Surprise! Another Russian “Liberal” Sells Out To The Kremlin

eXiled Alert! / February 18, 2009

By Mark Ames

Masha Gaidar, the hot elitny daughter of Russia’s first and worst prime minister, Yegor Gaidar (who introduced “shock therapy” back in 1992, wiping out everyone’s savings), announced today that she agreed to take a government post as an advisor to Kirov governor Nikita Belykh. Just recently, Gaidar accused Belykh of “selling his soul to the devil” when he accepted the governorship of the Kirov region. Looks like every liberal soul has a price.

Gaidar has been a regular at the anti-Putin “Other Russia” marches going back a couple of years. Like Gaidar, Belykh is another Russian liberal who used to march against Putin and occasionally get arrested.

Limonov was right about Putin and Russia’s liberals: Putin’s regime is essentially a liberal regime (after all, liberals created the Putin regime); so when they protest, all they’re really protesting is their lack of power in the current structure, not the structure itself.

Mark Ames is the author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion from Reagan’s Workplaces to Clinton’s Columbine. You can reach him at ames@exiledonline.com.

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16 Comments

Add your own

1. Yuriy | February 18th, 2009 at 11:06 am
You could tell that was coming. Can you recall any single Russian or, pardon my language, Orange-Ukrainian liberals, who wouldn’t eventually sell out for way more than their corrupted predecessors?
It’s interesting how she seems good-looking in the first place but then when you start recognize piglet-like facial features of her father, you get an instant turn-off.
2. LatexSolarBeef | February 18th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
She looks kinda mannish in the pic. “Hot”? I’ll take your word for it for now, but that pic is kinda creepy.
3. pakk | February 18th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
This is why the Kremlin guys put so much effort in crushing Limonov & Co. His boys & girls are the only serious kids on the block. All the rest just shout loud – and sell cheap..
4. J-Lo | February 18th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Does she want us to smell her fingers?
5. matt | February 18th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
yeah, who knows where she has been putin’ them…
6. aleke | February 18th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
hahaha perfect propaganda poster girl
7. Duh! | February 18th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Gratz Ames, you nailed the Russian Liberals again. Maybe you can keep Limonov loyal, but the Other Russia is, and always has been, a very expensive joke. Poor Russians had that at the helm for eight years, while Americans whine that Bush was bad. And yet Berezovski whines about a “stolen election”, like he was actually going to win it, riiight. And Yuriy is right, Timoshenko is just more expensive then the rest of them. Matt – your “putin'” joke was just lame. She’s ugly, maybe Ames had too many shots of vodka prior to writing this article, and with his “compensation package” Putin can afford much better than Gaidar. Or maybe there was a reason that Ames crossed out hot in the article.
8. Harv | February 18th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I find it quite odd to see individuals expressing even the faintest interest in anything remotely related to Russian politics.
9. Magni | February 18th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
She’s nothing special. The phrase “pig in lipstick” springs to mind.
10. Feliks Dzherzhinsky | February 19th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Here much batter foto Masha –
http://www.iet.ru/files/images/articles/happy_prophet/masha_gaidar.jpg (Canon EOS MKIII 1DS from WaWa Digital in Brooklyn)
Examine foto. Masha is real tuchnaya khavron’ya with no chestnoidial bumps.
11. Dolgorukas | February 19th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Don’t want to split hairs but wouldn’t it be more accurate to describe Putin and his chums as neo-liberals?
12. Yuriy | February 19th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Dolgorukas, I think he has already called his political direction as “sovereign democracy”, which is semantically very close to what you’ve proposed.
Those are still just words, though. One can call McKay “post-neo-con” to differentiate him from the deeds of the past administration and make him look more progressive but does that change anything?
One should be careful when talking to a person that uses a lot of euphemisms. There is something really sleazy about it.
13. Duh! | February 19th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Why do Russians love Putin? Because Putin shares the wealth. There’s no doubt that Putin’s wealthy, but instead of pocketing everything he can get, (see Berezovksi,) Putin/Medvedev give some back to the people, ergo they’re loved. According to several surveys:
A. Under United Russia, most Russians live under much higher living standards than they’ve ever enjoyed before.
B. Under United Russia, most Russians pay the lowest taxes that they’ve ever paid before, (if one counts mafia bribes as taxes).
And ya wonder why the guy’s popular, geez. Not that difficult people, really not that difficult.
And that’s how it is with “Liberals” in Russia. They march and critique Putin, then he pays them, and viola, they’re happy. Of course when an idiot asks for a grotesque sum, Putin isn’t going to comply. Hence the Other Russia Movenment. Except Limonov and a few others, the Other Russia’s a joke. Just felt I needed to elaborate.
14. Mitchell | February 21st, 2009 at 12:54 am
http://m-gaidar.livejournal.com/131694.html
The announcement at her blog.
15. John | February 21st, 2009 at 1:47 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin#Personal_wealth
According to the official data submitted during the Russian legislative election, 2007, Putin’s wealth is limited to approximately 3.7 million rubles (approximately $150,000) in bank accounts, a private 77.4 square meter apartment in Saint Petersburg, 260 shares of Bank Saint Petersburg (with a December 2007 market price $5.36 per share [3]) and two 1960s Volga M21 cars that he inherited from his father and does not register for on-road use. Putin’s 2006 income totalled 2 million rubles (approximately $80,000).[273] According to official data Putin did not make it into the top 100 most wealthy Duma candidates of his own United Russia party.[274]
16. Feliks Dzherzhinsky | February 24th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Megaspacibo, John, for enlightening all on Vlad the Regaler’s wealth. Was большая шутка, si? Kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha, kha … oj, мои гонады повреждение, я смеюсь tak крепко!