As the Phalanx has pointed out on more than one occasion, the Russian state could hardly be confused for a true democratic republic. President Vladimir Putin is as authoritarian as the Pro-Democracy Boris Yeltsin was corrupt and incompetent. Under Putin, much of the Democratic freedoms Russians had grown to enjoy have been swept under the rug in the name of “national security” and so forth (sound familiar).

Putin and his tyrannical cronies have clamped down of freedom of the press, they have prosecuted and imprisoned those who dared to speak out against the authoritarian regime. They have deprived Russians of their ability to participate in democratic elections, making regional governors appointed, where as they had once been elected. If these examples weren’t proof enough, Putin’s latest authoritarian move leaves little to doubt.

Prosecutors in the city of Ivanovo are building a case against a local newspaper editor for having the audacity to mock the esteemed Emperor President Putin. Vladimir Rakhmanko, ridiculed Putin’s call for the state to provide incentives for Russian mothers to have more children. As a result of Rakhmanko’s flagrant display of press freedom, his online news site has been shut down and prosecutors are clamoring around like the Gestapo, gathering evidence in preparation for yet another kangaroo show trial. As the NKVD KGB Russian authorities noted, an investigation was launched because Rakhmanko’s article "contained phrases of an insulting nature aimed at the president." Now we know what Putin and George III have in common, neither can be insulted.

There can be no doubt that freedom is a thing of the past in Putin’s Russia, to deny this reality is to deny the presence of the sun and the stars, yet Putin and his fellow tyrants steadfastly reject such labels, most recently balking at Vice President Cheney’s characterization of the Stalinesque Kremlin curmudgeons.
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