PUTIN AND PLAY ACTING

When the opposition brought 100,000 people onto the streets of Moscow, pro-Kremlin activists tried to match that number, filling a square across town with legions of people chanting slogans in support of Putin. His supporters organized a demonstration bigger than anything the opposition has been able to muster. More than 100,000 people gathered at the walls of the Kremlin. Suspended high above the throng, the state-run television cameras captured an image that night of overwhelming, even fanatical support for Putin. That was the image beamed into millions of Russian households on election night. But at ground level, the picture looked a lot more complicated. "About an hour after Putin addressed the crowd, TIME followed a group of demonstrators into a nearby subway tunnel, where about 100 of them lined up to receive about $10 apiece. Policemen stood by the entire time watching because it is not a crime to pay people for attending a political rally. And as far as moral qualms are concerned, one brigadier on duty that night told TIME he had none. "It's a paid flash mob," he said, smiling as he declined to give his name. "It's normal." (TIME, 21 March) That is capitalism for you - bribery is normal. RD