florida and California.
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POPSDictatorship Marches On "The BBC reported him (medvedev) saying that he is "going to pay special attention to the fundamental role of the law. We must achieve a true respect in law, overcome the legal nihilism." "If those words were sincere, President Medvedev would have to reverse the dictatorial policies put in place by President Putin, who used the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony to announce that he intends to shape Russia's future by "formulating goals not for one or two months, but for 20 and 30 years ahead." "The AP reported that Mr. Putin has been devoting his time to strengthening the prime minister's role while also assuming the chairmanship of the United Russia party, which monopolizes power throughout Russia. "Everything suggests that Russia will continue to be ruled by the iron hand of a dictatorship, the only difference being that Mr. Putin will not, nominally, have the top job. "
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POPSBarack Obama Displayed His Bizarre Views On Foreign And Domestic Policy First, Obama showed ignorance of what led to the crisis in Kosovo, where a U.S.-Russian confrontation is now playing out, and he seemed to advocate some kind of U.S. military response through NATO. If a President Obama carried through on such a threat, it would be a foreign policy mistake of monumental proportions. It could lead to a war with Russia in the current circumstances. Second, Obama didn't seem to understand that in the case of the disabled woman, Terri Schiavo, the issue was giving her the same kind of due process rights that are guaranteed to death row killers. We now know where Obama really stands, and it is not a pretty picture. Tim Russert had some good questions: One was when he asked Obama what he would do if Russia helped Serbia militarily take control of Kosovo, which is under United Nations and NATO occupation and recently declared its independence.
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POPSWho is Gorby Shilling For Now?
Gorbachev, former Soviet strongman (and believe me, I miss being able to use that phrase!) has launched his second career as a shill for Pizza Hut, Louis Vuitton, and Vladimir Putin, which may well be the holy trinity of the new rich in the "New Russia." Still, with his editorial on "what a responsible leader" Putin is, it seems like he's pushing real hard to jump the gun. After all, Putin has only said he's going to resign as president, he hasn't actually done it yet. In all my experience in dealing with former KGB guys ;) I've learned to believe something when I see it, and even then, only maybe. Anyway, this is a really funny election. There is nobody running. Most of the ones who openly expressed interest in being the next President of Russia are either dead or in prison! The rest know how to take a hint. So what happens if Putin doesn't become president, but nobody else does either? Will the leadership then fall on this new position for Putin: "Father of the Country"?
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POPS Elections Will Be Free And Fair The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the Guardian has learned. Analysts say the pressure is designed to ensure a resounding win for the United Russia party and for Putin, who heads its party list. The victory would give him a public mandate to maintain ultimate power in the country as "National Leader" despite being unable to stand for a third term as president in March. Anna, 31, a schoolteacher in Ulan Ude, said: "We were called to the staff room in my school about a month ago and asked to sign a formal declaration promising that we would vote for United Russia. I told them that I wanted to vote for another party, but they told me to sign it in such a manner that there was no way to refuse. They hinted I could lose my job."
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POPS "Voting Correctly For Kremlin" Coercion Some complaints came from hospital patients, who said they had been threatened with early discharge if they did not produce absentee ballots Hundreds of people have called an election hot line to complain about the use of absentee ballots, the Central Elections Commission said in a summary of the complaints posted on its Web site Non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties also have reported receiving many complaints. "It is unbelievable. The use of bureaucracy is on an unprecedented scale," said Marina Dashenkova of Golos, an election-monitoring group. "People are complaining that their bosses are forcing them to take absentee ballots and vote for whom they say." The use of absentee ballots in this way is new and kills two birds with one stone for the Kremlin: By getting absentee ballots, people are registered as voting even if the votes are never cast, boosting turnout; and when they vote under the supervision of bosses they are likely to vote "correctly."
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POPSChess Champ Kasparov Arrested At Anti-Kremlin Protest Police have cracked down on Other Russia marches this year, hitting protesters with batons and detaining hundreds, but they recently adopted a softer approach. On Saturday they kept their distance until a squad of riot police blocked the march. Plain clothes police roughly pushed and pulled people into vans and police armed with batons grabbed protest leaders. Kasparov, a leader of Other Russia, was charged with public order offences and police said they would hold him for five days "In a free country you can express your opinions but in Russia you can't," said Alexei Alexeyev, a 26-year-old protester. "The police are very aggressive and I fear them," he said, explaining that police had detained him for 12 hours at an opposition protest in March. "Censorship is all around us and our freedoms have decreased, she said. Putin's way will not mean a better future." (AP Photo/Artyom Korotayev) http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/sp/100206chess;_ylt=ApJPlXncSMwbWVuiQVz4.pGaK8MA&a
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POPSPopular Profile of Immigrants Bears No Relationship to Reality From the conservative Cato Institute comes this summary of sociologist Douglas Massey's 25-year-long survey of Mexican immigration in America. Massey works for the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton University, where the raw data is freely available for independent analysis. Additional conclusions from the project: "Mexicans are not desperate to settle north of the border." "We influence Mexican culture and society far more than they affect U.S. culture and society." "English is increasingly spoken in Mexico and is viewed as essential for social and economic advancement." "Undocumented migrants, in particular, are more likely to pay taxes than to use public services..." "Mexico has no resident Islamic community, no known terrorist cells, and has never been a launching pad for terrorist attacks on the United States." (Via David Weigel .)
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