This is what the State Duma of the Russian Federation looked like today in all its patriotic glory. Of course, it’s very impressive to put on camouflage to demonstrate patriotic feelings. Really, why not wear it?
There is just one problem. I don’t know about you, but today’s Zhirinovsky parade reminded me first and foremost of his dear deputy son’s undeclared 440-square-meter apartment (about 41 square meters) ~~in the city of Simferopol~~ in the city of Dubai.
The apartment is worth millions of dollars, and there is no visible source of funds for its purchase. Can we assume that little Zhirik bought it without his daddy’s knowledge and without his money? Personally, I reject that idea.
A strange kind of patriotism. It seems to me that patriotism is a broader concept, one that includes not only a fashionable black beret, but also the absence of secret foreign real estate, as well as the absence of suspicions of illicit enrichment that financed the purchase of that secret property.
That’s not patriotism at all — it’s the exact opposite. The closer they get to passport control at Dubai airport, the deeper the little Zhiriks hide their camouflage sweaters, the more frantically they stuff their striped-ribbon berets into a duffel bag with their sweaty little hands.
They shove their passports through the window and smile ingratiatingly: "we own property here, we love the United Arab Emirates! down with the vatniks (a derogatory term for jingoistic Russian patriots)! long live Islam, and please note that our ribbons are only green!"
But this isn’t even really about the Zhirinovskys. The State Duma as a whole is behaving a hundred times worse. These scoundrels and thieves have simply adopted an official position of covering up their shadowy foreign real estate.
Look at what these crooks replied to an official inquiry from *The New Times* about checking the undeclared apartment (the Anti-Corruption Foundation cannot make such a request under the law, so we asked the magazine to do it — thanks to them for the help):
Can any comments arise after reading that, other than unprintable ones?
They were even shown a copy of little Zhirik’s passport, which is included in the apartment documents, and yet this brazen, hypocritical pack of thieves keeps singing the same tune about "anonymous appeals from domain name owners."
"Apply to us in the form established by law, and then we will consider it".
What are we supposed to do — get a confession from the Zhirinovskys, have it notarized, and submit it to the Duma for review? How else is our Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization and not the FSB (Russia’s security service) or the prosecutor’s office, supposed to apply in the prescribed manner?
Well, obviously, every other “patriot” there has a little house abroad, so these little rats protect each other however they can. And with this letter they are stating unambiguously: we are never going to consider anything at all.
All right then. We’re not going to abandon our work anyway. Let’s at least make sure more people know what kind of “patriots” are sitting in the Duma.
So today we quickly threw together a little “postcard for the internet”:
It’s separate from the blog in case of blocking.
Please help us spread it everywhere you can. It will be a very timely reminder of who is sitting in the State Duma right now and what sort of “patriotism” they represent.