ON VLADIMIR PUTIN: THE DON ON THE ROSTOV

The President of Russia reminds me of the egotistical Don Fanucci in the movie the Godfather II. The character, played by actor Gastone Moschin, tells a young Vito Corleone he expects kickbacks. "Just enough to wet my beak,"  he proclaims.

Don Vladimir Putin-ucci looked under his hat sitting on the table in the Kremlin and saw the Ukraine had been taken away. He lost the kickbacks he received from the government of Victor Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian President. So, to be sure he got something to keep his beak wet, he took Crimea. He took it like a gangster might, by strong arm. 

Years ago I studied Russian and Soviet history at University. The role of corruption in the Soviet Union was explained to me this way by my Kiev-born Russian Professor, "I buy cigarettes so I can trade for a place in line to buy shoes, which I will trade for a place in line to buy bread, which I will trade for what I really need, a winter coat for my daughter." 

As an example of how petty and pervasive this corruption can be, a friend of mine was traveling to Poland through East Germany in the early 1980's to witness the ordination of his cousin. He was told to be sure to purchase and carry with him several cartons of Kent brand cigarettes. This brand was the preferred bribe for a passport stamp at the border, from West to East Germany, then East Germany to Poland, and back again.

He did it.  It worked. And, with the exception of a bit of delay in his return at the Polish-German border caused by a border guard who wanted more, my friend was able to return from his cousin's elevation to the priesthood for only two cartons of Kent cigarettes.

Putin reminds me of a mob boss.  He gets a taste of everything. When the rich do not want to play, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, he puts them in jail accused of not paying taxes or theft or any other reason the Russian Don decides. He evidently does not take enough from them to make the tycoons truly angry, only a "taste." But, the President understands his country's history and takes full advantage. Rather than take a pack of cigarettes, however, he takes only rubles.

Paraphrasing Everett Dirksen, the former Illinois Senator, Mr. Putin might be saying, "A few rubles here and a few rubles there and pretty soon you're talking a very comfortable retirement."

According to a recent New York Times article, Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways, said Mr. Putin is, "a very difficult person." Mr. Yakunin stated in the interview that Putin refuses to bend when he feels under pressure. In other words, Mr. Putin is "stubborn."

The Russian President says he annexed Crimea because he needed to protect native Russians from abuse by right-wing zealots?  I think, as Mr. Yakunin implies, he did so because the European Union enticed Ukraine to look West, thus putting pressure on the Don on the Rostov? He looked under his hat and saw his retirement plan diminishing.

As a side note it is interesting that two of the world's super powers, China and the United States, are out searching for a lost airplane and its passengers in a multi-nation humanitarian effort. The other supposed super power, Russia, is spending its resources on invading Ukraine.

While Crimea's well-known corruption was probably the reason Khrushchev gave it away to Ukraine in 1954, Putin sees that corruption as a guarantee his retirement plan has continued funding. His additional support for Iran and Syria shows the Russian, like any Mafia Don, is a cold-blooded killer as well.