Cheers: to stacking the deck. Kudos to Internet blogger Ed Hollett, who spotted this Reuters story in April. "The Russian official whose role is to act as an impartial umpire in elections said in an interview published on Monday that President Vladimir Putin is always right. Kremlin critics have raised doubts about the impartiality of Vladimir Churov, a former colleague of Putin's who was last month chosen as chairman of the Central Election Commission. In his first major newspaper interview since he started his new job, Churov told the Kommersant daily that 'Churov's Law No. 1' is that Putin is always right. Asked by the newspaper what would happen if it turned out the Russian leader was mistaken on a certain issue, Churov said: 'How can Putin be wrong?' " That's certainly democracy at its best, and an honourable answer, indeed.The original post is here.
A tip of the hat must go to the e-mailer who raised the subject in the first place.