Oh, poor George W. Bush! Wouldn't he love to gag his detractors at America's Oscars just like the Russian leaders apparently did at their equivalent kudos this past weekend?!

Criticism of Russian leaders at the Nika Awards was quite tame compared with, for example, Michael Moore's bashing of President Bush at the Oscars where the notorious rascal shouted, "Shame on you! Shame on you!" from the podium after winning best docu for 2002's "Bowling for Columbine."

However, STS — the fourth most-viewed TV network in Russia — cut out satirical comments made by Russian film academy chief Yuly Gusman from the kudocast, probably because they were considered too severe by the current, strict leadership of the former communist state. Gusman professed to be baffled by the power transfer about to take place in May when Dmitry Medvedev, the hand-appointed successor to current president Vladimir Putin, takes over, possibly in name only, because the nation's constitution prohibits Putin from serving another term.

"Traditionally we have a message from the Russian president [at the awards]," Gusman told the audience. "Since clearly no one knows who we have as president, you can consider it coming from me."

Also zapped from the telecast was the showing of a satiric film depicting Putin as czar and Medvedev as his son.

Throughout his presidency, Putin has ruthlessly squashed criticism and shut down independent TV networks that dared to question his leadership. STS network is privately owned, like most of the TV networks that have been shuttered so far, but continues to operate because it chiefly focuses on entertainment, not politics.