NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...
NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...
NYT-1201: STATE OF THE ART A Thermostat That's Clever, Not ...
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<strong>NYT</strong>-1209: EDITORIALS<br />
As Russians protest their fraudulent elections, th<br />
e prime minister wants to blame the United States<br />
instead of acknowledging voters' dissatisfaction.<br />
===== notyet<br />
Twenty years after the fall of communism, Prime Mi<br />
nister Vladimir Putin of Russia seems determined t<br />
o resurrect the Soviet playbook. His United Russia<br />
Party tried to steal a parliamentary election on<br />
Sunday, and, when the results still delivered a st<br />
inging rebuke, he claimed the United States was wh<br />
ipping up protests and demonstrations.<br />
Mr. Putin could have acknowledged voters’ dissatis<br />
faction — his party’s parliamentary majority plumm<br />
eted from 315 to 238 seats — and tried to address<br />
it, like democratic leaders might do. Instead, on<br />
Thursday, he accused Secretary of State Hillary Ro<br />
dham Clinton of instigating street protests. He wa<br />
rned that Russia must protect against “interferenc<br />
e” by foreign governments and hinted darkly at rep<br />
risals against demonstrators.<br />
The charges are bizarre. After international obser<br />
vers reported widespread fraud by Putin supporters<br />
, Mrs. Clinton expressed “serious concerns” on Mon<br />
day and Tuesday that the vote was neither free nor<br />
fair. It was ludicrous for Mr. Putin to claim tha<br />
t that was a “signal” that brought Russians to the<br />
streets three days running despite a heavy police<br />
presence and more than 1,000 detentions. The prot<br />
esters were clear what motivated them: They were o<br />
utraged by the fraud and tired of the status quo a<br />
nd Mr. Putin.<br />
It’s true that Golos, Russia’s only independent el<br />
ectoral monitoring group, receives grants from the<br />
United States and Europe. But, as a member of the<br />
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Euro