Putin Democracy
Listening to and reading about Putin’s “Fuck me? No, fuck YOU” brazen commentary at the G8 summit (once to Bush (“We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq”), once in regards to Blair (“We’d be interested in hearing your experience [regarding corruption], including how it applies to Lord Levy”)), it got me thinking about the time Bush said “I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul” (Bush also said that he found Putin “a straightforward and trustworthy man”).[fn1]
Yes, Vladimir Putin. The former East German KGB head. The former FSB (successor to the KGB) chairman. The corrupt kleptocrat authoritarian Putin.
It was an idiotic, ridiculous statement to be made at the time, and more evidence of his ridiculous Hollywood-fueled personality-based “thinking.” But the more I think about it, more precisely, as soon as the phrase “corrupt kleptocrat authoritarian” popped into my head, the more I think that Bush was being completely honest when he found much to be praiseworthy in Putin’s soul.
Because, you see, Putin runs exactly the kind of “democracy” that would be Bush’s ideal.
Let’s put this into a chart! The people love charts!
| Putin | Bush | |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination of the free press |  |
 |
| Imprisonment of political opponents | |
|
| Brutal (non-Geneva) repression of rogue parts of your country | |
|
| Brutal (non-Geneva) repression of people in other countries | |
|
| Run the government for the benefit of your friends and cronies (AKA “kleptocracy“) | |
|
| Authoritarian powers, though gov’t still labeled a “democracy” | |
|
| Judge Dredd-style I AM the Law! | |
|
You can see Bush has a ways to go yet, but it’s good to have a role model you really look up to.
[fn1] I have to admit… I really like Putin’s repartee at those moments. Too bad our lapdog press never feels the need to call the other world leaders on their bullshit. Evil sociopaths can be quite charismatic sometimes
