Medvedev's Rhetoric

He's talking up liberalism and reform, but which emerging leader doesn't? It's nice that he's not merely repeating Putin's lines of defiance, but a great deal of skepticism is still in order.

“Medvedev in this speech and in previous speeches has been enunciating liberal themes, and that’s encouraging,” said Cliff Kupchan, a director at the Eurasia Group, a global risk consulting firm based in Washington and New York.

“But we have to remember that this entire campaign is being run by Putin, and Putinism — broadly meaning a large state role in the economy and an assertive foreign policy — is not going to change soon, because Putin is not going to leave the scene.”

Stupidest Blog Post Ever... Context.

So yesterday I wondered if TAPPED had posted the stupidest blog entry ever. Today, we get some context:

RUSSIAN KIDS LEARN PUTIN ROCKS. The Bush years have sucked, but at least American text books aren't edited by the current administration. According to the Washington Post, Russian history and social studies text books "reflect the themes dominating official political discourse here: that Putin restored Russian strength and built what the Kremlin calls a 'sovereign democracy' despite American efforts to isolate the country."

The books say the American empire may be nearing a "final collapse" and that the Ukrainian Orange Revolution snatched a fair victory out of the hands of Russian forces in the country. Stalin is lauded as "the most successful leader of the U.S.S.R."

Creepy.

So the reason why Stalin is more popular than Bush? Because Russians don't enjoy a free press, and are indoctrinated in schools.

Deep Thoughts

A collection of memorable quotes from V. Putin.