Is Putin An Up And Coming Dictator? Absolutely!

Ah, Mother Russia. What a beautiful and thriving democracy! Two stories; First:

[Paul Joyal] has also been a long-time critic of the the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The shooting came four days after he told "Dateline NBC" that he believes the Russian government was involved in the fatal poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.

Second:

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Police clubbed protesters and dragged them into waiting buses on Saturday in response to a defiant demonstration against the Kremlin in the heart of President Vladimir Putin's hometown.

Several thousand [...people...] marched down St. Petersburg's main avenue to protest what they said was Russia's roll back from democracy.

God, Putin scares me. As Krauthammer notes:

Nonetheless, Putin's aggressiveness does not signal a return to the Cold War. He is too clever to be burdened by the absurdity of socialist economics or Marxist politics. He is blissfully free of ideology, political philosophy and economic theory. There is no existential dispute with the United States.

He is a more modest man: a mere mafia don, seizing the economic resources and political power of a country for himself and his mostly KGB cronies. And promoting his vision of the Russian national interest — assertive and expansionist — by engaging in diplomacy that challenges the dominant power in order to boost his own.

Putin is well on his way to being a dictator. There is no doubt in my mind that he is just a common criminal who would have no problems returning to the days of the gulags.

A while back Micahel Ladeen wrote a great article, "The Kremlin Murders," that showed how Putin has basically passed laws making it legal for him to have his critics assassinated. And there have been many possible victims of Putin's insecurities, including:

• Alexander Litvinenko - The anti-Putin journalist who was recently poisoned with the rare radioactive material, polonium.
  
• Victor Yushchenko - Ukrainian Presidential candidate who campaigned against Russia, and paid for it by being mysteriously poisoned. He is now President of Ukraine, but has been permanently disfigured by the mystery poison.
  
• Paul Klebnikov - An anti-Putin journalist from Forbes who was mysteriously gunned down.
• Anna Politkovskaya - A friend of Litvinenko's, she did some damning reporting on Russia's activities in Chechnya, and paid for it with her life. She was gunned down in her apartment on Putin's birthday.

Those are the few that come to mind. Putin silences his enemies, there's no doubt about that.

I worry every time I hear a story about Russia in the news. It's never good, and they're almost always a sign of bad things to come. There's Putin threatening to pull out of the nuclear arms control treaty, Putin trash talking the US (the first step to becoming a dictator is to create external enemies), Russia's selling weapons to rouge regimes (like their selling of some 29 "Tor M-1 missiles" to Iran, missiles that could be used to kill Americans or our allies), or Putin's using his nation's oil exports as a "substitute for diplomatic policy" (in other words, blackmailing the EU by denying them oil).

So, the next time you're listing off the world's up-and-coming dictators, don't forget to save a spot on your list for Putin:

'Putin's Just A Mafioso Seeking To diminish Us'

An excellent article by Krauthammer on what a thug Putin is evolving into. Some of his rhetoric is even starting to sound like Ahmadinejad's.

I Hate Russia

Could Putin be anymore of a "bully," to use liberal terminology:

Russia threatened on Thursday to pull out of a landmark nuclear arms control treaty unless the US backed away from plans to install its missile defence shield in Eastern Europe.

I would say I didn't care, since Russia's not exactly a threat anymore, but Putin's been acting like such a thug lately, I'm a little worried about Russia's future...

And before you libs try to equate what we're doing with what they're threatening to do; there's a big difference between building a defensive missile shield and stock piling ballistic and cruise missiles with huge ranges of attack.

Putin: Creating External Enemies

I've been ignoring all of the trash talk I've been seeing by Putin about the US in the headlines today, but with the Reuters headline "Putin Says U.S. Wants to Dominate World," something occurred to me.

I don't care what Putin thinks about the US; he's a thug, why should I? However, it was Natan Sharansky, in his book The Case For Democracy, who argued that tyrants in fear societies need to create external enemies to preoccupy the minds of their subjects. Venezuela, the USSR, practically everyone in the Middle East, China, and Cuba have used us as that external enemy for years. Is it possible Putin is just moving one step further down that road to dictatorship where he's creating external enemies to distract Russians from his corrupt government?

Moscow Human Rights Watch

With Moscow cracking down on dissension and killing former spies what "human rights abuse" does the media decide needs to be exposed?

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said Monday he would never allow a gay parade to take place in Moscow despite pressure from the West, Russia’s RIA-Novosti news agency reports.

“Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as Satanic,” Luzhkov said at the 15th Christmas educational readings in the Kremlin Palace.

“We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future,” said Luzhkov who has been in office since 1992.

Sure they imprison wealthy political opponents for years without any real trial, but not allowing gay pride parades? Come on Moscow.

Weapons-Free Space

Hypocrite, sort of:

Russia's Putin, India call for 'weapons free' space

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a "weapons free outer space," after China staged a satellite-destroying weapons test.

"The fundamental position of the Russian Federation is that outer space should be absolutely weapons free," Putin told a joint news conference in New Delhi.

Well gee Putin, we respect your desire for a weapons-free space. How about you and the US work together to make that space Iran. Reflect on that.

Terror Free Gas - Socialist, Maybe

Coming out of Omaha:

Group Plans 'Terror Free' Gas Station in Omaha

The Terror-Free Oil Initiative is planning to open the nation's first "terror free" gas station in Omaha.

