Thank Putin for that
An effort to laud Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on his birthday turned into a flurry of sarcastic anti-Putin jokes that made their rounds on the unrestricted Internet.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the defensive-industrial complex on his 59th birthday in Moscow Oct. 7.
Yana Lapikova/RIA Novosti/Reuters
Moscow
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
What started as a greeting in honor of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin鈥檚 birthday on Oct. 7 quickly turned into a flash mob of anti-Putin satire. When pro-Putin activist Vladimir Burmatov created the hashtag #SPASIBOPUTINZAETO (鈥淭hank Putin for That鈥�), it was meant as a rhyming tribute to the prime minister鈥檚 accomplishments. 鈥淥ur rockets are stronger than their missile defense #THANKPUTINFOR THAT,鈥� tweeted Mr. Burmatov. 鈥淭he liberals have no chance #THANKPUTINFORTHAT.鈥�
鈥淚 was counting on my 30-something thousand readers and wanted to play this game with them,鈥� Burmatov told the BBC. 鈥淏ut it wound up drawing in the broad popular masses.鈥�
When Russia鈥檚 famously feisty bloggers 鈥� mostly urban, educated youths 鈥� got wind of it, the tribute quickly took on a life of its own. Scores of tweeters began replying with less-than-adulatory rhymes, such as 鈥淣o money and no flat #THANKPUTINFORTHAT.鈥�
In Russia, where press freedom is restricted, the Internet remains one of the few outlets through which an increasingly disgruntled generation is able to voice its frustrations.
Mr. Putin, for his part, remained mostly out of the loop on the matter. His spokesman says the prime minister鈥檚 website, Premier.gov.ru, affords sufficient public interaction.