Anastasia Baburova, Stanislav Markelov, R.I.P.

Another Russian journalist, this time a mere 25-year old "cub" reporter, Anastasia Baburova, is murdered by a masked gunman just blocks from the Kremlin, as is human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.

More Political Murder in Putin's Russia

Another day in Vladimir Putin's Russia, another "troublemaker" murdered.

Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer representing the family of a murdered Chechen girl, who also represented murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya and other abused Chechens, has been shot and killed. Curious how all these people making trouble against the Russian established order just happen to die.

One of George Bush's worst mistakes, among his many, was calling Mr. Putin someone he could work with, and his "friend." The prospects for the naive Obama administration are not much better, since BO seems to think he charm just about anyone.

Putin is, in fact, a murderer. And a potential mass murderer if energy prices rise again, which may encourage him to return to overrunning the former Soviet bloc nations such as Georgia and Ukraine. One shudders to think of the political murders that will ensue then.

Russian Gas Cutoff Signals Much-Deserved Desperation

Troubles for Putin's Russia and its energy giant Gazprom, as they get cagey in shutting off supplies to Ukraine. The International Herald Tribune notes:

"[E]nergy experts said that the Kremlin's decision to employ the gambit again in a pricing dispute with Ukraine was an indication as well of Russia's deepening economic woes."

Indeed, as world energy prices fall, Putin and his jackals are increasingly desperate for cash. Let's hope it's just the beginning of their troubles.