Anyone who thinks Vlad's game of musical chairs at the top of Russia's hierarchy is anything other than a strengthening of his own personal rule deserves 20 years in a gulag! And, if the troglodyte people of Russia think that their well-being is at the heart of this upheaval, then they deserve the next 20 years of impoverished misery they will undoubtedly get. What's the Russian for 'suckers'?
Vlad is, was and forever will be, just another strutting little dictator. At the tactical level of ensuring that those who operate just below the chain of command are left relatively free to pursue their beloved dollars, he is a brilliant and utterly cynical Machiavelli. At the same time, the dreaded 'Peeps' are kept just above the starvation level but are sentenced to life in perpetual poverty. Any signs of unrest or dissatisfaction are smashed - instantly. Anyone brave and/or stupid enough to raise publically any complaints are dealt with very quickly, very efficiently because they are shot dead - end of!
In the meantime his ramshackle nation struts on, seemingly unaware that its boots are worn out, that its shirt is not tucked in because it cannot actually afford shirts and that the only reason its neighbours reluctantly doff their caps is because it is simply bigger than they are. How long, oh Lord, how long will it take the Russian 'Peeps' to sick up the patriotic gruel that Vlad feeds them - and spit it back in his smug, murderous face!
Believe it or not, David, a lot of people over here think Russia is a great example. However, there are even more who don't understand that a lot of people over here think Russia is a great example:
"A multigenerational saga of two families, who rose from immigrant roots to the pinnacle of wealth and power, that tracks the unraveling of American democracy."
https://www.amazon.com/American-Oligarchs-Kushners-Trumps-Marriage/dp/1324001879
Posted by: Bob | Friday, 17 January 2020 at 15:50
https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/06/clinton-reset-button-gift-to-russian-fm-gets-lost-in-translation/
Posted by: JK | Friday, 17 January 2020 at 17:24