I must take a brief moment of your time today to give a quick shout-out to my man, Vladimir Putin. His term in office is coming to a close next year, just like George W. Bush. And while we in America can’t wait to see Bush escorted off the White House premises, Vladimir Putin has not yet worn out his welcome in the Kremlin and has no plans on riding off into the political sunset any time soon.

In fact, Putin, proud recipient of 70 percent approval ratings throughout his country, is being begged by many of his constituents to stay in power.

Who can blame them? Putin has assisted in flooding his country’s economy with oil money. He routinely stands up to the demands of America, seemingly thumbing his nose at our president, much to the delight of the members of the world community and his own countrymen.

He scoffs at our attempts to curb the Iranian nuclear program, even going so far as to say recently that ‘we have no real data to claim that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which makes us believe the country has no such plans.’

I’ve got to be at least somewhat skeptical of that 70 percent figure. Putin has been able to put a curb on independent media throughout his country. He silences his political opponents through the cloak and dagger methods of Russian intelligence services.

And if I were a Russian citizen and the pollsters came to ask me if I approved of Putin, I might be somewhat inclined to say yes, for fear of finding poison in my London broil at my next meal. Putin is consolidating his power and becoming more and more like a czar than a president.

Unfortunately for Putin, there is no way he can pursue an additional term in office. Yet.

You see, one of the things that Russian democracy has in common with American democracy are those irritating ‘term limits.’ The Russian president is subject to a limitation of two consecutive four-year terms as the head of state. After those two consecutive terms, someone else must serve in the office before he can attempt a comeback.

So how is my man Vlad going to get around that pesky constitution of his and maintain his stranglehold on Russian politics? He’s going to mosey on down to the legislative branch, where he’s already accepted to serve as the head of his political party, United Russia, in the upcoming general election next year.

Sure enough, if United Russia wins the majority as expected, Putin would get first dibs on being prime minister. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Putin then gets to decide who replaces him in his former role as president.

And this is the reserve strategy, enacted if Putin is unable to amend the constitution before he leaves office, allowing him to bypass the masquerade and remain in power as he is right now.

Personally, I’d rather see him come out and tell his constituents and the world that he has no plans to vacate the office of the president. Let’s call a spade here and make this power grab quick and easy, because clearly no one in Russia or the rest of the world can stop him.

Let’s not go through all the political red tape and shady back room dealings that would be involved with his scheme to be prime minister and appoint a stooge to be president just to keep the seat warm. Please don’t cheat the Russian people out of whatever remaining semblance of transparency from their government that they might have left.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I have to hire a professional food taster to make sure my next meal is safe to eat.