I’ve read so many columns about the Kremlin’s cunning plan and its carefully calculated, exquisitely precise moves connected with the “new Kirovles case”. The highest form of political aerobatics: using the opposition for its own purposes.
Like, bam — the liberal tower makes a move. Then — whoosh — the security hawks answer back. Then Kiriyenko goes — wham — and gets revenge on Volodin. Then Sechin — pew-pew — goes after Shuvalov in response. And all of them leak materials to us in such a way that we ourselves don’t even realize it.
Early elections here, non-early elections there.
And then I’m sitting through the second day (apparently both “day” and “rock bottom” at once) of the second Kirovles case, and when it finally gets to the prosecution — which had been stringing us along for ages about what the charges would be — they just stupidly read out the old 2013 text. Not something similar, but literally the exact same one.
The live text feed from the courtroom is here — take a look.
It’s actually pretty funny: last week Andrei Zayakin from Dissernet wrote to me: there’ll be a new indictment text, let’s check it for plagiarism against the old one. There are bound to be lots of matches, and we’ll prove that the charges were rewritten very closely from the original text.
Well, the check is complete: a 100% match. Including the periods, commas, and the word “spichkryazh.”
That, essentially, is the Kremlin’s entire cunning plan. It differs very little in cunning from the plan of Pyotr the Piglet.
Write this plan down — it will save you from having to read all those political pundits’ columns:
Putin’s lifelong hold on power.
The transfer of nearly all large and medium-sized business into personal ownership (or full control).
Keeping off the ballot anyone who might challenge that lifelong rule, or who is simply unafraid to campaign by calling things by their proper names.
Bribery and intimidation for the timid; fabricated criminal cases for those who are not afraid.
The destruction of any independent media and any independent business that challenges the inviolability of point 2 of This Cunning Plan.
The hereditary transfer of power and property to their children, when the natural time comes to wrap up point 1 of This Cunning Plan.
Today, listening to the new charges, I realized once again that this is exactly what the plan is — and I, personally, fundamentally disagree with it.