Putin On The Ritz

Russian President Vladimir Putin is TIME Magazine's 2007 Person of the Year.

Wow, I thought for sure they would screw this up and vote for Al Gore. I really did. Apparently, common sense (of a sort) won out.

No one is born with a stare like Vladimir Putin's. The Russian President's pale blue eyes are so cool, so devoid of emotion that the stare must have begun as an affect, the gesture of someone who understood that power might be achieved by the suppression of ordinary needs, like blinking. The affect is now seamless, which makes talking to the Russian President not just exhausting but often chilling. It's a gaze that says, I'm in charge.

That's just swell, Vlad. You know who else had a gaze that said "I'm in charge?" Joseph Stalin.

What gets Putin agitated—and he was frequently agitated during our talk—is his perception that Americans are out to interfere in Russia's affairs. He says he wants Russia and America to be partners but feels the U.S. treats Russia like the uninvited guest at a party. "We want to be a friend of America," he says. "Sometimes we get the impression that America does not need friends" but only "auxiliary subjects to command." Asked if he'd like to correct any American misconceptions about Russia, Putin leans forward and says, "I don't believe these are misconceptions. I think this is a purposeful attempt by some to create an image of Russia based on which one could influence our internal and foreign policies. This is the reason why everybody is made to believe...[Russians] are a little bit savage still or they just climbed down from the trees, you know, and probably need to have...the dirt washed out of their beards and hair." The veins on his forehead seem ready to pop. (H/T - TIME)

Do you know what gets America agitated, Vlad? When a Russian President is seen being chummy with Iran, Syria, and North Korea. That really gets our goat. Call us irrational, but we wince a little when a former superpower is talking "nuclear fuel" with a nation that wants to wipe us (and Israel) off the map.

But then again, maybe we're misconstruing Russia's good will and friendly nature. Ninety-odd years of Communism will do that.