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President Vladimir Putin listed Gennady Zyuganov, the First Secretary of the KPRF, and Vladimir Zhironovsky, a firebrand nationalist, as Russia’s most influential politicians. When asked Thursday at his annual press conference marathon who he deemed Russia’s No. 2 politician, Putin first named KPRF head Zyuganov, raising giggles among the 1,300 reporters assembled. He then named populist LDPR leader Zhirinovsky, who first came to prominence in the 1990s, but whom pro-Westerners dismissed as a clownish presence on the political scene. Next, Putin named the leftist leader of A Just Russia, Sergei Mironov. Only then did Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, head of the ruling United Russia bloc receive a relatively cursory reference. Medvedev served as President from 2008 to 2012, during which time some thought that he had a liberalising, if ultimately minor, impact on public life. Putin has since rolled back some of his “reforms”. All the first three figures named by Putin are mainstays of the Russian political scene, but pro-Westerners in Moscow accuse them of working with the Kremlin. Putin didn’t mention any leaders of the mass protests that erupted in 2011-12, including Aleksei Navalny, a popular Kremlin-basher and runner-up in last September’s mayoral elections in Moscow. Putin refused to state whether he’s picked a successor, saying, “I say nothing because there’s nothing to say”.
18 December 2013
RIA-Novosti
Editor’s Note:
The reporters giggled because most of them are neoliberal sorts from Moscow. VVP knows better. He knows that in the REAL Russia… the Russia outside the two capitals… the zapadniki have no cred whatsoever. A spectre haunts the neoliberals in contemporary Russia… the only real organised political force in the country is the KPRF, especially, in the provinces. VVP knows this… he knows that the days of the oligarchs are numbered… the country is returning to its roots. Look at the 2013 Victory Day parade… and look at any Red October or Victory Day parade from the ‘80s. Russia has embraced Christianity and rejected the West’s godless capitalism. The Church has picked up the Red Banner (HH just gave the second-highest church decoration to Soviet icon Iosif Kobzon) and it EMBRACES socialism. After all, socialism is Christian, whereas American-style crapitalism is the vilest anti-Christian rot out there.
This development discombobulated the woollier elements in the ROCOR. They’re in communion with the MP… but they don’t want to give up their Far Right notions. Ergo, there’s all sort of wild stuff circulating from the First Families. Some actually pump up Maria Vladimirovna Romanova (the disgusting pretender who calls herself the “Grand Duchess of Russia”… what a maroon!)… she has about as much chance of attaining real power as I do! Therefore, most priests are hunkering down and repeating Potapov’s silly drivel. No one knows what they really believe, but they’re not crackbrained John Birchers, that’s for sure! Cut ‘em some slack… if they don’t parrot the Party Line, the First Family apparat would dump on them, and the First Families make Stalinists look like choirboys (in fact, the First Families are the last of that noxious breed… don’t let their “niceness” and smarmy pious exteriors fool you).
A new world is dawning… both in Russia and in the Russian Orthodox diaspora. There are those who don’t want it… oppose them. Don’t argue with them… oppose them. You can’t dialogue with those who’ve sold out to Mammon (and, thusly, to Satan). After all, Christ was a WORKER… NOT an oligarch… NOT an official… NOT a salesman… NOT a clergyman… reflect on that, if you will…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Lavrov Sez West Understands That Assad Is the Lesser Evil… the Islamists are Far Worse than He Is
Tags: Assad, Bashar al-Assad, diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Islamism, Islamist, Lavrov, MID, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), political commentary, politics, Russia, Russian, Russian diplomacy, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, Sergey Lavrov, Syria, Syrian Civil War, UN, United Nations, Western world
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On Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western politicians admit that allowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stay in power is a lesser evil than an Islamist régime is. Speaking to RIA-Novosti, Lavrov said, “Some of our Western colleagues started to voice the idea… not only in private conversations, but also publicly… that Assad’s rule is a lesser threat to Syria, taking into account the growing influence of jihadists and terrorists who capture vast territories, impose Sharia, exterminate minorities, and burn people alive only because their religion is different”. He said it’d be “incorrect” to say that the present civil war rendered Assad’s rule illegitimate, even though the UN estimated that it’s claimed more than 100,000 lives. Lavrov noted, “If he had no popular support, the war would’ve been over a long time ago, the rebels would’ve wiped out the current leadership, and no one knows what else would’ve happened there. According to estimates made by many experts, a significant number of people, up to 50 percent of Syrians, see Assad as the guarantor of their interests and their security”. Speaking about Assad’s future, Lavrov said that the Syrian President “has no plans to leave his country. He’ll stay with his people and do his duty. Indeed, he [Assad] said that he doesn’t rule out participating in next year’s planned presidential election. He’ll make his decision later, depending on whether he feels he has popular support”.
20 December 2013
RIA-Novosti
http://en.ria.ru/business/20131220/185775533/West-Understands-That-Assad-Is-Lesser-Evil–Lavrov.html