A newspaper report claims that Russian president Vladimir Putin has secretly divorced his wife so that he can marry former Olympic champion rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva.  Putin is 56.  Kabaeva turns 25 next month.

La Repubblica underlined the authenticity of the news. According to the newspaper, “Putin divorced his wife in a St. Petersburg registry office.” The only disclaimer was voiced by Kabaeva’s press secretary, but it sounded so unconvincing as if it had been motivated by fear to unlock some mystery, since Putin still remains the most powerful personality in Russia.

The newspaper concluded that Putin’s plan concerning Kabaeva had been implemented long ago: Kabaeva became deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Youth Affairs and chaired the supervisory board of the National Media Group – Russia’s new media-holding owned by Yury Kovalchuk, who is a close friend of Putin’s. It was not incidental that Russia’s state-run TV channels and newspapers highlighted the story of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni – their story is similar. [Ed: Carla Bruni wiki page here]

Thank God.  It's good to see heads of state finally capitalizing on the opportunity for the super-flexible ass afforded to men with ridiculous amounts of power.  If I were president you wouldn't see me having some plastic-haired First Lady in a bad suit.  There would be a formal State dinner honoring the women of the SI Swimsuit Issue and Victoria's Secret catalog, and we'd see where things went from there.  Of course, that wouldn't be until after I declared fat people illegal.  With Leather in '08!