EDITORIAL: Why now, Mr. Medvedev, why now?

EDITORIAL:  

Why now, Mr. Medvedev, why now?

Last week any intelligent Russian citizen had just one question in response to a pair of orders emanating from their so-called “president”:  Why now, Mr. Medvedev, why now?

First, in response to the crash of an airliner that killed an entire Russian professional ice hockey team, Medvedev ordered the airline shut down.  But intelligent Russians were asking:  Why didn’t you shut them down before the crash, Mr. Medvedev? Why did you wait so long?

Then, in response to growing civil unrest, Medvedev authorized the Russian Gestapo to utilize water cannons, tasers and tear gas on peaceful opposition protesters who fail to disperse upon the illegal order of the authorities.  Intelligent Russian citizens were asking:  Why now, Mr. Medvedev?

The answer to the second question is obvious, of course:  Medvedev is giving broad new powers to the “police” to use violence because of the upcoming presidential elections.

And the answer to the first is just as obvious:  Medvedev was waiting for permission.  Medvedev was scheduled, by accident, to give a speech in the same city where the crash occurred just after it happened, and he went forward with the speech just as if the crash had never happened.  That’s because nobody told Medvedev he could talk about the crash, so he couldn’t even if he wanted to.  And the content of his speech implied that Medvedev doesn’t really care about anything, least of all the fate of his countrymen.

So, unless his boss Vladimir Putin gives him permission, you won’t hear Medvedev talking about the horrifying class system in Russia’s airline industry.

It is fact no thinking person can dispute that Vladimir Putin would have been discharged as Prime Minister long ago if he were not named Putin.  In today’s issue, we highlight the clear proof of Putin’s personal corruption, and it was he who failed to reform Russia’s airline industry to make it safe enough for ordinary Russian people to fly on.  Instead, he chose to squander Russia’s precious resources on cold-war confrontation with the USA and on a brutal crackdown on democratic values. He chose to fiddle with the revival of the USSR while Russia burned.

Russia’s air safety record is many times worse than the world average, and responsibility for that lies directly at Putin’s feet.  Other Russian prime ministers have been instantly fired, by Putin himself, for far less egregious offenses.  Putin routinely castigates former prime minister Mikhail “2%” Kasyanov for personal corruption, yet Medvedev does nothing to discipline Putin for his own, far greater, graft.

Luckily for Putin, he has the job security of a sham president and no supervision of any kind.  If anyone were to fire anyone, it would be Putin firing Medvedev, and that’s likely just what will happen in a few months from now.