After a months-long crisis of conviction, I unequivocally reject my support, rationalization and in a sense enablement of the reptilian thugs, reptiles and kleptocrats who stalk the parapets of the Kremlin.

http://www.sublimeoblivion.com/2009/04/01/farewell-readers/

From a translated Der Spiegel article today on Robert Amsterdamn’s site:

Khodorkovsky was selected to say a few words. Two high-level bureaucrats had encouraged him to be candid. Alexander Voloshin was then in charge of Kremlin administration, and Dmitry Medvedev, now president, was his proxy. The two of them pursued their own interests and used Khodorkovsky in one of the many opaque power plays within the Kremlin to weaken their opponent. They were concerned with Igor Setchin, one of Putin’s most trusted aides.

Khodorkovsky realized their hopes. He talked about dirty oil deals, denounced corrupt bureaucrats and although he did not name names, everyone knew who he was talking about. The TV recordings show how pale Khodorkovsky looked, his voice shook, sometimes he stumbled over his words as he said Russia was a corrupt country and intimated that the camarilla surrounding the president was also involved. It was a strange performance, as though Khodorkovsky guessed that things would not go well for him.

Khodorkovsky, who had build up the most modern oil company in Russia, could hardly harm Setchin. Today he is the proxy for the Prime Minister, named Vladimir Putin, and unofficially the number three man in the country. Khodorkovsky fell hard and Setchin was one of the beneficiaries; today he is also chairman of the board at Rosneft, one of the state’s oil giants, which took over a large part of the dismantled Khodorkovsky company Yukos.

http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/03/mikhail_khodorkovsky_the_consequences_of_being_candid.htm#more

Refusing to take responsibility for anything permeates Russian society at every level. It’s so childlike and maladaptive. I guess after 7 decades of mind numbing Communism, all of those millions lost from the gene pool by Stalin’s reign of terror and the fodder of young males needed to win WWII, the horrific abortion rates have taken a severe toll. The meek and the predatory seem to be the only groups left standing.