You know how those damn painkillers are. old new lefty starts ODing on his meds, and then the next thing you know, you get some asswipe posting on OS. That's how it often works.
I got into some of Tink's catnip, and I started blogging at 3:34 AM. Isn't that how everyone does it? Oh well, onl is just channeling his paranoid fantasies to save the $(+*&^ world one more time.
The first thing I did was to email Dmitri Medeved. You know, the President of Russia. Here's what I said to him:
Well, the Arab Spring has finally landed on the door of Russia, and there you are. There are only two choices for you. Either you resort to Stalinist repression, in which case the BBC, Al Jazeera and the whole damn world gets to see your dirty laundry.
Or you do the following:
1. Appoint a real electoral commission to investigate the widespread voter fraud taking place. There will have to be victims in this who are actually sent to prison.
2. Hold a clean presidential election in March. The Communist and Liberal Democrat candidates need to get more exposure, but they'll still lose. Putin will be in for another four years.
3. Do real electoral reform. After all, if Mexico can do it -- you can, too.
4. Do what Gorbachev says, and hold new, clean elections for the Duma.
5. Putin will have to be a man and suck it up. He'll have to finish his term with only minority control of the Duma. And that will be a good prank that you can play on him as the door hits your ass on the way out.
6. Don't worry. Be happy. In no way does this interfere with business as usual. Look at the USA.
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And speaking of which, after I got through emailing little Dmitri, I sent one to Obama. And this is what I said:
Fabulous speech at Osawatomie, Kansas! It's about time! But you know and I know that it's only empty campaign rhetoric. The jacksh*t Repugnicans won't do diddly for your policies in an election year. They're willing to let the 2012 economy destroy itself if they can get one of their finger puppets into the Oval Office.
* Aside: ( Isn't Newt Gingrich the most repulsive nominee ever put forward in my lifetime if he gets the ring? If Newtie's the one, you'd almost think that the GOP was taking a dive in the TV wrestling extravaganza that calls itself the 2012 election.)
But I digress. A very wise man once told me, "Ideas are a dime a dozen. What we need is implementation." And guess what? You're the Implementer- in-Chief.
It's time for you to sign the pledge here and now. There must be a contract between you -- the Nation's Leader-- and the people who will put you into office for a second term, and that is this:
If elected, you must promise to do everything in your power to make your Osawatomie speech a reality.
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Comments
My guess is he will give it plenty of effort, but if he sees his efforts thwarting other objectives that he sees as more important and more readily obtained, he will go with the other objectives.
Anyone who expects him to actually produce on the agenda laid out in Osawatomie is a dreamer…and will end up as disillusioned as some of the “liberals” railing against him here in OS right now. Unrealistic expectations are the anvil around the neck of most liberals.
Obama will do what he can do…he will not do what is impossible for him to do…and he will not waste time pretending to do the stuff that is impossible just to make the liberal base feel warm and fuzzy.
If he is re-elected (something I truly think will NOT happen), he will get as much, if not more, obstructionism from the Republicans. He will be free from the overwhelming political considerations of governing to be re-elected, but our national problems are way, way beyond the easy remedy state…and I seriously doubt significant progress in our economic catastrophe are in sight.
Rated!!!
Next, Russia doesn't need electoral reform as much as it needs decentralization. Local and regional leaders have to be chosen by vote, not by the Kremlin. That way, other parties can develop.
And, they have to allow the real opposition parties, like Parnas to run candidates. Parties which aren't afraid of upsetting the Kremlin and losing their perks.
Putin will win the presidential election because he hasn't allowed any real challenger to develop. On the other hand, I think the Duma election showed a huge trend towards any party except the Party of Crooks and Thieves, which, if continued in the presidential election might end up with someone else getting the majority of the vote (a separate issue from winning the election, since we already know who will win it).
You know the line..........:-) / R
Imagine calling on a politician to live up to his promises!!!
Hahahahahhahahha, whoooooooooooeeeeeeeeee! ROTFLMFFAO!
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As for Obama, will the real Barack Obama please stand up? And if what we've experienced over the last three years is the real Obama, will the real Teddy Roosevelt please stand up! If not, how about a Harry Truman impression by somebody?
never imagine you are citizens in a democracy, you are serfs in an aristocracy, and your betters owe you nothing but a bag of oats and a rub down after the battle.
Russia has never treated their regions as equals. We have equal states and one District of Columbia. In Russia, there are Oblasts (counties?), autonomous oblasts, Krais (areas), republics, and Autonomous republics, and some cities, like Moscow and St. Pete, are treated as single entities, not a part of the Moscow or Leningrad oblasts. Each of these different sorts of entities already has different rights and degrees of independence.
So, devolving power to the regions does not at all mean that power has to be devolved to Chechnya if it is devolved to Tatarstan, even if they are both republics. Regions do a lot better with a locally elected leader than an appointee of Moscow.
Given the lack of scruples in manipulating elections, allowing Dagestan some leeway in choosing a leader, while eliminating any insurgents would produce a far more acceptable result than imposing a candidate picked for his willingness to be be bought, body and soul, by the Kremlin.