Putin Names A Patsy

Er, a successor:

President Vladimir Putin chose a little-known government official to become Russia's new prime minister Wednesday, a surprise move that set off fevered speculation over whether loyal technocrat Viktor Zubkov was being groomed to replace Putin next spring.

The move came a few hours after Putin dissolved the Cabinet of his long-serving prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, saying he needed to appoint a government better suited to the election campaign and to "prepare the country" for life after the elections.

The nomination of Zubkov, who has overseen investigations into suspicious financial transactions, caught much of the political elite off guard, which appeared to be Putin's intention.

Most observers said they did not see Zubkov as Putin's successor, but rather as a caretaker prime minister, perhaps to be replaced closer to the March presidential vote. Others said they considered his appointment a signal of Putin's intention to retain control after he leaves the presidency.

Put me in with "others" on this one.

Putin made his fortune and secured his power base by keeping his hands on the levers of power and ruthlessly destroying any threat to him. He will not go gently into that good night while someone else might use the same levers to strip him of both.

Rather, he'll pick a low-key bureaucrat who just so happens to have dirt on every Russian apparatchik thanks to his role as corruption "buster".

Putin will then continue to wield power through his toady and anyone who tries to stand in the way will find their dirt made public (if they don't find themselves dead like Litivenko first.)

One thing about those self-appointed "Kremlinologists" in the Left Wing Media---they don't know jack about Russia, never have, never will. Watch who thrives and who dies if you want to know what's really going on.