Russia votes in parliamentary election with firm Putin grip

[Little Tich]

Source: BBC

Voting has begun in earnest in Russia's parliamentary election, dominated by President Vladimir Putin's supporters.

Far Eastern regions were the first to vote in a country spanning 11 time zones.

The last parliamentary elections in 2011 were followed by mass protests as evidence of ballot box fraud emerged.

For the first time, Russia is holding elections in Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move condemned internationally.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37382850

[napi21]

1. Dictators tend to always get reelected. Has something to do with being arrested or

disappeared I think.

[moondust]

5. +1

Or just excluded from civic life, jobs, etc., for not conforming and enthusiastically supporting what the gang wants.

Fear factor may explain a lot of what goes on in quasi-democracies.

[forest444]

6. Sounds like Alabama or Mississippi.

Just ask Don Siegelman - or Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones, the very popular college president who was removed and basically blackballed by the (Ku Klux Klan-dominated) GOP power structure. And Jones is a Republican (or was).

His crime? He simply pointed out that MS needed Obamacare and that the Ole Miss Medical School in Jackson was in a state of near collapse on account of all the uninsured, impoverished people they take care of at Ole Miss expense.

The students, faculty, and much of the local community protested and organized a massive petition effort on Jones's behalf - but to no avail.

[moondust]

7. Yep.

My previous post originally mentioned "Oklahoma" but I chickened out and deleted it. But yeah, peer pressure/gang mentality/fear factor probably explains a lot about the deep red (authoritarian) states where kids start to learn the value of conformity--and the risks of dissent--at an early age.

[forest444]

8. It must indeed be hard to be a Democrat in Oklahoma.

My experience with Southern Republicans in general is that they feel entitled on account of having lost "the War of Northern Aggression."

[mattheww]

2. Disappointed with democracy.

That's me. I'm really disappointed in the way modern democracy works everywhere. Once I read that democracy is only possible in very small communities where people know each other personally. Generally it makes sense. These days we know candidates by the work of their image-makers mainly.
When it comes to voting and count of votes it's even worse, for there are many tools of fraud and lies. September parliamentary elections in Byelorussia have proved this visibly (http://homment.com/alexander-lukashenko-last-dictator-or-a-partner). There were lots of fraud and lots of lies. Could it have been different in a state under the rule of a man called "the last dictator of Europe"? I guess, it couldn't. Such a state can't fit the EU where elections should be transparent at least. And I can't get it why EU officials are in no rush to bring president of Byelorussia Mr. Lukashenko to senses over these elections and many other vital things.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Our resident Putin apologists are notable by their absence...

[GummyBearz]

4. What do they have to apologize for right now?

When he ends up receiving 99% of the vote they may come out