Stumping against the Vladimir Putin/United Russia regime:

In an interview last month with The Washington Post, Gorbachev said Russia’s current leaders should not expect to maintain support forever and that “we must ensure that all democratic institutions really function, not as an imitation, as is now the case.”

Putin, who served in the KGB for many years, has a Soviet mindset and is very conscious of Soviet history. He restored the Soviet national anthem during his presidency and has called the demise of the Soviet Union the greatest tragedy of the 20th century. For the protesters, Gorbachev’s appearance Saturday could remind Russians that it is possible to listen to the people and loosen the reins, Moscow bureau chief Kathy Lally reports.

Really? The fall of the Soviet Union was the "greatest tragedy" of the 20th century? Because I can think of a few others: the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the Cultural Revolution, the Rape of Nanking, the Khmer Rouge, the millions slaughtered by Stalin's regime...

Anyway, there's a big rally tomorrow in Moscow:

Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who has emerged a leading light of the disparate opposition, said the public mood had turned against Russia's paramount leader and large crowds would join a protest rally in Moscow on Saturday.

"I am absolutely sure that up to 1 million people are ready to take part in such rallies ... I see the people's mood," Navalny told Reuters in an interview on the eve of the rally against alleged fraud in an election Putin's party won on December 4.

Bloggers leading another popular uprising against an entrenched and corrupt regime—the internet strikes again.