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The Accidental Autocrat
Atlantic Monthly / Ocnus.net ^ | Feb 2, 2005 | Paul Starobin

Posted on 02/20/2005 7:46:20 AM PST by A. Pole

Edited on 06/07/2005 12:14:23 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Like many Russians, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a late riser. Sometimes he doesn't roll out of bed until 11:00 a.m. Russia's president lives with his wife, Lyudmila, and two teenage daughters, Maria and Katerina, about twenty-five miles west of the center of Moscow, at Novo Ogarevo, a country estate dotted with white birch and pine trees that was built in the late nineteenth century for a son of Czar Alexander II. The neighborhood is now a haven for wealthy Russians, who have constructed opulent and often tasteless dachas. Trim and fit for his fifty-two years, Putin usually starts his mornings with a vigorous workout in the compound's small indoor pool. (The butterfly stroke is a favorite.) The grounds contain stables, a recently restored Orthodox church, a vegetable plot, and a helipad, and Putin sometimes spends the day working at Novo Ogarevo, receiving visitors there rather than at the Kremlin. In any case, he seldom leaves for the office much before noon.


(Excerpt) Read more at ocnus.net ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: geopolitics; putin; russia

1 posted on 02/20/2005 7:46:20 AM PST by A. Pole
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To: ninenot; sittnick; steve50; Hegemony Cricket; Willie Green; Wolfie; ex-snook; FITZ; arete; ...

Bump


2 posted on 02/20/2005 7:47:16 AM PST by A. Pole (Mandarin Meng-tzu: "The duty of the ruler is to ensure the prosperous livelihood of his subjects.")
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To: A. Pole

Bump for later read.


3 posted on 02/20/2005 8:02:49 AM PST by Sender (Team Infidel USA)
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To: A. Pole
a former Wall Street investment banker who manages Hermitage Capital, a Moscow-based investment fund, frames the matter this way: "We have two choices. We can have the rule of the mafia or an authoritarian president."

The "rule of the Mafia" was what took over during the clintttton/gorre/Yeltsin years - and there were many hushed reports of gorrre being in the thick of it - lots of money that was skimmed off the top and prevented the Russian economy/democracy from getting a foothold.

Some truly investigative reporting might uncover some very interesting goings on, were they brave enough.

Myself, at the risk of getting flamed, like this man, Putin - and when considering other Russian leaders, like the buffoon, Yeltsin, I think Russia is in much better hands.

In addition, he sees clearly, as does "W" the end goals of the Islamofacists is not just a skirmish here and there - but world dominance. He also knows the civilized governments must form a coalition to fight against this menace...Together we win, divided, we fall

4 posted on 02/20/2005 8:32:02 AM PST by maine-iac7 (."...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" LINCOLN)
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To: A. Pole

Interesting read.
Thank you for posting.


5 posted on 02/20/2005 8:38:34 AM PST by BARLF
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To: A. Pole

Bump for later.


6 posted on 02/20/2005 9:03:48 AM PST by Valin (DARE to be average!)
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To: A. Pole

bump along. Over time, demographics rule.


7 posted on 02/20/2005 9:53:20 AM PST by ex-snook (Exporting jobs and the money to buy America is lose-lose..)
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To: A. Pole

Good post.


8 posted on 02/20/2005 10:09:47 AM PST by marron
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To: A. Pole

I read but could not post - good.


9 posted on 02/20/2005 11:39:20 AM PST by Destro (Know your enemy! Help fight Islamic terrorism by visiting johnathangaltfilms.com and jihadwatch.org)
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To: Destro; A. Pole; MarMema; YoungCorps; OldCorps; FairOpinion; eluminate; FormerLib; Honorary Serb; ..

bump


10 posted on 02/20/2005 3:27:13 PM PST by jb6 (Truth = Christ)
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To: maine-iac7; jb6

"Myself, at the risk of getting flamed, like this man, Putin - and when considering other Russian leaders, like the buffoon, Yeltsin, I think Russia is in much better hands."

I agree wholeheartedly. It may be that "Holy Russia", if it truly rises again and this article's word on young people gives one cause for hope, will save Europe again. It would help if our neo-cons would study a little Orthodoxy and Russian history, but I doubt they will and unfortunately, without that knowledge, they'll never come close to understanding a real Russian like Putin.


11 posted on 02/20/2005 3:54:00 PM PST by Kolokotronis (Nuke the Cube!)
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To: A. Pole

read later


12 posted on 02/22/2005 9:29:35 PM PST by Veritas et equitas ad Votum (If the Constitution "lives and breathes", it dies.)
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