Putin for 100%: Funny Suggestion of One Blogger and Reactions of Russian Netizens

Tomorrow – March 4^th 2012 – there will be presidential elections in Russia. This is the main news in Russian media and in Runet (Russian internet). The result, however, is known in advance – the current Russia’s Prime-Minister Vladimir Putin will be the President again (after holding this post for two consecutive terms in the past, from 2000 to 2008).

Many people in Russia doubt that the elections will be fair and claim that the authorities will do everything to ensure Putin’s win in the first round no matter what the actual results will be.

Putin for 100%

Two days ago a popular Russian blogger mi3ch published a short post in which he wrote:

Comments of Russian netizens

1649a:  I also campaign for that. Let’s say we make 96% for Putya. Then they as usually will add another 50%. And here we got the desired outcome :-)

[Note: this is a reference to infamous incident in Rostov where the results of local elections (as aired on the national TV) showed the impossible participation of 146% of voters.]

146 percents of citizens in Rostov participated in elections?!?

riista_alue:  Whether silly or not, it’s funny indeed. And maybe the only sane possibility to repay them with the same coin.

klijin:  Well, anyway we need someone to congratulate us with New Year on the background of Kremlin.

[Note: traditionally each year on 31^st of December in the last minutes of the year, Russian Central TV airs the short speech of Russia’s President in which he summarizes the Old Year and makes promises for the New Year.]

an_vlad:  “Just in case, I’ll make it clear – this is a joke.” Beware of jokes at the expense of common sense (Nicolas Boileau)

dobraya_veda:  People say that Putin started appearing in their dreams, shameless guy :-)

laokoont:  No, we need 146%!

poun:  All 250 million Russians voted for Putin. :-))

[Note: Russia’s current population is only 143 million people]

nikogda:  Putin wins in elections with 90%. Everything explodes, leaders are changed, Churov is hanged, votes recounted… oops, indeed 90%!

nomen_nescio:  Punin liked to saying “Most importantly – don’t lose your despair” And you, in my opinion, begin to lose it.

diyavoI666:  Few days left before the elections and already there are some videos of “fraudulent elections”.

And there will be assholes who trust all this garbage, will repost and distribute: Hey! Look, authorities again falsify the results!
And nobody will even look at the production date of this shit and that the “documentary evidence of fraud” has been posted on YouTube a week before March 4.

roggedhorse (responding to the comment above):  Savvy guys from the ”Young Lawyers” came up with this piece. Their thinking was the following:

“Listen, Vasya, we need to do something about it. There is an idea to film a video with alleged falsification of election results. You know – al those tricks of ‘stuffing’, ‘carousel’ and so on, and as if all that is supposedly filmed on hidden camera by observers. We need to present it so that it’s clear that the video chronicles Putin’s elections. And post the clips on March 2 or March 3. Links to videos will go to the top blogs and all their friendly media. Let them trumpet the news. People will rush to watch the videos, discuss, argue. As a result, the credibility of the possible real clips that may appear after the 4th, will be completely undermined.
The team is ready. We are waiting for orders.”

agutin:  Your joke has 56% of truth in it.

[Note: referring to the latest polls showing that 56% of people would vote for Putin]

beata_k:  To make it funnier, we must agree to vote for someone else and see how he will get out.

vfshilov:  That’s not a joke, everything is agreed upon long time ago.

avderin:  Of course, it is necessary to raise all these questions. But isn’t it time to move from treating symptoms to treating the disease. I’ll try to explain:

Here is the university. The Rector is elected by Academic Council. But what about the electricians, cleaners, technicians – why are they excluded from the process? But I’m afraid that if they are allowed [to vote], then of one of the cleaners will become the rector, the one who promised to raise wages three times for everyone. Of course, she will not raise the wages – who will give her the money? But the university will be successfully ruined.
Managing the state – it’s hundred times more complicated than managing even the largest university. But the ones who do it are cleaners, electricians, professional snitches – completely random people. And then everyone wonders why we are still in shit. Well, with such leaders who choose cleaners, we can’t expect for anything better.
Losers always choose losers. And under universal suffrage they will be the majority. Even the fact that losers will suffer themselves afterwards won’t teach them a lesson. Because they are bad students – they are not accustomed to learn, understand, or think deeper. Next time they will just pick another loser and then proceed  cursing him even louder than his predecessor.
President should be elected by lawyers, economists, businessmen, sociologists… the most educated and active members of society, not a crowd of alcoholics and toothless old women who can be either bought for a bottle [of vodka] or believe any nonsense that they say on TV.

[Note: 1. The famous quote wrongfully accredited to Lenin “Any cook should be able to run the country” is often used in debates.

2. “Professional snitch” might be a reference to the fact that before entering politics Putin was a high-ranked KGB officer.

3. “Next time they will just pick another loser and then proceed  cursing him even louder than his predecessor.” Possibly author of the comment means Yeltsin who was very unpopular towards the end of his presidency. Yeltsin was succeeded by Putin.]

sumereck (responding to the comment above):  Not exactly.

The problem of electing qualified leaders can’t be solved in such way: doctor, businessman and writer, as narrow specialists are not more qualified as electors than the blue-collar workers or cleaners. Possibly the populist political struggle will continue within the “elite”, this time  simply ignoring the interests of lower classes.

finezza:  Gentlemen, you can vote even for you neighbor, anyway all the figures have been drawn long time ago.

And you can vote, you can watch, you can criticize, walk in circles, zigzags, play on the drums. [on March] 5th they will “released” the numbers that have been already drawn.

I know, it’s very difficult to believe that you’ve been fu*** cheated.
But this is so, gentlemen …. and ladies.

pomarki (responding to the comment above):  Why is it difficult? Just believe. But there is such principle: do what you must, and come what may.

klopss:  Approximately 65 percent of citizens have already agreed to vote for Putin. In order to troll the opposition.

cepdu:  You don’t have a chance against the dude with eraser and pencil :-(

den_demidov:  This year the First April fell on 4^th March ))))

withoutcrew:  At least we’ll see who was bought by Americans. If Putin gets 100% and Americans keep silent - then it’s their guy.

Otherwise, Americans should explode together with everyone else)

akadaus:  Politics is like faith. Either you believe that the whole system is corrupt or that the U.S. State Department wants to establish its dictatorship.