Russia gets Gas, and Other Stuff

The CS Monitor is reporting that glasnost is officially dead as the Kremlin assumes (rather re-assumes) control of roughly 30% of all Russian petro-assets.

How much more will they grab? Hard to say, but given the West's and the burgeoning Chinese and Indian markets for black gold, no matter how you slice it, it's a damned good business for the state to be involved in.

Russia is the currently the second largest petroducer(new word!) and the Russian state is likely eager to futher 'tap' into this highly lucrative field.

The Monitor reports that:

[...]

A long-delayed law on subsoil resources, to be passed by the Duma next year, is expected to ban foreign-owned companies from exploring or developing Russian oil fields and other key mineral resources.

"Amazing changes are happening swiftly, because Putin has understood that energy is Russia's key card to play at the international table," says Michael Heath, a political analyst with Aton, a Russian brokerage. "Instead of the military force the Soviet Union used to project its power, Russia is using oil as a major tool of foreign policy."

[...]

Much like the US gov't. is heavily involved with the 'defense' industry, Russia is playing to its strength.

While this will be seen as a gigantic step backward from the Russian's particular form of democracy, it is more an evolutionary one.

We've got double secret wiretapping going on in the interest of national security.

Are not Russia's oil reserves a matter of national security?

I'm certainly not condoning either activity. I just bring this up as a countervail to the Right that will pounce on this as a talking point that the Kremlin will simply ignore.

When all is said and done, the US government only really cares about the flow of oil. If the Russian state gives the world a good market rate, we'll be more than accepting of the takeover of the Russian petro-assets.

The US doesn't seem to really concerned about truly open markets, and much less so about democracy, but we need cheap SUV juice dammit! Open markets for the US, and the US only is the true prize.

Capitalism without democracy is okay.
Democracy without capitalism is cause for invasion.

Condemning the Russians for reclaiming their oil assets is not likely to happen in the circles of power where these things are really decided.

The talking heads will continue to parrot Russian civil rights violations, and a return to the Soviet Union's way of conducting the show(our own record in these two areas has been less than exemplary as of late). This has absolutely nothing to do with the real issue.

We need cheap oil. The Russians have oil. The deals are done.

Damned shame, really.

George Makes The News

WaPo is reporting that Bush has been attempting to tailor the news more to his liking.

What a shock!

I'll only give you the first couple of paragraphs:

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security.

The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics.

Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosing the existence of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe used to interrogate terror suspects. Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, would not confirm that he, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman had an Oval Office sit-down with the president on Dec. 5, 11 days before reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that Bush had authorized eavesdropping on Americans and others within the United States without court orders.

(much more at link)

Well, when you're engaging in all manner of legally grey area activities, it ought to concern you. However, coming clean on these issues rather than attempting to quash reporting on them is the noble thing to do. No one ever accused Bush of nobility.

These articles have nothing to do with national security, and everything to do with White House damage control.

Given the past and present behavior of this White House, it can hardly come as a surprise that a surprise that The Gang is yet again trying to manage the news.

Bush had a fawning press after 9/11. Apparently he still thought that this was the case - and I'm certain that in many instances this is still true - but now it seems that a glimmer of a working democracy is rearing its head.

Can there be any doubt that 'access' was discussed at these meetings?

How disappointing this must be to the reigning monarch.

Add'l: There's a lot more good stuff in the article. a couple of other topics, and of course added color regarding Bush's tactics.