Putin Meeting Presents Challenges for Bush

[cthrumatrix]

Putin Meeting Presents Challenges for Bush

2 hours, 43 minutes ago Europe - AP


By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium - President Bush (news - web sites) faces a dilemma as he prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites). Does he confront Putin for cracking down on political dissent, or does he emphasize the Russian leader's help in fighting the war on terror?


snip


Ahead of their meeting Thursday in Slovakia, their first of Bush's second term, Bush has expressed pointed, but measured, criticism of Putin.


"We're friends, and that's important," Bush told Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency. "Vladimir makes a lot of decisions. And I make a lot of decisions. And I like to talk to him about, `Well, why did you do this? Or why did you do that?'"

snip

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&ncid=703&e=5&u=/ap/20050222/ap_on_re_eu/bush_putin


The above has to go down as the most "bizarre Bush quote". The most powerful man in the world has a 5th grade vocabulary.

[Enraged_Ape]

1. Belly-button lint presents a challenge for Bush

And this is news?

[ElectroPrincess]

7. So True!

Pooty Putin is FAR from a warm and trustworthy kind of leader (ruler?) - For example, the centralization of Putin's power is deeply troubling and suggests a thug like quality to his person. Yes, he's a frightening kind of leader because he's both highly intelligent and living in the real world of power brokering.

*'s Neo-Con handlers may not be "the dumbest people on the planet." In fact, many of these goon hold overs from the Iran-Contra days have keen wit and ambitions. However, they are also DELUDED and DRUNK with their present absolute power over the Executive Branch.

I fear for our country until we are blessed with a President who's both intelligent and has the temperament to behave in a believable if not genuinely empathetic manner ... Let's remember to remind the freepers = diplomacy and appeasement are not interchangeable terms.

Too funny: I bet Putin must take a mild tranquilizer before meeting with * in order to remain civil to him. Although there's no such thing as an Ex-KGB agent and Putin has great control over his emotional expressions, sometimes in pictures "Pooty" looks like he'd much rather be someplace else than with *. Anyplace else! LOL

[aneerkoinos]

13. Putin

"Pooty Putin is FAR from a warm and trustworthy kind of leader"

Actually, Putin is extremely trustworthy. You make a deal with Putin, that deal holds. That's because Putin understands that trust is political capital not to be wasted unless there's an extreme emergency.

And he's pretty honest too, in that warm and charming realpolitik kind of way, it is very refreshing to see political culture where things are still (allmost) called by their right name, not wrapped in yacky barrage about "freedom" and "democracy". Russian politics are not difficult to understand (unless your totally innocent believer in (neo)liberal (corporate) democracy), Russia looks for it's own interests, milks the best deal it can get, and does not pretend to do anything else.

Bush and US, on the contrary....

[ElectroPrincess]

14. Humm ... perhaps trustworthy if it served his interests.

I'm not attempting to argue with you. However, there's NOTHING IMHO trustworthy in the soul of an EX KGB officer. Perhaps he will prove to be a benign - warm hearted and somewhat fair as far as a Dictator of a nation can be. Perhaps.

I can't sign on to your beliefs, but I do respect your opinion. I can't counter them with hard facts, just my knowledge of his background and an impression extrapolated from that knowledge. :-)

[aneerkoinos]

15. Warm hearted? LOL

No, what I'm saying he's not a stupid fundamentalist ideologue like the liers of the US regime, but a realist that knows that trustworthiness is a tool that can be misused only once. I'm saying he plays the game according to age old rules of realpolitik, in a way that everybody else understands.

EU and World know how to get along with Putin's realpolitik and authoritarianism, it's just the way good old Russia is and has allways been, nobody is really afraid of Putin's Russia, and we don't have to like it but we can co-operate in mutual interest. So what if Putin cracks down against corporate power at home, protecting Russia's independence from western capital, who can really blame him for that?

EU and World are terrified by Bush' strange mixture of messianism and blatant imperialist greed wrapped in mixture of lies, propaganda and self-delusion. US cannot be co-operated with, but neither can it be ignored. Few people if any really understand Bush and US, I think the most fitting description about the attitude of most other leaders here is "constant amazement plus willfull ignorance and denial".

