Something trully chilling to free speech

[Fake Boris]

Sure we should wait for an investigation, the justice system in Russia is so transparent.

[Cort Haus]

While allegations of a shady assassination of a journalist in Russia will quickly stir western outrage and indignation, bombing journalists & make-up girls in the RTS studio in Belgrade is just fine, it seems.

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by Serb
Why people die or go to jail?
Because sh!t happens.
Your western approach - blame Putin whenever sh!t happens is silly.

Substitute Stalin for Putin and you get the apologists response to the SU in the 30's

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
While allegations of a shady assassination of a journalist in Russia will quickly stir western outrage and indignation, bombing journalists & make-up girls in the RTS studio in Belgrade is just fine, it seems.

Ah, Serb's brother-in-arms.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Serb
Putin is making Russia a true democracy.

Just like Chavez.

Putin is making Russia into what is called a plebiscitarian regime, where all authority stems from one elected man. Periodically, there are free elections, and the man can indeed lose his power to another newly elected head honcho.

However, in the meantime, the president has very few constraints (these constraints mostly come from the constitution and the prez' personal values - there are hardly any political checks and balances)

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
While allegations of a shady assassination of a journalist in Russia will quickly stir western outrage and indignation, bombing journalists & make-up girls in the RTS studio in Belgrade is just fine, it seems.

What an amazing non-sequitur.

How many people in this thread actually supported the bombing of RTS?

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Serb
Eltsin's Russia was an anarchy, not democracy.

True enough.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Spiffor

Regional presidents aren't elected anymore, they're nominated.

Regional presidents? You mean governors, right? Wow, what a crime of the bloody dictator Putin. Wait a minute:
1) In such advanced, western-oriented, freedom-loving demcoracies as Poland, Ukraine and Georgia governors were NEVER elected, but appointed by head of state or the government. And I'm pretty sure it's a more or less widespread practice all around the world. So, it's ok for Poland or Ukraine to appoint their governors instead of electing them, but if Russia do the same - it's a crime of the tyrant Putin. It's ok for Saakashvili to adobt a legislation changes that gives a victorious party (his party of course), a party wich gets A SIMPLE MAJORITY of votes during elections, ALL places in the local municipal parliaments (read - no more legal opposition to him and his party (like there are any remaining oppositionists exist Any critics of his "fantastic" rule are dead or thrown in jails already). The beckon of freedom in the East Europe, my arse.

2) Our governors are nominated by the party who won the most of the places at elections to local parliaments. This party offers its candidate to president of Russia and he approves it or deny it. IIRC, Germans do not elect their chancellor directly. They vote for political parties at parliament elections. Then the parliament elects a new chancellor and the president of Germany approves this candidate. It's pretty similar to the way how we elect our governors - not by direct vote, but by voting for politcal parties at the local parliament elections. Does it mean Germany is not a democracy?

I'd also say that the war in Chechnya is used in a fashion similar to the US' war on terror.

The war in Chechnya is over long time ago. The war in Iraq intensifies. So, how war in Chechnya could be used in a fashion similar to the US' war on terror? Not to mention that war in Iraq it's a blatant, unprovoked agression against an independent country, while the war in Chechnya was a defensive war vs. a bunch of terrorists.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Spiffor
How many people in this thread actually supported the bombing of RTS?

I wasn't talking about the people in this thread.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

While no big fan of Putin, I am mindful that Serb has a legit point. A connection other than potential motive for Putin has not been established in her murder.

At present we of the west are dabbling in speculation and character assasination (albeit Putin's character doesn't have much redeeming about it).

[RGBVideo]

Regional presidents aren't elected anymore, they're nominated.

central government appoints local governors

it's a federalization vs. centralization dilemma

it's interesting to note that you think de-federalization automatically equals "progress" -- or could it be you're only bringing this as an example because you think this is worth outrage, just because every media channel you follow treats it as an outrage?

Substitute Stalin for Putin and you get the apologists response to the SU in the 30's

The difference between you and me is that you automatically think it's Putin's fault when somebody in Russia gets killed, I don't.

The whole "omg a journalist was murdered putin did it with a conspiracy everyone knows it" thing -- Of course it's a horrible and disgusting thing which moves Russia towards despotism and regression if it's true. The thing is, this is nothing but a conspiracy theory without any evidence.

And I and Serb both think it's "BS".

[Elok]

Who else would have put out a hit on this woman's life? I honestly don't know the situation in Russia at all well, other than the general facts ("horribly corrupt"). How would the list of people with a motive go? I suppose in theory you could even argue that it might have been someone trying to make Putin look bad...

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

From her body of work I don't think there is any shortage of suspects that had motive.

[lord of the mark]

everything Putin does is defensible on the surface. Sure, the elected governors had issues with corruption, and plenty of democracies dont have elected governors. OTOH all the democracies that are comparable to Russia in size and extent DO have elected governors, and it just HAPPENED to conveniently reduce an alt political base for opposition to Putin. Removing indies from parliament wasnt necessarily bad, diff democracies have different electoral rules, and parties could still oppose, but it DID happen to conveniently eliminate another source of opposition. Khodorovsky apparently HAD broken the law, and was part of that whole nasty, corrupt 90s thing in Russia, when privatization was done wrong. OTOH so were a bunch of other billionaires, who were not prosecuted, but werent running opposition TV networks. And its not necessarily wrong to regulate NGO's but again, it shuts down one more source of opposition.

And several assasinations of journalists upto now - unsolved - but they all had enemies other than the state, and it could have been something else.

Now this.

Well, I wont say that Putin is a dictator - but this doesnt make him look like less of one.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


True enough. I think we can all agree that Putin is far far preferable to Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin, the Friedrich Ebert of Russia.