"I looked the man in the eye and I was able to get a sense of his soul." George W. Bush, 2001, after meeting with Putin.
Well, Bush and his soul-mate will meet again this weekend in St. Petersburg for the G8 summit. Putin is hellbent on putting Russia's best foot forward. Guess you've got to impress your good friends. Chase a few people out of town, throw some more in jail, kill a few animals. Can't let their beautiful little minds see any of the harsh realities of life. Putin has to create bubble land for the world leaders.
I just hope that Bush & Putin don't discuss his tactics because we don't need Bush getting anymore ideas on how to walk all over us.
Putin cracks the whip for summit
(Filed: 12/07/2006)
Take a peek at democracy, Russian style....
If you belong to the right economic class, than you are safe, well maybe or maybe not. As long as you keep your mouth shut, you're fine. Putin doesn't like Mother Nature either. He will not let it rain at his little shindig.
The Russian authorities have been instructed to banish the poor - and the rain - from St Petersburg ahead of this weekend's G8 summit.
Should the horizon darken, the Russian air force will be on stand by to "seed the clouds", pumping ions into the air that supposedly will ensure the rain falls anywhere but on the Konstantinovsky Palace, where leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations will stay.
These aren't friendly little hints to get dissidents to leave town. They've been threatened with rape, torture and a host of other things. Can't have protesters lurking in the bushes. Putin must have heard about the loyalty oaths Bush has people sign to get in to to see him since he's using Bush's tactics. It's either sign or else with Putin.
Terrified that opposition activists could use the summit to air grievances, police and the Federal Security Service, the spy agency that replaced the KGB, have allegedly resorted to heavy-handed tactics to persuade potential demonstrators to leave the city.
Others also speak of intimidation, sudden visits from army officers carrying military call-up papers. Some say they have been beaten up by club-wielding gangs dressed in balaclavas. Over the weekend, two female activists with a Left-wing organisation were jailed for 10 days after they were caught handing out anti-government leaflets.
For you dog lovers out there, you might want to skip this next part. Guarantee it will make you sick. Looks like there are going to be many Russians who are going to be forced to stay indoors until Bush and his merry band leave town. Forcing people to stay indoors and setting a time limit to sell vodka, is going to make for some really pissed off people. Don't you think?
The sale of vodka has been banned on the streets after 11 pm to counter drunkenness and unsightly kiosks that proliferated around the city have been torn down. There are even rumours that knife-wielding officers have been dispatching St Petersburg's considerable population of stray dogs . A security clampdown means that many residents will not be able to leave their homes.
It's priority one to impress the other world leaders. Can't let them see poor people, drunks, stray dogs or angry protesters. In Putin's world, all that stuff makes him feel uncomfortable.
Mr Putin wants to ensure that the world's most powerful politicians never come face to face with the aspects of St Petersburg that most discomfit him.
So there we have it. One friend has to impress the other. What is it with world leaders who think things like beating up people, raping them, forcing them to sign statements or get locked up is acceptable behavior? You know what they say about people who like killing animals. With Bush it was frogs, guess Putin hates dogs. He may not be doing it himself, but he gives the orders.
Oh, it's not like this if for the benefit of any of the world leaders because they won't be visiting the city itself. They'll either be whisked from the airport in a flash or fly to the palace in a helicopter. But thousands of low level staff and reporters will be in the city, so Putin has ordered this massive clean up and crackdown campaign.
I know what you're going to say, Putin has always been iffy when it comes to understanding what true democracy means. And yes, he is former KGB. From what I understand, Putin is getting worse. Guess he's been watching Bush too much. IIRC, Putin's supposed to stepping down in 2008, but there is some doubt if he will. He refuses to answer that question. Maybe he and Bush will being discussing their futures over the weekend.
Funny how democracy has changed since Bush was selected as President and the WOT began. I don't recognize it anymore. I could be wrong, but doesn't it seem like the earth has tilted to the right?
I wonder how many thousands of armed guards Bush will take along on this trip? Seems like the number increases every time he travels out of the country. Since Russia has a problem with people blowing stuff up, Bush will probably double his body guards for this trip. Before he's out of office, he'll have what's left of the Military (at home) escorting him from here to there.