...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...has given a Russian passport to U.S. action film star Steven Seagal, calling it a sign of a thaw in relations with the United States.
The 64-year old actor has been a regular visitor to Russia in recent years and has accompanied Putin to several martial arts events.
Seagal also has vocally defended the Russian leader's policies and criticized the U.S. government.
After awarding Seagal citizenship through a presidential decree earlier this month, Putin hosted the actor at the Kremlin on Friday and handed him the passport.
Putin told Seagal he hopes the ceremony, which was shown on Russian state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, is "also a sign of a gradual normalization of the relations between the countries."
| Pic at this Guardian link. Damn, Seagal has let himself go in retirement... |