MOSCOW (Routers) - When activists gathered near the Kremlin in Moscow Saturday to protest President Vladimir Putin trampling on their democratic freedoms, the Russian authorities took the lead from the Bush Administration's handling of protestors at the Crawford Ranch.
They beat and arrested many of the protestors, telling them, "You vant American style democracy? Ve GIVE you American style democracy!"
They fell short of the Bush Administration's handling of protest marches, like arresting more than 220 Christians, including Rick Ufford-Chase, executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, as they knelt and prayed at the gate of the White House. Still, they did make a statement by detaining 170 of the "most aggressive" protesters.
When asked why so few were arrested, Putin said, "I don't vant my people hating me as badly as Bush's people hate him."
