Posted on 12/27/2011 5:44:27 PM PST by Libloather
Putin ejects Kremlin "puppet master" after protests
By Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters – 1 hr 39 mins ago
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The architect of Vladimir Putin's tightly controlled political system became one of its most senior victims on Tuesday when he was shunted out of the Kremlin in the wake of the biggest opposition protests of Putin's 12-year rule.
The sacrifice of Vladislav Surkov, branded the Kremlin's 'puppet master' by enemies and friends alike, is also a rare admission of failure for Russia's 'alpha dog' leader: Surkov's system was Putin's system.
With irony worthy of Surkov's cynical novels, the Kremlin's 47-year-old political mastermind was shown grinning on state television when told by President Dmitry Medvedev that he would oversee modernization as a deputy prime minister.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Get in mah belleh, babeh!
Putin is cutting loose the Kremlin ballast and reiventing himself as a liberal.
Before the White Rose Revolution, he would have had to do nothing; now he has to buy off the mob before it devours him.
Its kind of ironic, considering his good relations with St. Petersburg liberals prior to his becoming President in 1999.
He has always been a shrewd politician and one can see in Moscow which way the political winds are blowing.
The architect of Vladimir Putin's tightly controlled political system became one of its most senior victims on Tuesday...I won't even bother to draw an analogy between this and what Mubarak tried in his attempt to cling to power.
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