by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Vladimir Putin easily won re-election for a six-year term to the Russian presidency last week, running basically unopposed and garnering nearly three-quarters of the vote. Putin's easy victory ensured that he will be the longest serving leader in Russian history with the exception of Old Joe Stalin. Putin's big win came amid various outcries of election-rigging, including outrage that his main opponent was barred from running due to a criminal charge that many claim was nothing but a political maneuver to keep him off of the ballot - as well as a charge of stuffing ballot boxes by Putin forces.
Famed American whistle-blower Edward Snowden posted a video on Twitter which he claims shows blatant stuffing of ballot boxes in the Russian election. U.S. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff also tweeted his outrage:
Former world chess champion (and Russian) Garry Kasparov, who now heads the Human Rights Foundation, blasted Putin on Twitter after the sham election:
It's doubtful that Trump would get too rattled by anything Kasparov has to say. Trump is more in tune with the other Russians - Putin and the oligarchs who control big loads of cash that they launder through Trump's businesses. And if all of that ready cash was not incentive enough to keep Trump's fawning attention, there are also those pesky and constant rumors that the Russian government has comprising information on Donald John that keeps him in line with Russian interests. Film at eleven.
There was criticism - lots of criticism - of Trump's congratulatory phone call to Putin, but one of the most pointed and succinct rebuttals to his action came from Arizona's crusty old senator, John McCain. McCain, who has been battling brain cancer for the past several months, was nevertheless able to collect his thoughts and channel his outrage in one devastating tweet:
Johnny Mac doesn't mince words. Donald Trump congratulated a dictator on winning a sham election. Trump disrespected the good people of Russia who would like to be free of Putin and his authoritarian government, and he also harpooned the notion of free and fair elections worldwide - the very essence of democracy.
Putin is a disgrace, and Trump is no better.
Citizen Journalist
Vladimir Putin easily won re-election for a six-year term to the Russian presidency last week, running basically unopposed and garnering nearly three-quarters of the vote. Putin's easy victory ensured that he will be the longest serving leader in Russian history with the exception of Old Joe Stalin. Putin's big win came amid various outcries of election-rigging, including outrage that his main opponent was barred from running due to a criminal charge that many claim was nothing but a political maneuver to keep him off of the ballot - as well as a charge of stuffing ballot boxes by Putin forces.
Famed American whistle-blower Edward Snowden posted a video on Twitter which he claims shows blatant stuffing of ballot boxes in the Russian election. U.S. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff also tweeted his outrage:
"It’s easy to get 73% of the vote when you bar your "opponents" from running. After extolling life tenure for China’s Xi, will our President now congratulate Putin on his successful elimination of democratic opposition?"To the surprise of very few, the answer to Schiff's question was a resounding "yes." Trump made a gushy phone call to Putin the day after the election, congratulating the Russian dictator on his big win. During his telephone conversation with Putin, Trump neglected to say anything about Russian meddling in U.S. elections or Russia's reputed poisoning of two former Russian citizens in Great Britain. What was important, at least to Donald Trump, was kissing up to his Russian idol without dragging in all of that bothersome negative stuff.
Former world chess champion (and Russian) Garry Kasparov, who now heads the Human Rights Foundation, blasted Putin on Twitter after the sham election:
"Every free world leader who congratulates Putin on his "election" is complicit in his global war on democracy. They undermine their own status as freely elected leaders."
It's doubtful that Trump would get too rattled by anything Kasparov has to say. Trump is more in tune with the other Russians - Putin and the oligarchs who control big loads of cash that they launder through Trump's businesses. And if all of that ready cash was not incentive enough to keep Trump's fawning attention, there are also those pesky and constant rumors that the Russian government has comprising information on Donald John that keeps him in line with Russian interests. Film at eleven.
There was criticism - lots of criticism - of Trump's congratulatory phone call to Putin, but one of the most pointed and succinct rebuttals to his action came from Arizona's crusty old senator, John McCain. McCain, who has been battling brain cancer for the past several months, was nevertheless able to collect his thoughts and channel his outrage in one devastating tweet:
"An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election."
Johnny Mac doesn't mince words. Donald Trump congratulated a dictator on winning a sham election. Trump disrespected the good people of Russia who would like to be free of Putin and his authoritarian government, and he also harpooned the notion of free and fair elections worldwide - the very essence of democracy.
Putin is a disgrace, and Trump is no better.
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