[Ford Prefect]

...and I guess I wasn't aware as I was injecting Cubas Libres directly into my bloodstream that our good friend Putin is about to leave us.

Who else is gonna miss this guy? Every time I think about him, the only things flowing more freely than the tears are the memories of good times.

[Ashrak]

hes not leaving, hes going aside to put his puppet in the chair and continue ruling russia, come oooon man you really think hes gonna give up power?

[Admiral_Stones]

They should put a Stalin clone as president.

[captain-custard]

They should put a Stalin clone as president.

that would be difficult as hes going to be the prime-minister

[Mobius]

He turned out to be one hell of a President. I have always admired Vladimir.

[General Battuta]

I admire the things he did for democracy, civil society, and public freedom in Russia, in much the same way I admire the effects of a minigun on a white picket fence.

[Colonol Dekker]

Gimme an anecdote from the drunken weekend then lol.

[Rictor]

Vladimir Vladimirovich with forever hold a place in all our hearts, and in our darkest, secret fantasies. He's probably the most popular Russian leader since Tsarist times and will continue ruling from the shadows for another decade. Centuries into the future, Russian mothers will name their sons Vladimir in honour of the dude who put Russia back together.

Simply put, he is what Hitler could have become had he been a shrewd, intelligent, ruthless mother****ing mastermind.

[achtung]

He'll always be there.  Watching.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

He ain't gone yet. The new president Medvedev (it really isn't that difficult to pronounce, Hillary) is making him Prime Minister.

[Colonol Dekker]

Med-veh-dev, hmmm? New Zod corvette coming up!

[Ford Prefect]

Gimme an anecdote from the drunken weekend then lol.

Some asshole drank the rest of my Coke so I had to drink my Bacardi straight. It sucked.

[Colonol Dekker]

Neat spirits are an acquired taste granted, do any hedge diving? Hedge diving is the way to play.© when tanked.

[redsniper]

Read that as hedge driving. VROOOM *crunch*crunch*crunch*

[Rictor]

It's OK guys - he listens to rock. And he's really short. And he's young. Oh, and a puppet. But in all other aspects, The Bear is totally awesome - like a Russian Trudeau. I even foresee some photo-ops with the governments of Georgia and Ukraine, just to show how benign the motherland has suddenly become.