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Zhirinovsky Pays for Outburst
September 30, 2008 |
Oh, how the times have passed! It seems like only yesterday that the Russian Presidential elections were in full predictable swing. Dmitri Medvedev was set to be President of all Russia. Operation Successor was all coming together without a hitch.
This is not to say that there wasn’t any excitement in this rather dull political ritual. There was . . . thanks to Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He’s always ready to don his jester hat and provide the electorate with a taste of melodrama. One of Zhirik’s best performances was on that fateful day February 20, 2008. Do you remember dear reader? Zhirinovsky certainly will. Now he’s paying for it. Literally.
Yesterday, the Moscow Nikulinsky District Court ordered that Zhirinovsky pay Nikolai Gotsa 30,000 rubles ($1,200) for verbally and physically attacking him during a televised discussion on Zvezda. During the “discussion,” Gotsa accused the LDPR leader of playing a double political game and betraying his supporters. Zhirinovsky constantly criticized the Kremlin, Gotsa charged, but his LDPR always voted for its legislation. That’s when Zhirik lost his marble. “Either he shuts up or I will leave the studio because I cannot sit in the same room with imbeciles, this typical idiot, lunatic, just look into his eyes. In the State Duma, my dear moron of a Presidential candidate, we vote how we see it necessary. This is the LDPR and I am its leader. And you, you scoundrel, and I will never allow you to say who betrays what. This party is 20 years old and millions of people have voted for it. And not even one percent has voted for your party of morons and lunatics!” Even in the heat of madness, Zhirik had a point. What happened next, well the video above tells it all.
Representatives from Gotsa’s Democratic Party immediately called for Zhirik’s removal from the Presidential race but to no avail. Less than one percent doesn’t get you any political clout. So Gotsa sued. He didn’t get the 1 million rubles ($40,000) he asked for but he did get $1200 out of the clown.
Zhririnovsky’s lawyers told Interfax that they were satisfied with the ruling. Of course they were. That’s cump change for a guy who essentially owns a political party and runs it like a family business. Plus, I’m sure that for a showman like Zhirik, $1200 is totally worth entertaining his adoring public.
Isn’t it about time to give Zhirinovsky his own a show? I know I’d watch.
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I just saw that Gorby is starting his own opposition party along with Lebedev. What do people think of this?
I just saw that Gorby is starting his own opposition party along with Lebedev. What do people think of this?
I saw that too. I don’t make much of it since they will need to show that they have members to register it. So unless Lebedev pays people to sign up . . .
It doesn’t look good for the democratic opposition. SPS and Yabloko were supposed to merge and pool their resources, but now that might be a dead issue since there is talk that SPS is talking about cooperating with the Kremlin. I personally don’t see how making yet another party is going to help the democrats overall cause.
I saw that too. I don’t make much of it since they will need to show that they have members to register it.
Actually, the article I read didn’t make it sound like a political party, in that they cited winning seats in parliament was not their goal. Rather, they talked in terms of acting more like an NGO:
He said the party favored “less state capitalism,” the development of independent media, reform of the justice system and a stronger role for parliament, adding that it would take part in elections.
However, Mikhail Kuznetsov, the deputy chairman of Gorbachev’s present political organization, the Union of Social Democrats, said winning seats was not the objective.
“Mikhail Sergeyevich (Gorbachev) is not striving to take seats in parliament, he is going to establish an independent democratic party and its task will be to let young people find fulfillment in new politics,” Kuznetsov said.
That to me sounds more like a more liberal version of Nashi.
The new party idea’s a bit of an odd one, isn’t it?
I can’t see a party with close associations with Gorbachev getting that much support - even if people do come to a point where they’re ready for a change, they’re not going to hanker for a return to the Gorbachev era.
Most interesting to me was Lebedev\’s involvement. I seem to recall seeing an article the other day about how annoyed he was at Putin for invading Georgia - the subsequent economic beating the Russian stock market took meant his assets lost around half of their value.
A part of me wonders if this is partly a clumsy warning shot to remind the Kremlin that it has to take into account the needs of country’s richest men, rather than an honest attempt to stoke debate about democracy in Russia.
By the way, I loved this quote:
That’s when Zhirik lost his marble.
Are you implying that Zhirik doesn’t have very many marbles to lose? That’s fighting talk, Sean - you’d better watch out, or Zhirik’ll be out to beat you up too…