Vladimir Putin Will Now Take Your Questions
In a sort of Russian-style town hall meeting, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fielded questions Thursday about his government's policies and practices in a lengthy televised session (running time: 4 hours and 29 minutes) that included the cheeky query, "How is your puppy, Buffy?"
In a sort of Russian-style town hall meeting, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fielded questions Thursday about his government’s policies and practices in a lengthy televised session (running time: 4 hours and 29 minutes) that included the cheeky query, “How is your puppy, Buffy?” How indeed. –KA
The New York Times:
His tone was set a few minutes into the televised program, which is an annual event. A caller said the police were not protecting members of ethnic minorities from attacks by ethnic Russian nationalists, so that many of his friends were afraid to leave their homes. Mr. Putin said extremism should be stopped — and warned against maligning the police.
“These bodies of power carry out the state’s most important function,” Mr. Putin said. “Otherwise, our liberal intelligentsia will have to shave off their goatees and put on helmets themselves and go out to the square to fight radicals themselves.”
[…] The televised session displayed Mr. Putin at his populist best, reeling off a seemingly endless series of economic indicators and answering questions for hours without so much as a glance at notes. Many questions were delivered in a spirit of open admiration — “What is the secret of your secret?” was one, and “How is your puppy, Buffy?” — and Mr. Putin was relaxed and fluent, enjoying himself before a doting crowd. Most questions focused on economic matters, like utility costs, and he promised that the economy would return to pre-crisis levels early in 2012.
Russia Today ran this report after Putin’s Q&A telethon:
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Editorial Cartoons
If only investors knew exactly what they were getting into—and what they aren’t going to get out of it.
Investigative reporter Steve Fishman explains how Bernie Madoff was able to pull off one of the largest financial crimes in U.S. history, and whether regulators have taken steps to ensure Americans won't get conned again.
For investors who lost money in Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme and are waiting for payback from a firm enlisted by the Department of Justice, the check's (still) in the mail.
The 32-year-old Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO and Wall Street player became a source of schadenfreude on a mass scale Thursday with the news that he had been arrested for securities fraud.
Author Gina Nahai's latest novel, "The Luminous Heart of Jonah S.," is a family epic that leaps from Tehran to Los Angeles and back again, blending murder mystery, history, myth and magic in a lively and lyrical read.
Author Gina Nahai knows a thing or two about the Iranian Jewish diaspora in America -- she's part of it.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.