Putin "wins" "election"

BenPanced

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Brightdreamer

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Wow. He "won" a race of essentially one horse and maybe a few kneecapped ponies. And there was possible cheating. Maybe coercion. How entirely unexpected. Once again, I find myself totally, completely, and shockingly shocked by this turn of events.

Not.

Sometimes I wonder if any progress is possible, anywhere, while that old bear-spider lurks in the center of his web of power, spreading venom and pulling strings to make the world dance...
 

Albedo

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There was a peculiarly naive time in the 90s and 00s where Western commenters all said confidently that democracy was in ascendancy. That it was an irresistible force. That trade liberalisation led inevitably to political liberalisation. Not just Russia. China, too, and everywhere else. Soon we were all gunna be singing from the same song sheet.

Seems dumb now, doesn't it.
 

Introversion

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I’ll be pretty happy if 10-20 years from now, the US still has a democacy of some form.
 

Introversion

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There’s always that unhappy possbility. Sigh. I has a sad now.
 

Keithy

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He might as well call himself Tsar and be done with it.
 

blacbird

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Wow. He "won" a race of essentially one horse and maybe a few kneecapped ponies. And there was possible cheating. Maybe coercion. How entirely unexpected.

Almost sadder, though, is the likelihood Putin would have won a truly open election anyway. He did, of course, take no chances. But he seems to be hella popular in Russia. He has made the cult of personality work really well.

caw
 

Lyv

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Of course.

Trump’s national security advisers warned him not to congratulate Putin. He did it anyway.


President Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers when he congratulated Russian President Vladi*mir Putin Tuesday on his reelection, including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” according to officials familiar with the call.

Trump also chose not to heed talking points from aides instructing him to condemn Putin about the recent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the United Kingdom with a powerful nerve agent, a case that both the British and U.S. governments have blamed on Moscow.


The president’s conversation with Putin, which Trump called a “very good call,” prompted fresh criticism of his muted tone toward one of the United States’s biggest geopolitical rivals amid the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russian officials.
 

MaeZe

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BenPanced

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Almost sadder, though, is the likelihood Putin would have won a truly open election anyway. He did, of course, take no chances. But he seems to be hella popular in Russia. He has made the cult of personality work really well.

caw

In thanks, he's going to go slo-mo horseback riding shirtless this weekend. Open to the public. Cameras are required.