Russia apparently obeys Chicago Rules. Why should being dead deprive one of the right to vote early and often? ;).
-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin
1 day ago
Monday, December 05, 2011
6 comments:
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Putin -- a new Rasputin -- can raise the dead, such are his magical powers.
ReplyDeleteWhen he rides shirtless into the woods, on his magical white steed, one can imagine all kinds of healings, things that would put someone like Pastor Long to shame ...
We may see some very high voting numbers as well in 012. The right will work very hard in getting their vote out in their own very special way.
ReplyDeleteThe latest I saw on the election numbers was that Putin's party got 49.54% of the popular vote, so there will have to be a runoff. Am I right? Some have interpreted this as "You can't even cheat well enough to win outright." I see it differently. Putin wants to preserve the illusion of democracy in Russia. So they cheat JUST enough to make it look like a close race. Then, in Round 2, Putin's mob cheats to a plausible margin of victory. Illusion maintained.
ReplyDeleteBukko, these were Parliamentary elections, not a Presidential election, so there's no runoff involved, it's a first-past-the-gate system (i.e., the candidate for a parliamentary seat who has the most votes wins). United Russia still has the most seats in the Duma but will now have to form a coalition with some other party if they want the sort of supermajority needed to ram Constitutional amendments through. Putin doesn't get re-annointed as President for another three months... and you can bet that his people are working overtime walking through graveyards to raise the voter turnout to over 150% to guarantee that he gets at least the 50%+1 votes needed to avoid a runoff :).
ReplyDelete- Badtux the "Chicago Rules!" Penguin
Thanks for the edification. That's what I get for commenting off-the-cuff without Oogling to research WTF I'm yapping about.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with having a blatantly corrupt democracy is that it leaves no options for the populace but to revolt.
ReplyDeleteNote that Putin is moving to support the Assad dictatorship in Syria. This is not an accident but a warning for home-front consumption.