The Florida-based group claims U.S. dollars used to purchase gas made from Middle East oil funds terrorism. It urges Americans to only buy oil products that originate from countries that do not support terrorism.

The Terror-Free Oil station in west Omaha will sell gas from oil companies that do not do business in the Middle East. Signs calling for the use of non-Middle Eastern oil were up at the station today.

Spokesman Joe Kaufman says the station will open Feb. 1, with a grand opening scheduled for Feb. 12.

Other Terror-Free Oil stations are planned.

Not a terrible idea, but are they still selling Venezuelan oil? And Russian? And are any of the liquors or tobbaco products inside French? Someone look into that.

***Update - 5:43 pm ***

Jawa did some digging, i.e. clicked two links on their site, and found that Citgo is on their banned list. Good

***Update - Jan. 25, 3:03 pm ***

We seem to be getting quite a few hits to this post, so I'm adding a video of the CNN report on the terror-free gas staion:

I Miss The Cold War...

Well, Russia has gone ahead and filled Iran's missile order, selling them some 29 "Tor M-1 missiles." This story makes me miss the Cold War, when we had an excuse to wipe Russia off the face of the earth. I certainly hope if we ever go to war with Iran and these weapons are used against American troops that Russia is held accountable for their irresponsible actions.

And one question in all this; where's the UN? Shouldn't they be doing something to stop the sale of missiles to an evil regime that has declared its desire to destroy Israel and the West? Speaking of Israel, let's hope they go through with their plans to nuke Iran's nuclear facilities, and while they're at it, nuke these new missile systems, too.

Litvinenko's Assasin Identified

A break in the Litvinenko case:

Police have identified the man they believe poisoned Alexander Litvinenko. The suspected killer was captured on cameras at Heathrow as he flew into Britain to carry out the murder.

Friends of the ex-spy say that the man was a hired killer, sent by the Kremlin, who vanished hours after administering a deadly dose of radioactive polonium-210 to Litvinenko.

He arrived in London on a forged EU passport and reportedly slipped the poison into a cup of tea he made for Litvinenko in a London hotel room. Litvinenko was reportedly able to give vital details of his suspected killer in a bedside interview with detectives just days before he died on November 23 at University College Hospital.

Police have decided not to publish pictures of this man, who was seen on CCTV cameras as he flew in from Hamburg on November 1, the day that Litvinenko fell ill.

He is described as being tall and powerfully built, in his early thirties with short, cropped black hair and distinctive Central Asian features.

He reportedly travelled on the same flight as Dimitri Kovtun, a Russian businessman who is being investigated for trafficking the radioactive material used in the poison plot.

Hopefully they get him. Rest of the story.

Putin Denys The EU Oil

More strong-arming from Putin; this time he's denying the EU oil in an apparent "substitute for diplomatic policy." The EU is wondering whether they can trust Putin to provide them with oil. I wouldn't trust Putin with anything...

Russia To Help UK In Poison Investigation

"Russia to Help U.K. in Poisoned Spy Case." Boy, that sounds almost as good as "Iran, Syria to Help With Mid-East Peace." Who says we can't all get along? Oh, that's right, common sense...

Slow Posting

Man, I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted. My apologies. I'll get back at it on Monday. Until then, here's a good one from Cox & Forkum:

The Kremlin Murders

Michael Ledeen has an excellent article on Putin's regime and the murder of Alexander Litvinenko via NRO: "The Kremlin Murders: James Jesus Angelton on Alexander Litvinenko."

He reveals the chilling fact that Putin has passed laws making it legal for him to have his critics assassinated and lists off likely victims of Putin hits.

Alexander Litvinenko Dies

Alexander Litvinenko, the journalist and former KGB spy who claimed he was poisoned for his vocal opposition to Putin, has died.

We reported on him earlier.

Litvinenko Illness Vexes Doctors

Say a prayer for Alexander Litvinenko, whose illness is vexing doctors. We reported on Litvinenko earlier and suspicions that he was poisoned by the Russian government.

Putin Allegedly Poisons Critic

Putin's at it again: "Leading Russian critic of Putin's regime is poisoned in London." Reports the Sunday Telegraph:

A close friend of Mr Litvinenko said last night: "Alexander has no doubt that he was poisoned at the instigation of the Russian government." He has been living at a secret address in London with his wife and son because he feared he might be targeted by political opponents.

Now there's a regime that worries me; Putin's. Selling weapons to Iraq, being weak on dangerous nations for greedy reasons, killing journalists...

Quick Links: All The News That's Fit To Print

I've got to do yard work and homework, so I'll just do quick links to the rest of my stories. Here's all the news that's fit to print:

The US is pushing for a Pacific free trade zone "from China to Chili." I'm particularly excited about this; a more prosperous world for everyone.

More good free trade news: Russia is a step closer to joining the WTO . Like I said before, more free trade = a better world.

And finally: This story is disturbing even if it isn't authentic: Iran TV has broadcast footage of a US Naval vessel in the Persian Gulf they claim was shot from an unmanned Iranian drone. Either this is true and they have better military technology then we thought, or it's a lie and our showing off of Naval power in the Persian Gulf has been a waste, since Iran has destroyed the effect with this propaganda.