MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin declared yesterday he planned to reclaim the Russian presidency in March elections that could open the way for the former KGB spy to rule until 2024. The announcement, greeted by cheers at a congress of Prime Minister Putin's ruling United Russia party, ended months of speculation over whether he or President Dmitry Medvedev would run. The two have ruled in a power "tandem" since Putin was forced by the constitution to yield the presidency four years ago after serving a maximum two consecutive terms. "It is a great honour for me," Putin, 58, said to a long standing ovation from thousands of party members in a Moscow sports stadium after Medvedev proposed his mentor return as president. "Thank you, I hope for your support," Putin said.
T e x
posted
That's not necessarily scary. As F. Scott wrote (paraphrasing): "The rich are different from you and me."
Ya, well, the Russians are way different.
Of course, no one of any IQ wants to return to Bush as leader; there are also those who question any prez we've had all the way back to Nixon.
We can't *go back,* but maybe the Ruskies can--they have a very much different situation than we do.
CashCowMoo
posted
Of course their situation is different. Putin was KGB. Much more crude in my opinion when it was at its prime than the CIA. I will say we get to enjoy more dreamy pictures of him hunting big game shirtless on a horse. I also ready he instituted a flat tax of 13 percent...something we should try.
Then again there is this:
"While at university he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until the party was dissolved in December 1991."
So, being a member of the communist party and KGB doesnt seem to raise any eyebrows? How about the cozy Iranian relationship?
raybond
posted
Putin is a POS always has been. The Russians like him. As a horse man he sucks as far as no shirt ok that don't make him a hunter.
CashCowMoo
posted
quote:Originally posted by raybond: Putin is a POS always has been. The Russians like him. As a horse man he sucks as far as no shirt ok that don't make him a hunter.
Look at that swimming!
A true outdoorsman!
I told you he is so dreamy!
glassman
posted
he needs a training bra
raybond
posted
After a secound look at the moron he has just enough head feathers left to dangel from a lodge pole.
Pagan
posted
quote:Originally posted by glassman: he needs a training bra
That statement is another one of those "badass behind the glass" moments(pun intended). If you were locked in a room with that dude.....Lord help ya. Heck, CCM would be his current GF if that happened to him!
CashCowMoo
posted
No way Pagan, my two girlfriends Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony wouldnt let him come close to me. They are both rather jealous at times.
glassman
posted
i'm catching some man-love vibes here....
CashCowMoo
posted
You are catching man love vibes at your home?
glassman
posted
i hate to burst anybodies bubbles here, but Putin is maybe, 5'7" tall.... he goes to great lengths to hide this.... those pix of him are part of his Napoleonic complex. He'll be 60 soon too, i doubt he's a threat to anybody in his own right, but then i'm sure he can order anybody short of the US President dead if he wants.
US President Barack Obama, for example, is 6’1″ tall and George W Bush, who stands next to Putin in the picture, is 5’11″ tall. He does have the distinction of being taller than French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi (both reportedly 5’5″) and, perhaps most importantly, he’s a good couple of inches taller than Russia’s President, Dmitry Medvedev – the official Medvedev height has also never been revealed, but we believe it to be 5’4″.
Medvedev was hand-picked because he was shorter
and my wife and kids are all several inches taller
glassman
posted
quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: You are catching man love vibes at your home?
no, i am catchin 'em off this page
Pagan
posted
quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: No way Pagan, my two girlfriends Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony wouldnt let him come close to me. They are both rather jealous at times.
Thankfully you didn't mention Lorena Bobbit as one of your gf's!
NR
posted
quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: Of course their situation is different. Putin was KGB. Much more crude in my opinion when it was at its prime than the CIA. I will say we get to enjoy more dreamy pictures of him hunting big game shirtless on a horse. I also ready he instituted a flat tax of 13 percent...something we should try.
Then again there is this:
"While at university he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until the party was dissolved in December 1991."
So, being a member of the communist party and KGB doesnt seem to raise any eyebrows? How about the cozy Iranian relationship?
I got into a very extensive conversation with a Russian once about Putin's KGB-Communist past. The one point the Russian kept driving home was that "everyone" was communist in Russia before 1991. If you weren't, you were sent to the Gulag.
The one thing I couldn't get him to understand was that to claim you are Communist to save your life is one thing, to actively participate in an agency like the KGB is completely different. His response was that Putin was just patriotic.
Regardless, I agree, Putin is not to be trusted. I also believe that our new found trust in Russia is severely misguided, and that our visions of what the USSR would become after the "break-up" were pure fantasy.
It still amazes me to this day how much the "break-up" caught Western intelligence off guard, despite that fact that a small few in the intelligence community were warning both the CIA and FBI for years that the USSR was about to dissolve.
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