Stephen Lendman

Saturday, October 7, was Putin’s 65th birthday. Numerous leaders and others sent good will messages.

Happy birthday Vladimir Vladimirovich. Wishing you many more. If you tire of running Russia, maybe you’d consider straightening things out in America - a peace president urgently needed here.

It was just another working day for Russia’s leader, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained saying:

“Usually Putin celebrates his birthday with relatives and dear ones. Sometimes with his colleagues. The list of telephone conversations for tomorrow is long. The president will be getting greetings.”

It’s unclear if Trump called - doubtful. Putin’s Saturday schedule included chairing a Russian Security Council meeting.

Earlier he said he’s too young to retire. He’s overwhelmingly popular. His approval rating exceeds 80% - compared to dismal Trump’s 32%.

Though Putin hasn’t said if he’ll run for reelection next year, he’ll easily win by a landslide if he seeks another term. Russians want no one else leading them.

Western darling Alexey Navalny is supported by the State Department and anti-democratic National Endowment for Democracy.

He’s a phony anti-corruption activist, a convicted embezzler, a self-serving opportunist, a convenient Western stooge, currently jailed for the third time this year.

He called his sentence “a gift to Putin for his birthday.” His popularity is in low-single digits. He’s more politically dead than alive.

From jail, he called for protests on Putin’s birthday. He was largely ignored. Small numbers turned out in Moscow and other Russian cities.

Disruptive protesters were arrested, reportedly around 260 in total throughout Russia. Navalny’s call for large anti-Putin demonstrations nationwide fizzled.

He’s barred from running for president next year because of his embezzlement conviction. It hardly matters. Putin’s popularity overwhelms him.

He’s a Western-sponsored antagonist against Russian democracy. His allies released a video criticizing next year’s presidential election, saying:

“We are asked to choose one out of one. It’s just revolving to watch this spectacle” - falsely alleging things will be rigged for Putin to remain president.

Democratic Russian elections mock America’s sham process. If Putin seeks reelection, he’ll easily win because he’s the overwhelmingly popular choice.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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