Russian Circus: Putin Admits His Exploits Have Been Staged

We have spent years following the absurd series of photo ops featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin from shooting tigers to fishing bare chested in the wild to leading wild cranes in migration to Asia to riding leather-clad through Moscow. The ridiculous claim that Putin found the ancient vases on his very first stint as a scuba diver proved too much for even the most gullible Russians. After aides admitted it was staged following international ridicule, Putin has now shrugged off all of the students as staged events.

With the nonchalance that comes from years of authoritarian habit, Putin expressed surprise that the years of staged events were considered genuine despite concerted efforts by aides to claim precisely that.

Putin told reporters “Of course it was a set up.” However, he insisted it was done for the animals and the causes — not for himself or his overt efforts to create a cult of personality. While it is unlikely to change the worshipful treatment given to him by the Russian Orthodox church, the admission reaffirms Russian reformers that Putin has become truly pathological in his self-obsession and excesses. Indeed, even Putin admitted that “of course there are excesses.” However, those excesses, of course, were by his aides not himself.

At least this might spare us from having to watch Putin leaping around in the next Bolshoi production.

Source: NPR

19 thoughts on “Russian Circus: Putin Admits His Exploits Have Been Staged”

  1. Putin told reporters “Of course it was a set up.” However, he insisted it was done for the animals and the causes — not for himself or his overt efforts to create a cult of personality. While it is unlikely to change the worshipful treatment given to him by the Russian Orthodox church, the admission reaffirms Russian reformers that Putin has become truly pathological in his self-obsession and excesses. Indeed, even Putin admitted that “of course there are excesses.” However, those excesses, of course, were by his aides not himself.
    ==============
    Is there any DNA evidence? Where is the dress!

  2. Malisha,

    No words are sufficient. Why don’t you write that boo? Or have several already. Ishmael Jones did about the CIA. Robert Baer did about our clueless foreign policy in pre- and post-Saddam Iraq. Daniel Ellsberg did about the Pentagon.

    This thing you sketch, seems to remind in a way of the world in general.
    Or even specifically of here at JTs, at times at least.
    Is this called growing up and getting wise to the world. They are lazy, they are risk-averse, decisions are dangerous, make-work as long as it is noisy will do for work, get into the HQ and kiss-ass and kick down. Loaned words all, chiefly from Jones.

    Now yours again:

    “It’s just another twisted version of “Power concedes nothing.” We lie, we are allowed to lie, you better believe, don’t try to hold us to it, you fools; you’re nothing; why should we care if we lied to you?”

  3. Oh noes! Say it isn’t so, Vlad! My disillusionment with the world will be complete if someone dares to say that Santa and the Tooth Fairy aren’t real in addition to not being you.

    Dingus.

    Oh, I’m sorry.

    You authoritarian Presidential dingus.

    Protocol, protocol.

  4. “With the nonchalance that comes from years of authoritarian habit, Putin expressed surprise that the years of staged events were considered genuine despite concerted efforts by aides to claim precisely that.”

    You know, for years I have been trying to coin a phrase for the mental “whiplash” I get when some official scoffs at me for having believed some total bullsh*t that he or she previously sold me (or the agency sold me, or etc. etc. etc.). The way this generally goes is a dismissive and disdainful comment such as: “Come on, you’re a grown-up, what would make you think things go like THAT just because it says blah blah blah in the brochure?” When I would press, “but you told me blah blah blah” or “Official so-and-so assured me that blah blah,” I get the contemptuous chuckle and the sneer and the, “Oh please, drop the Pollyanna Act; you know how things work.” Yet if I had protested a few months earlier that things were not going as they were supposed to go, I would get the “Man, you are a PARANOID; you are impossible to work with; you are a conspiracy theorist; I’m done with you; get out of here.”

    Perhaps I should call it the “Putin Effect” or something. Do something non-credible, stand by it, shore it up, attack anybody who claims it is false; when you’re done with it and it won’t work any more, shrug it off and call anybody who went along with it “an idiot” for believing the drivel. Never own up.

    It’s just another twisted version of “Power concedes nothing.” We lie, we are allowed to lie, you better believe, don’t try to hold us to it, you fools; you’re nothing; why should we care if we lied to you?”

  5. idealist707 1, September 17, 2012 at 12:01 pm

    Putin can’t get over that he did not get to head the USSR and have his “person cult” created. So he does his best to console himself.

    Dredd,

    I have a solution. As we know, to cool things off requires also energy. And to cool is only a way of transferring heat from one place to another.

    So, let’s help Russia and the USA to use plutonium (or bomb material) to produce electric power to drive massive chill generators who move the heat produced by generating the chill to underground reservoirs. As long as we have a sufficiently large resevoir area and temp difference it should be adequate. The heating of the inner earth temp should be marginal considering what energy there is there now.

    Or shall we pray for an early start of the next ice age?
    ==============================================
    Well yeah, or perhaps moving Church Lady and all the neoCons up there into their own country, perhaps named “The Lord’s Land”.

    Hell may freeze over if we get them up near the circle far enough.

  6. Putin can’t get over that he did not get to head the USSR and have his “person cult” created. So he does his best to console himself.

    Dredd,

    I have a solution. As we know, to cool things off requires also energy. And to cool is only a way of transferring heat from one place to another.

    So, let’s help Russia and the USA to use plutonium (or bomb material) to produce electric power to drive massive chill generators who move the heat produced by generating the chill to underground reservoirs. As long as we have a sufficiently large resevoir area and temp difference it should be adequate. The heating of the inner earth temp should be marginal considering what energy there is there now.

    Or shall we pray for an early start of the next ice age?

  7. They should go back to being cold, it is melting the ice up there:

    One of the world’s leading ice experts has predicted the final collapse of Arctic sea ice in summer months within four years.

    In what he calls a “global disaster” now unfolding in northern latitudes as the sea area that freezes and melts each year shrinks to its lowest extent ever recorded, Prof Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University calls for “urgent” consideration of new ideas to reduce global temperatures.

    (Arctic expert predicts final collapse of sea ice within four years). Putin, stop all that warm and fuzzy stuff and get back to being a cold bloodied czar or the whole damn thing will melt on us bro.

  8. I’ll bet if President Putin actually took up a spot with the Bolshoi Ballet conventional wisdom dictates we can expect a very large amount of “padding” added to the front of his tights.

  9. Little Man Putin should take a page from Ozzie Osbourne and bite the head off a bat.

  10. “At least this might spare us from having to watch Putin leaping around in the next Bolshoi production.”

    Will he pose with a cutout of Nureyev in the men’s gay steam room?

    PS Have you seen his room of sculptures in his honor done
    by the same artist? Stupendous ego.

  11. The tiger is reputed to have died from the tranquilizer (OD) and several chicks were hurt- two or three died- in the last stunt. Only 20 Western Siberian white cranes still exist in the wild. Maybe he is getting some pressure for damaging/destroying such a precious group of creatures for his own aggrandizement and needed to put the blame elsewhere. This man is a megalomaniac.

    http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/05/3797925/putin-reportedly-to-fly-with-cranes.html

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