Russia has become a deadly place for journalists of all stripes. In 2006, journalist Anna Politkovskaya was mysteriously killed after criticizing the war in Chechnya. Thankfully, Mark Ames remains alive. But his fortunes have taken a turn for the worse because of these conditions. After writing about Russian government officials conducting an unplanned audit of his iconoclastic expatriate newspaper, Mark Ames has been forced to shut down The eXile.
Reminds me (for no reason at all) of this:
See the Czar.
Czar, Czar, Czar.
See his eyes.
Eyes like a fish.
Fish, fish, fish.
He rules a big country.
Big, big, big.
He took all the country’s oil.
He won all the elections
and if anyone else tried to get elected
anyone else ended up in jail.
Or dead.
See the Czar’s pale hands.
Pale, pale, pale.
It is hard to explain
how the Czar’s hands can look so white
but are so red and sticky.
How did he become a Czar?
Well, he was member of a boys’ club
that used to be called “Kill, Gulag, Bomb.”
Now the club is called “Freaks Sucking Blood”.
When the old Czar
– who was a bit of a drunk –
got too drunk to rule
the boys’ club took over
and put the new Czar on the throne.
The Czar wants to make new friends.
He visits the big boys in Europe
and Asia
and the Middle East
and sells them weapons
and rockets
and tools to make atomic bombs.
If someone refuses to be friendly to the Czar
the boy’s club will poison someone
or shoot her.
So how long will the Czar sit on his throne?
Until the next revolution…
… or until the boys’ club gets rid of him.
Perhaps it is practical
that he already looks like a corpse.