Monthly Archives: October 2006

Tags: Putin|Russia|politics|humor

Tags: Putin|Russia|politics|humor

Anna Politkovskaya’s murder continues to reverberate in the Russian and Western press. It is no surprise that her memory has become one of either martyr or demon, and where one stands in this sordid binary depends more often on one’s political perspective than an appreciation or thoughtful criticism of her work. The dead are the play things of the living, and for a figure so controversial like Politkovskaya it is no surprise that the vultures of memory are hovering in greater numbers.

I recently called Politkovskaya a political football. I now think that this metaphor is incorrect. A football suggests something that is kicked around, back and forth between participants. Given the hyperbole of her memory, I think the appropriate metaphor is Politkovskaya as political pi?ata. So many politicos and pundits are incessantly beating her memory with the hope her ..read more

No matter how many times he denies it, people keep asking Vladimir Putin if he will seek a third term. He was asked again during Wednesday’s “Hot Line with President of Russia Vladimir Putin”. A driver named Arkady Kokayev asked, “What will happen to us, to the country after 2008?” In addition to assurances that things will be fine after his term is over Putin said,

As for me personally, as I have said before, even though I like my work, the Constitution does not allow me to run for office three times in a row. But even once I no longer have my presidential powers, I think that without trying to shape the Constitution to fit my personal interests, I will be able to hold on to what is most important and most valuable for any politician, namely, your trust. And building on this ..read more

Matt Taibbi’s new article in Rolling Stone, “The Worst Congress Ever,” is only tangentially connected to Russia. Many of you will remember as the co-founder of the Moscow expat weekly, the Exile. I always felt that Taibbi was too smart for its sophomoric antics. But I think cutting his journalistic teeth on reporting on Russia in the late 1990s prepared him for when he turned his talents to American politics.

Nothing says this more than “The Worst Congress Ever.” Unlike many of his craft, he cuts through the bullshit and reveals Congressional Republicans for what they really are: incompetent, lazy, and corrupt assholes that have driven American democracy into the ground. It is difficult to even provide a sample from the article because there are just too many gems to choose from. I’ll just pick the few times he uses his experience ..read more

Aleksandr Potkin, 30, changed his name a few years ago. The name change had a double effect. It was at once an gesture to distance himself from his past and an act of rebirth for the future. You see, until 2002, Potkin was a member of a little known nationalist group in Moscow named Pamyat (Memory). Its roots date back to the 1970s but was founded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a time where Russian nationalism was emerging from the ideological blanket of Communism. Pamyat, however, collapsed in the late 1990s after several of its leaders were jailed for anti-Semitic activities. Not wasting much time on finding another group to devote his nationalist energies to, Potkin decided to establish his own.

Most now know Alexandr Potkin as Alexandr Belov. His new name, which means “white” is well suited. It is unknown ..read more