That is how Prime Minister Vladimir Putin answered the question asked during Thursday’s televised call-in show, “Do you ever want to quit politics with all its problems and to live for yourself, for your family and relax?” This pithy quip not only answers the specific question posed, but it also answers the broader question of whether there will be any changes to the autocracy that he has built up over the past nine years. In one single phrase, Putin set the record straight for Russia and the world.
Many commentators have remarked that the call-in program — Putin’s eighth — was completely lacking in substance. Putin’s fans spoke of his psychotherapeutic talents in which he reassures his audience that everything in the country is under control. The authorities know everything and are taking care of everything so there is no need to worry. But the opposite is true. The four-hour progra
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