Palmer on Yushchenko

From the LRC blog:

Whoops! Viktor Yushchenko is a socialist, bringing ever bigger government (and therefore more poverty) to Ukraine.

Could this be the same Yushchenko that our Palmer gushed about? --

The election of Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine (which Illarionov praised at a widely covered news conference last week) has given hope to Russian liberals that Tsarist-style centralization can be resisted and that there is more hope for authentic liberalism in the region.

[...] The articles on Yushchenko in the Financial Times and other publications (staffed with real reporters with real understanding and expertise in financial matters) have generally stated that Yushchenko is well known for his honesty and probity -- the reverse of Raimondo's feeble search for dirt.

[...] I have since read through the various items from which Mr. Raimondo has plucked his quotations. [...] I was struck by how weak the claims were [...] and also by how unsubstantiated were the insinuations that Viktor Yushchenko is somehow a corrupt figure.

[...]  Interestingly, the Anders Aslund essay that Mr. Raimondo cites (http://www.ceip.org/people/aslDubrovnik.html ) states something rather different from what Mr. Raimondo tries to suggest: "The macroeconomic stabilization was preceded by a strict and highly responsible monetary policy initiated in December 1993. The political success of this monetary policy is proven by the continued tenure of Governor Viktor A. Yushchenko since December 1992. He could have been ousted by the parliament, so his survival is a sign both of his political skills and that it has been possible to sell restrictive monetary policies." Not much evidence of corruption or mismanagement.

Ha ha ha ha ha...