Vladamir Putin -- The World's Most Interesting Man

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

In 2008, Russian President Vladamir Putin surprised many Russia observers by stepping aside after two consecutive terms in office instead of "requesting" a special set aside of Russia's Constitutional limitation on anyone holding the office for more than two CONSECUTIVE terms. It was less surprising that Putin protege Dmitri Medvedev succeeded him in office, and it was even less surprising when Putin won the office of Prime Minister, leading to the "tandem rule" of Russia's top offices.

President Medvedev's first term in office is up in 2012, and he has indicated that he will run for a second term. But complicating this are strong signals that Putin intends to stand for President again -- as is allowed by Russian law. Putin has cultivated quite an image for himself since he came into the public eye, and he has an extensive portfolio of photographs speaking to that image that he can use in an upcoming election in March of 2012:



Putin, test driving a Formula 1 race car:



Putin, and a Siberian tiger:



Putin, knowing Kung Fu:



Putin, on an archeological dive in Greece:



Putin, surfacing with ancient artifacts:



Putin, Bond Villain:



Putin, bending a frying pan with his bare hands:



Putin, shooting a crossbow....AT A WHALE



Putin, concert pianist:



Putin, piloting a submarine to 1400 feet below:



Putin, hugging a Bulgarian shepherd dog...possibly the nicest thing any Russian politician has done for anyone from Bulgaria:





The complete archive can be found at The Atlantic magazine.

Now, let me be clear: Americans are certainly not immune to being swayed by images of the macho man of action. Theodore Roosevelt made much of his subsequent career, including the Presidency, on The Battle of San Juan Hill. In more recent memory, Americans were treated to many photo ops of President Ronald Reagan chopping wood:



President George W. Bush clearing brush:



And the need for SOME manly credentials disasterously put Army veteran (but not combat veteran) Michael Dukakis into a tank for a photo op in his failed bid for President in 1988:



Looks like a Muppet, right?

On the other hand, the sheer vastness of Putin's photo stories and the presentation of him as practically an Ubermensch on par with anything either Nietzsche, Ayn Rand or Hitler could dream up is more than a little jarring to my own sensibilities, raises titters of laughter among American commentators --

-- and seems to work in Russia. The man has approval ratings most Western leaders would personally kill their own grandmothers to get.

Does the Putin phenomenon say something in general about politics around the globe...or something quite specific about Russia?

Comments

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

This is interesting, but please could you cut more, good Sir?

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Awww sheperd puppies! Gotta love them Russkies.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I think it says more about the place he used to work at. Bush, Reagan, Dukakis....none of them ever heard or aimed a shot fired in anger. Putin was an agent of the KGB, the guys who made mass murder the business of the Soviet state. Means him doing this is more believable than the others.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

It says that people are dumb in their vast majority, and pandering to the lowest denominator is a flawless path to election victory. Next question please?

[brockulfsen.livejournal.com]

I suspect it is directly proportional to vodka consumption.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Two brothers, John, and Bob, who lived in America and were members of the communist party, decided to emigrate to the USSR. Even though they didn't believe the American media's negative reports on the conditions in the USSR, they decided to exercise caution. First, only John would go to Russia to test the waters. If, contrary to the media reports, the living conditions would be found good, and the reports about persecutions by the KGB false, than John would write a letter to Bob using black ink whose color would signify that the letter is to be taken at face value. If, though, the situation in the USSR happened to be bad, and John would be afraid of writing the truth, he would use red ink thus indicating that whatever he says in the letter must not be believed.
In three months John sent his first report. It was in black ink and read, "Dear brother Bob! I'm so happy here! It's a beautiful country, I enjoy complete freedom, and high standard of living. All the capitalist press wrote was lies. Everything is readily available! There is only one small thing of which there's shortage, namely red ink."


/also:

awww, cute puppy!!

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Isn't he Vladimir? Misspelling his name could get you into big trouble, you know! You wanna have a knock at your door late at night, eh??

USA! USA! USA!

[oportet.livejournal.com]

Our leaders can fake it to a point - but they're going to get caught trying to bowl, or trying to throw out a first pitch, and then - well none of us know exactly what follows, because our palms are covering our eyes.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Guy's apparently having a lotta fun.

[meindampf.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a pure Slavic thing. Much of his PR aims not at us, russkies, but at you. Whenever he "saves" tigers, whales, white bears, fur-seals … or sings in English applauded by western stars in order to fight cancer for the sake children - he is doing it for you. His interests are far beyond simply Russian. He knows your weaknesses quite well too, which is what you've just proved calling him "the most interesting man". Don't say then you were not informed.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

I have to confess, if I were a powerful man, I would have photo-ops of me flicking people off and taking the day off Because I Can. I'd come out of the White House with my Presidential bathrobe and a mug of coffee and a cigarette hangin' out my mouth and tell all the protestors and media types to get off my damn lawn and go get a job!

[adrunkencadence.livejournal.com]

I'm a Russkophile. I know enough to say it's a Russian thing. I don't know enough to say why exactly.

However, I can provide this true fact presentation:

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

All Putin needs is a wheel chair and a white Persian cat, amirite?

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Arabs would say that he has "Baraka" wich translates as an odd mix of Luck, Balls, and God's own grace. There is something in the depths of our deepes monkey brains that sees this an wants to emulate/follow it. A chieftan who doesn't have it isn't worth following.

Like all politicians, he's appealing to the lowest common denominator. Unlike most politicians he's actually got the skills to pull it off and look good doing so.

[il-mio-gufo.livejournal.com]

damn! concert pianist?

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

We take care to eliminate anyone with enough personality establish a cult of personality during the primaries. We simply don't want our President to be likable, it's bad policy.

Also, aw... puppies.

Putin and Bush

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Bush recounts a breakfast in Crawford, Texas where Putin advised him to come down on the press with a heavy hand. Here is an action photo from Bush's book: