FUSES WERE REPLACED WITH SECURITY

CIRCUMSTANCES

Power destroys mistakes, not cruelty. Cruelty is usually a component of mistakes - but not always. Stalin was cruel, but he did not make mistakes. Nicholas II was not cruel, but he always made mistakes. By mistakes, I don’t mean ...

Power destroys mistakes, not cruelty. Cruelty is usually a component of mistakes - but not always. Stalin was cruel, but he did not make mistakes. Nicholas II was not cruel, but he always made mistakes.

By mistakes I do not mean neglect of the interests of the people. A violation of technology power.

Over the past six months, violations have been pouring in like a bucket.

The first serious mistake was Kasyanov's resignation. Not that he aroused sympathy, but who and why fired Kasyanov? The decree on his resignation appeared on the morning of February 24 - that is, the decision was made on the 23rd. February 23 is a total booze. It seems that the decision was made by not quite sober people in a narrow circle.

In connection with what?

No one knows, but Rossiyskiye Vesti, a newspaper of the Office of the President's Affairs, boasted after some time: they say, "according to available information," Leonid Nezvlin, a shareholder of Yukos, threatened to kill Putin. He said that the Pope (that is, Putin) was uncontrollable, that business couldn’t get worse from him, that politically, for example, with the help of Khakamada, the Pope could not be removed. And how nice it would be if he "got somewhere". Then Kasyanov, who has no problems with Yukos, would become the new Pope.

By removing Kasyanov, the president wisely thwarted the plot.

A very strange note. It lends itself to three explanations. Explanation one: Nezvlin really was preparing an assassination attempt. It is clearly false, because not only if Nevzlin was preparing something like that, but if there was the slightest piece of paper, an undercover report of any degree of fakeness, at least something that you can cling to, then with that degree of hatred for Yukos, which our special services are on fire, there is no doubt: this piece of paper would have been submitted to Interpol long ago. Here, they say, whom you welcome, gentlemen bourgeois! Terrorists.

The second explanation: the Kremlin newspaper impudently slandered the president, assuring that he made the most important decision on a slander sucked out of his finger, a slander of such a degree of stupidity that it was impossible to believe him in a sober state: he had to wait for February 23. (The word "dad" is noteworthy here, it betrays it with the head. Someone, but Nevzlin will not call the president "dad"; "dad" Putin is for his entourage.) But here's the trouble: for such a brazen slander, the editor should have been fired. The editor has not been fired, and the strategic considerations for which Kasyanov left are not visible.

Explanation three: the newspaper told the truth, or almost the truth. And Putin's entourage boasted, could not stand it: you see how strong we are! We can explain anything to the president!

One way or another, the most important political trump card, which was the Kasyanov government, was handed over for a pinch of tobacco. And how would a lightning rod come in handy now, when after the law on benefits the president's rating went down for the first time! Fradkov is in no way a replacement for Kasyanov. It does not have its own weight. Fire don't fire - you can't turn a small hamster into a goat. And no one needs a scapegoat.

The second mistake was the law on the abolition of benefits. This is all the more amusing because the abolition of benefits is economically necessary and it would be easy to make it a super popular measure by announcing the abolition of all benefits: for both officials and pensioners.

But no: the happy newlywed German Gref, whose wedding, according to the assurances of his enemies, cost several million dollars, and according to Gref himself, was almost free, since what others pay for was provided to him in the form of benefits, and German Gref is already discussing how it is profitable to live without benefits.

The third mistake was Yukos. I have already written that for Putin's political purposes it would be enough to accept a proposal that would deprive Khodorkovsky of a controlling stake, but keep the company as a whole. Western investors would simply cry with happiness. Instead, Yukos is divided not in the way that is beneficial to the president, but in the way that his entourage wants.

At the same time, the environment is also extremely short-sighted. In fact, the security forces have done a gigantic job of destroying Khodorkovsky in the eyes of the president, of turning the president into an instrument for dividing the company, and of devouring Yukos. But why?

I understand the desire of the new elite to turn their power into property. In the end, the old business came into being in exactly the same way. Yukos was once bought for $340 million.

But the property around is unmeasured: it would be possible to privatize Gazprom, Rosneft, Alrosa, the defense industry, finally - who, after the end of the presidential term, would dare to throw a stone at the second generation of Russian capitalists? It is the inviolability of the Yeltsin oligarchs that would become a guarantee of the inviolability of Putin's oligarchs.

Around was a field overgrown with bananas: tear and eat. So no, I was drawn to those bananas that are already packed in boxes and attached to foreigners. For what? What, stolen is so much sweeter?

It is just as impossible to explain why Yukos was torn apart instead of privatizing Gazprom, as it is to explain why Nicholas II fired at a peaceful demonstration on January 9 instead of going out to the people.

The secret of current politics is that not only does the president make decisions that are not beneficial for him, but the environment that pushes these decisions is thinking exactly half a step ahead. Privileges? Let's cancel benefits. The thought of how this will be perceived against the backdrop of the incessant increase in bureaucratic benefits simply does not occur. Yukos? Let's take away Yukos. The idea that it is more reliable not to take away, but to privatize in a historical perspective, simply does not occur. Kasyanov? Let's fire Kasyanov. The idea that Kasyanov is a fuse, that after his dismissal the slightest power surge - and the light bulbs will burn out throughout the house, does not visit the light bulbs.