Juxtaposition

All quotes are from "Letter from Moscow: The Tsar's Opponent," by David Remnick, in The New Yorker (10.1.07).

The Death Penalty

p. 66, col. 1: "Since Putin took office, in 2000, more than a dozen Russian journalists have been murdered, as have several opposition politicians."

p. 66, col. 3: "Putin has adopted a haughty, derisive tone toward the West. 'Of course, I am an absolutely true democrat,' he remarked recently. 'The tragedy is that I am alone. There are no other such democrats in the world. The Americans torture at Guantanamo, and in Europe the police use gas against protesters. Sometimes protesters are killed in the streets. We have, incidentally, a moratorium on the death penalty, which is often enforced in other G-8 countries. Let us not be hypocrites as far as democratic freedoms and human rights.'" (emphasis supplied).

It would seem that Putin's regime does not have a moratorium on the death penalty; they have only a moratorium on due process of law for those who are sentenced to death.

An Unflattering Light

p. 67, col. 1: "Early this summer, Putin went to Guatemala City, where he delivered a speech in English ... as part of Russia's campaign to host the 2014 Winter Olympics."

p. 75, col. 3: "Kasparaov [a critic of Putin's regime] has all but disappeared from state television. 'And when I do appear,' [Kasparov] said, 'they try to make a fool of me. Usually, they make sure to show me speaking English. That way, I seem like an alien, a tool of the foreigners."

Inquiring minds want to know whether Putin's English-language speech was shown on Russian TV.