Issue #11/66, June 3 - 17, 1999  

President Boris Yeltsin's recent firing of whoever the fuck the Prime Minister was and subsequent installment of whoever the fuck the Prime Minister now is signals a sea change in whatever the fuck his policy was to whatever the fuck it will be.

With this new government firmly in place, there is now every reason to expect that whatever form of aggressive leadership and wise governance our readers are lately hoping for will be quickly and easily achieved, so long as the new Prime Minister follows the obvious path left open to him in the wake of this recent unfolding of interesting events.

The road he travels, however, will not be without its hazards. If the new Premier pursues a course of action different from the one now expected of him, his government's policies will almost certainly bring about unexpected results. Furthermore, if he reverts back to his old form, the government he now heads will fail to achieve anything in the way of appreciable change.

Although the performance of his previous cabinet choices has given little cause for optimism, President Yeltsin and his new government should be given the benefit of the doubt and supported fully so long as they remain in office. The reason for this is that failure to support the government in its new inititatives may ultimately result in its inability to bring about those changes which it has not yet achieved, for want of a broad popular mandate. For if the population does not stand squarely behind it, the Prime Minister's program cannot succeed-- unless, that is, he can convincingly claim that he is only acting out the desires of the populace. For in these matters, it is the people who must ultimately decide. Will the new government have a real impact? Will real change finally take place? This is a question that ordinary Russians, no less than their leaders, have a say in answering.

Whatever the hell it is that we're talking about, we're confident that our point is being made. One need only continue this sentence all the way to the end in order to reach its ultimate completion.

Reform is not a box of chocolates. It has to be worked for. Opportunities are few and far between. Solid plans must be made. Secretaries must be laid. And in all this, the government must make sure all along the way to strike while the iron is a dead horse. After all, a walk's as good as a hit. In fact, according to recent statistics, something quantifies not just something, but something else. And that's nothing to sneeze at.

Still, whether or not the new government pursues policies that will be ultimately beneficial to the West is a question that remains to be answered. But whether or not this latest change in government turns out to be a good or a bad thing, one thing is still certain: time will tell.