Posted on 09/07/2012 10:43:42 AM PDT by Daffynition
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) — Vladimir Putin flew on a motorized hang glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight, a characteristic stunt for Russia's action-man, animal-loving president that was tarnished by reports that endangered chicks had died while scientists were setting up the trip.
Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, Putin was taking part in a project to teach the endangered birds who were raised in captivity to follow the aircraft on their southern migration to Central Asia.
Putin has charmed many Russians while disgusting others with his feats, starting from 2000 when he flew into Chechnya in the back seat of a fighter jet. Over the years, he has ridden a horse bare-chested through the mountains, driven a Formula One race car and taken the controls of a firefighting plane to dump water on wildfires..
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
His critics enjoyed it too, but for different reasons. The flight was widely ridiculed in the Russian blogosphere, especially amid speculation that Putin would wear a beak along with the coverall to make the birds think he was their parent.
“The Kremlin press service doesn’t know what other signal to send to the citizens so that they would finally understand that the national leader has lost it,” a popular blogger who goes by the moniker Perzident Roissi — a takeoff on “President of Russia” — said in a Twitter post.
A later, more serious post said, “Putin has given cranes the freedom that he has been taking away from citizens of Russia all these years.”
And Masha Gessen, editor of a Russian travel magazine and author of an anti-Putin biography called “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin,” said she was fired Monday after refusing to send a reporter to cover Putin’s flight.
Say what you want about Putin—he’s a man.
Caption the Meanwhile back in Washington Pic. The bystander is musing, “Can he do it?”
Say what you want about Putin—he’s a man.
you mean a cartoon
Maria Goncharova, a biology student training at a nature reserve, wrote on her social networking page that two cranes died and one damaged its beak as a result of the flight. She later removed that entry, said the flight went well, and said she would have no further comment about it.And Masha Gessen, editor of a Russian travel magazine and author of an anti-Putin biography called "The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin," said she was fired Monday after refusing to send a reporter to cover Putin's flight.
Bread and circuses continues both here and abroad.
I stand corrected.
He does look every bit as silly as Dukakis in that tank.
The *bystander* is probably a SS employee holding the ladder.
I liked John F’n Kerry as a Tellatubby.
Putin is very good at maintaining his cult of personality, but he’s got nothing on Kim Jong Un. Now, there’s a man with power. Did you see him “looking at things” in a supermarket. It was awe-inspiring.
Your observations are spot on. *We* better get used to it...if we know what is good for us.
That ain't nuthin. Kim Jong Iil had 18 holes in one the first time he played golf.
So Monty Pythonish. Need to finish that with a giant mouth eating Puti and the cracker.
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