On Sunday's All Things Considered, host Andrea Seabrook interviewed Masha Lippman, a columnist and political analyst. The last part of the interview has this very telling Q&A:
Andrea Seabrook: Does the way this conflict has unfolded reveal anything about the power relationship between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev?
Masha Lippman: Indeed. During this conflict, Prime Minister Putin, from the statements that he's made, he sounded like he was the higher authority compared to the President of the country. And even though, formally, he's acting on orders of the President, [Putin] certainly looked as if the decisions were his. He was the first to appear on the Russian television. He certainly has looked through this conflict so far as the person who's taking decisions.
Really now? Is anyone all that suprised that Medvedev is pretty much Putin's puppet? As John Oliver once quipped on The Bugle shortly after Medvedev's election: "Meet Russia's new president -- Vladimir Putin."
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