I've lost confidence in the president. Do I get to fire him?

Hooray!!! Finaly that crook got sacked! Well he long ago deserved more than that, he deserves a trial for what he did with the city... Now the problem will be that the next mayor probably won't be any better or less corruption than the former...

Congratulations to Dmitri Medvedev for making a courageous decision in his pursuit of modernizing russia for all citizens. Depending on the actions of the new mayor, and it's safe to say many will be watching closely, not only Moscovites but wider Russia may now have a chance to see their taxes spent in a wiser and more productive manner, and the capital city better served by those (if honest) who have Russia's interests at heart, not just their own. Luzhkov was one of the few soviet/post soviet self-serving dinosaurs remaining in the system. There can't be many left. Good luck to the new mayor, and again, congratulations to the President for his political courage, and forward thinking determination. I would hope that any investigation of Luzhkov's activities in the last 19 years would include a determination to recover any russian taxpayer's money, if it can be soundly proved that money was spirited away into the Luzhkov family "empire" through less than honest, or moral, means. It's important to Russians to know the new, less corrupt, intent on the part of the government and president justly punishes those who have milked the system for their own gain, if this is the case, and can be proven. Russians are more likely to enthusiastically participate in the renewal of their country if they know the law applies equally to all, regardless of position, including the same consequences for all.

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Well well well . . . Nice job Medvedev did. This was a test of his power, all right. Nice that he showed a lot of the Western punditocracy as foolish - yet again. Nice also that Putin stepped back and did not publicly try to "handle it" but let Medvedev run the show. Which was Medvedev's job, after all. Luzhkov did not keep up with the new Russia, so he had to go. This firing is going to make a lot of sharks in the bureaucracy very nervous and might make the anti-corruption campaign run a little bit smoother.

Now that the crisis in the elites is over its nice to see that the comments are back. A periodic falling out among the political elites happens in every country. It rarely produces a crisis of itself and it hasn't done so in Russia. I can't think of a single mainstream Western Politician who will be sorry to see the back of the Mayor of Moscow. His remark that homosexuals where 'Satanic' gave him a special place in the pantheon of reactionaries.

There is only one way to deal with the corruption viper in Russia - cut off its head. This is a good beginning.

I'd like to see Alex Lebedev get the mayor's job. Not only is he an extremely intelligent fellow who has demonstrated his willingness to see the people of Russia have a better life, he's also very business savvy, and frankly, rich enough to be immune to any idea of behaving in a corrupt manner. He's also a forward thinker, and has many ideas for taking Russia forward, judging by the interviews i've seen him do. He's not a mainstream politician either, and isn't tainted by political views one way or the other. Moscow could do with his business acumen at the helm for the next few years, particularly as part of the national modernization project.

He is 74 years old, so it is something logical that new blood arrives to the city.