KZBlog

I only post this Reuters story from Russia because it’s so funny and because it gives you an insight into the post-Soviet mentality. When a big man is coming, see how painstakingly people go over their city or school or home.

Theater posters proclaiming “We await you, merry gnome” were taken down from a Russian town shortly before a visit by the country’s diminutive President Dmitry Medvedev , a local website reported on Friday.

The advertisements were for a children’s theater show, but were removed from a street that the president’s convoy was due to use on his visit to Omsk on February 12 , the nr2.ru website reports, citing local sources.

Russian media say Medvedev is 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

The poster depicted a child fairy but was one of a number of sudden renovation projects that took place ahead of the Medvedev’s visit, it reported, quoting bloggers and journalists.

The authorities recommended that fresh snow should be sprinkled over older dirty snow as part of the facelift, it said.

(Reporting by Conor Sweeney)

And of course, their elimination of the poster may be more of an insult than leaving it up. By getting rid of it, they seem to be saying quite clearly that they think Medvedev is a gnome. Reminds me of the old Soviet joke: During Stalin’s early reign, a man was running through the streets of Moscow shouting, “The world is being destroyed by one man!” He is quickly picked up by the KGB who strap him to a table and brandish all sorts of torture equipment before asking him, “Comrade, what man did you have in mind exactly?”
The man quickly answers, “Why, Hitler, of course!”
The KGB agents sigh a sigh of relief, unstrap him, shake his hand as a great patriot and assure him that his anti-Nazi attitude is admirable.
As the man is leaving, he turns back and says, “By the way, who did you have in mind?”