Happy (belated) Birthday, Mr. President...

"Наши" натянули одеяло на Владимира Путина // Прокремлевская молодежь поздравила президента с днем рождения Вчера около 10 тыс. активистов движения "Наши" поздравили на набережной Тараса Шевченко с днем рождения президента Владимира Путина. Руководство движения объяснило замерзшим и вымокшим под дождем подросткам, что господин Путин на выборах в Госдуму должен победить сразу и безоговорочно, а не просто набрать "какие-то 50%". Чтобы сделать господину Путину приятное, "Наши" подарили ему 200-метровое "одеяло мира" и пообещали взять под свой контроль все избирательные участки страны. открыть материал ...

Well, it's not quite a serenade from Marilyn Monroe, but Putin received robust birthday wishes from Nashi on Sunday. As usual, the Russian-language version of Kommersant's article on the birthday demonstration is more thorough than the English version from their website. I don't read any ulterior motive or message into this, no doubt it's just an economy of translator resources on Kommersant's part. I've translated a couple of the more interesting bits from the original that didn't make Kommersant's summary translation.

For one thing, the Russian-language article included some of the chants shouted down from the stage - chants like "Putin, we are with you!"; "Putin is an eagle!; and "Two, twelve, two thousand seven - Putin, stay with us forever!" ("Два, двенадцать, две тысячи семь -- Путин, останься с нами насовсем!"), referring to the date of the Duma elections. It also included an interesting tidbit about the banner on the stage, which read "December 2nd - the election for Russia's national leader during 2008-2012." A few photos from the event, courtesy of Kommersant, can be found here. Robert Amsterdam also has a photo from the event and links to a Moscow Times article in which Putin is quoted as saying, "You know, as a rule I don't hold any parties, but this year is an exception." I wonder if Prime Minister Zubkov was at Putin's side during the celebration, as he has been in the past (according to Anticompromat, and yes, I know I posted this before, but it was buried in my ridiculously long post about Zubkov):

V. Putin invites V. Zubkov to his birthday parties (in 2000 [Zubkov] "...was summoned to [Putin's] birthday party at the Podvor'e restaurant in the city of Pavlovsk (there were only 21 guests)" - "Polit.ru", Nov 2, 2001, citing Kommersant). At one of Putin's birthday parties, accurding to Profil' magazine, V. Zubkov even participated in extinguishing the candles on the cake ("Profil'", Jan 26, 2004).

Anyway, here is the abbreviated English translation of Kommersant's article about the Nashi celebration:

Pro-Kremlin Youth Celebrate President's Birthday
October 8, 2007

About 10,000 members of the Nashi (Ours) movement gathered on Taras Shevchenko Embankment in Moscow yesterday to mark Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday, which was rainy and chilly. Nashi leaders told the crowd, which came from at east 20 regions of Russia, that the president must win in the State Duma elections next month, “and not by some 50 percent.” The crowd carried signs reading “Putin is stability,” “Putin is peace in Chechnya,” “Putin is the Olympics,” “Putin is the stabilization fund” and “Putin is Sakhalin 2” and was entertained by techno remixes of Soviet pop hits.

Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko, who is also a member of the state committee on youth, declined to speak to journalists at the event. “They complained about the rain and cold in the back rows,” Yakemenko told the crowd from the stage. “But I want to say that I remember the 1990s, when bandits ruled the streets, the country's budget was approved by Americans at the International Monetary Fund and Berezovsky and Khodorkovsky declared war in Chechnya. And I want to say that we cannot allow that to be repeated and the election of the national leader depends on us!”

The Russian Orthodox branch of Nashi ordered prayers for the president's health in all the main churches in Moscow.

Here we have a summary version of many of Nashi's greatest hits - cult-of-personality-level hero-worship of the leader ("Putin is the stabilization fund"), Americaphobia, myth-making about the '90s, fallen-oligarch-bashing, making the youth feel powerful ("the election of the national leader depends on us!"), and of course religion in service of the state. One bit that was omitted from Kommersant's English-language translation was this interesting exchange between the journalist and a Nashist:

"Are you enjoying the party?" I asked a young man dressed in a warm coat and hat.

"Well, it's so-so," he unexpectedly admitted, "We were brought here from Kovrov [250 km from Moscow], and here it's rainy and cold. I want to go home."

"Will they at least feed you?" I asked sympathetically.

"Where would they do that?" he became totally sad. "When they were giving us our instructions, they said to bring money and a lunch box [тормозок]."

"Bring what?!"

"You know, a lunch box, a package with food from home."

So much for Nashi's vaunted perks for the members. I guess a free trip to Moscow is all the provincials got out of Putin's birthday. Another bit:

Mr. Yakemenko finally set out the main points: "The President has made the difficult decision to head up the United Party candidates' list. But he can't do it alone,* and not everything depends on United Russia, either. And Putin can't just get some 3o% or even 50% of the votes. He must win immediately and unconditionally. And we, the Nashi movement, will help him do this!"

The crowd no longer shared his enthusiasm. The freezing and soaked young men and women were standing three and four to an umbrella, and many of them were shivering. On the pavement lay a piece of posterboard that had been dropped by someone, which had "Putin is our national leader" written on it with a marker. No one wanted to pick up the soaked and dirty poster, but everyone was also afraid to tread on it, so people stepped around it carefully.

*a strange thing to say, given that Putin is alone on United Russia's party list.

Kommersant also offered a brief video report from the festivities:

But it seems that not everyone thinks VVP's birthday should be something special. Echo of Moscow Radio conducted a survey (call-in and online - neither of which, of course, is scientific) asking the question, "Do you think Vladimir Putin's birthday should be a 'red-letter day' on the calendar?"

Results of the call-in voting:

1.	67	8%	yes
2.	793	92%	no
3.	0	0%	hard to say

Results of the internet voting (2869 total votes):

1.	421	15%	yes
2.	2365	82%	no
3.	28	1%	hard to say

For some reason, the very fact that they asked this question made me think of a little ditty that I learned back in the mid-1980s while attending a Soviet school:

Всегда мы помним Ленина
И думаем о нем
Мы день его рождения
Считаем лучшим днем

We always remember Lenin
And think of him
We consider his birthday
To be the best day