Atrios notes that the Secretary of State has made certain recent utterances without any evident awareness of irony.MOSCOW -(Associated Press via Forbes)
The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.
"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.
"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.
Let's run that by one more time: "In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development."
SSJOAS = Sweet Suffering Jesus on a Stick
5 comments:
From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:
Rice and Gates appeared taken aback at the firm tone and forcefulness of Putin's remarks, which were made from notes in the presence of American and Russian news media before they began a closed-door meeting around an oval table in an ornate conference room at his country house outside the capital.
It's amusing, if not tragic, that Rice and Gates, both of whom claim expertise in Russian affairs, were surprised by what Putin said and by his "tone". Plus, he kept them waiting for 40 minutes.
Why were they surprised? Were they that unprepared for the meeting?
Thank you for adding the commentary I had not yet read. My thought: SSJOA, the Bush crowd has not been prepared for anything they've ever done. With the emotional maturity of juvenile males and the intellectual maturity of two-year-old, they have been ignorant of consequences and insistent on their entitlement. In other words, they pattern themselves on W.
It is remarkable that the alleged Soviet expert Rice cannot fathom (1) Russian politics or (2) the fact that this is no longer the Soviet Union. She does not seem to have a clue about the rest of the world either and knows more about Ferragamo shoes than she does about diplomacy. Pathetic, the lot of them.
No one could have known that they would be forced to wait for forty minutes.
No one could have predicted that Putin would use that tone.
Now go back to shopping.
LMAO, Padre! Well put.
Paul, I believe that you have received a visit from Ms Rice herself, using the strange pseudonym of a Spanish(?) priest.
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