7 staggering takeaways from our interview with the author who wrote the book on Putin’s kleptocracy

TheBlaze Books ^ | 2015-01-06 | Benjamin Weingarten

[fredericbastiat1]

“This is the way I think Putin operates, and operated even in St. Petersburg. Putin is not formally speaking Mafia…he was never “made,” using this American phrase. What he did was to make illegal activity legal, which is a far more useful thing. So he…because he was…in charge of all the registrations of foreigners coming into Russia, into St. Petersburg, and all of the export licenses going abroad, you didn’t have to run the risk of illegally exporting if Putin would sign the documents for you. He could open the border going and coming for money for goods for raw materials for establishment of manufacturing facilities, for it all. And he’s done that now on a massive scale in Russia as a whole.

So his signature is what makes things legal. It’s not the law.

And so his friends get no-bid contracts for the Olympics. They can make $50-60 billion off of all these illicit contracts for roads that down get built, for buildings that don’t get built, for bridges to Crimea that are not emerging. So he’s able to give people the ability to operate without impunity, and that is his contribution.

The moment that you engage in any kind of anti-Kremlin activity, then suddenly everything you’ve done will be subject to true legal scrutiny, and you’ll be thrown in prison — you’ll have to run from the country.

So he leaves the law for his opponents. And for his friends, he gives them complete ability to make money with impunity.”

[humblegunner]

"Our" interview?

Please define.

This is YOUR Blaze-blog that you continually pimp here for hits.. "Our"?

Did your "staff" go and interview someone?

You ripped off the material somewhere, is that what you mean by "Our"?

You and whoever actually researched the material?

[proxy_user]

He has posted the same title as the source article, as required by FR rules.

[1rudeboy]

for later

[nascarnation]

crony communism...

a close relative to the crony capitalism practiced in the USA these days.

[OldNewYork]

Important article for everyone to read. Thanks for posting it.

[humblegunner]

He’s also the “author” an there is no “our” involved.

[Pearls Before Swine]

So he leaves the law for his opponents. And for his friends, he gives them complete ability to make money with impunity.”

Solyndra was like this. So are any of a number of Federal no-bid contracts or union sweetheart deals. Are the Russians so different than us?

[DariusBane]

Thx for posting

[rusty schucklefurd]

Just recently I viewed the film, “The Equalizer”, which on the one hand is pure fantasy on the Denzel Washington’s character, yet the whole “Russian mafia” thing I think is pretty true to life - and, the real head of the russian mob and all the horrendous stuff they do is Putin.

I think the writer of this article is close to the truth.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Frederick runs the Blaze? That’s a pretty huge website with lots of content. I don’t think this link is what you think it is.

[humblegunner]

Negative.
He is a blogger in the blog section of the Blaze.
Just like Wordpress or Blogger.

Basically less than nobody.

[1rudeboy]

I guess it’s ok, then. /s

[Lazamataz]

This is probably the best information a Russophile can have. You can also see the same trends with Obama’s rule.

[Lazamataz]

Basically less than nobody.

It is an impossible concept. One cannot be less than nobody; negative units of physical being do not exist.

Well, unless you are saying that he is composed entirely of antimatter. Perhaps that is the closest to a negative unit of physical matter than can exist. It does bring up, however, the possible problems of antimatter-rendering of a complex matter-based physical life forms.

Can we be assured that an antimatter life form would operate in the exact same manner as a matter-based life form? Would molecular covelant and ionic bonds act the same in both anti- and positive-matter? Could nerves, digestion, and other biological processes operate the same in both a negative- and positive-matter universe? Or would they be so drastically altered that the very foundations of life would be unrecognizable between the two forms?

I'm afraid your concept, that this person is 'less than nobody', is so fraught with uncertainty and physical impossibility, that I suggest you will need to adopt another term.

Yours,

[fredericbastiat1]

By “our” I mean mine.

I read the book, interviewed the author, produced the interview, cut it up, and wrote the article.

Judging by the comments, I think others found it useful and insightful.

I certainly appreciated and enjoyed the discussion, and value the positive comments from others here.

[Lazamataz]

I liked it. However, I do hope you didn’t excerpt. That’s a no-no here on Free Republic, as per blogs...

[Lazamataz]

You did! (newspaper on nose) BAD BLOGGER! BAD! NO!

[Lazamataz]

I wish I could see the rest of the article you wrote, but I cannot.

I don't reward blog-excerpters with web-hits. Many people here feel the same way. Would you be so kind as to repost the rest of the article in the comments, so I can read it in-full?

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

I checked the author’s “about” page. He’s the Editor of Blaze Books and an adviser to something or another. It’s not some random blog. If he says “our,” he must be referring to The Blaze.