[ElectroPrincess]

16. Thanks for the clarification ... We agree :-)

I wanted you to clarify only because I didn't want the lurking freepers to coin the vast majority of us as commie lovin'.

"No, what I'm saying he's not a stupid fundamentalist ideologue ..." We're in 100% agreement.

Perhaps it was all my focused study on Active Duty during the 80s on "the threat." Putin appears, on the surface at least, straight forward in his authoritarian nature and world ambitions. Coupled with the fact that he's no body's fool and mentally level ... well DEFINITELY we should keep close tabs on this guy. :-)

[cthrumatrix]

2. Same story --- bush talks of "freedom of the press"...spare me

"We must always remind Russia that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law. The United States should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&nci...

[tom_paine]

4. That's just for Domnestic Consumption of Good Germans and PARTY Members

He knows the Free World and Free America buys that bullshit not at all.

In fact, Imperial Amerika is a BushPutinist state that stands for the same things Putin;s Russia stands for.

Power and control of the sheeplike masses, disinformation, Totalitarian Media Control exercise in new "Free-Market" ways, and ruthless aggression under the Orwellian Guise of "Freedom".

Putin and Bush are the same leader, the same kind of people. Except Putin got his own hands dirty in the KGB, and Bush never murdered anyone himself but had the servants do it for him.

[DELUSIONAL]

3. When the world leaders get together -- without the bushie present

want to take bets on how many of them have dumb ass-ed bushie quotes. Most of the world leaders can at least understand English -- and even if the translators clean up bushie's English -- they know he's a babbling idiot.

[colonel odis]

5. bush's biggest challenge is not giggling when he hears "putin." n/t

[TahitiNut]

10. He probably knows just enough Spanish to say "puta".

:eyes:

[ElectroPrincess]

17. LOL Watch your Español - "Puta" as in "Lady and the Puta"?

[TahitiNut]

21. (grin) I watched "Motorcycle Diaries" last night.

It's rather remarkable how many profanities are combinatorials of "puta" ... but the language does inherit/reflect a rather misogynistic cultural attitude.

(The movie was excellent, of course.)

[TheFarseer]

6. If I were Putin

I would team up with China and tell bush to STFU OR ELSE!

[bluedog]

9. If I wre Putin

I would meet * at a press conference and ask him to repeat what he said about Russia and then have * escorted out of the country..with all the cameras rolling....

[Say_What]

8. Bush is a HYPOCRITICAL POS who doesn't know what decade he's in...

From the article:

..."We must always remind Russia that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law. The United States should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia."

[neweurope]

11. Ah, one has to admire Bush's polished sentences!

"Vladimir makes a lot of decisions. And I make a lot of decisions. And I like to talk to him about, `Well, why did you do this? Or why did you do that?'"

It's incredible - especially compared to ANY other statesman (ah well, he isn't that, to be sure). If you wanted to write a satirical play about the mass murderer you wouldn't need any imagination whatsoever...

----------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Tempest]

12. Will Bush look into Pootie-Poot's soul again?

Since his first attempt turned out so badly?

[wolfgirl]

18. My head will explode...

Referring to Putin's recent steps to consolidate power, roll back democratic gains and curb press and political freedoms, Bush told European leaders Monday:

"We must always remind Russia that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law. The United States should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia."



:grr:

[aneerkoinos]

19. Translation:

Russia should privatize all it's energy resources and let western oil companies take over them, and let private corporations take care of the media propaganda in corporate interests instead of state owned media. Russia should stay IMF slave ruled by robber barons instead of the new nationalistic authoritarian Czar (who does not seem to be very corruptible for personal and/or nepotist gain).

[AlCzervik]

20. i'm sure it's all been rehearsed, Pooty will know what chimp will say

there will be some fake agreements and then Putin will later remind Bush that he's still top man.

[diamond14]

22. PHOTO: Putin: "Defender of the Fatherland" way outs bush* 'homeland' crap

bush* scam on 'homeland' security is a little fart compared to PUTIN: DEFENDER OF THE FATHERLAND.....




Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting marking Defender of the Fatherland Day celebrated Wednesday, in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005. Putin meets with U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday in Slovakia. (AP Photo/Sergei Ilnitsky, Pool)