Kremlin to Confiscate Property of All Russians who Don’t Believe Putin, Other Russians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 25 – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the Kremlin no longer cares what the West thinks, but it is still concerned with what Russians believe. All those inside Russia who don’t accept as true what the Kremlin says will face the confiscation of all their property, other Russians say.

            That is just one of the anecdotes offered in the latest collection by Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/47601/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       No matter how many signatures Boris Nadezhdin collects to run for president, that won’t be enough to ensure he can run for president if one many in the Kremlin decides otherwise.

·       It turns out that Russia was raised from its knees only to be stood on its head so the rulers can shake down everyone else.

·       Duma members have decided that the term “speed bump” is provocative and offensive to the police and so are casting about for terms that the police can accept such as “a horizontally standing object underlying a negative increase in speed.”

·       Duma deputies say that the proposed law on confiscation is “crude and illegal” but they will pass it anyway.

·       Three Duma deputies voted against the law on confiscation. Now, the Duma speaker has said that they will be punished, first by the confiscation of their mandates and then by the application of the law to them.

·       Putin says he won’t take part in any debates with other presidential candidates. That would be “like arguing with a driver or a security guard as they do whatever they are told.”