Measure Report: Russia

One of my field Correspondents, Measure, has filed the following report about the recent changes in the Russian Government:

Here's a quote from a really good article that goes over not just the governors, but other things putin has been up to as well... I think Russia is headed for either a revolution, or just to become another anti-freedom dictatorship. They've never tried true democracy there, anyway.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/12175456.htm

At the heart of this tale is "Project Putin," the president's crusade to remove all challenges to his authority. It includes the elimination of independent TV networks and elections for regional governors, as well as the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the destruction of his private company, Yukos. To get a sense of how obsessive Putin can be, consider his behavior in the run-up to his re-election in 2004. After he ensured that he faced no serious opposition, Putin's only fear was that turnout might be below the 50-percent threshold required to validate the results – which would trigger a new election, making Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who had served as Boris Yeltsin's finance minister, acting president in the interim. So Putin fired Kasyanov and gave the job to Mikhail Fradkov, who was unknown and unthreatening.