Obscene tweet on Russian president's Twitter feed

Russia seems to be experiencing a little tension currently.

The ruling party is being confronted with something very dangerous--apparent opposition. Small but perfectly formed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was recently booed during an appearance at a wrestling match.

Then the nation held elections that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested might not have been the apogee of democracy.

Perhaps this odd state of affairs might explain why President Dmitri Medvedev's Twitter feed was adorned with a retweet that included the phrase "Stupid sheep getting f***ed in the mouth."

The way Reuters' mouth expresses it, the retweet appeared last night. It had originally been posted, so the BBC reported, on the Twitter account of Konstantin Rykov, a ruling party member of parliament.

Its full text read: "It has become clear that if a person writes the expression 'party of swindlers and thieves' in their blog then they are a stupid sheep getting f***ed in the mouth :)"

I am not sure whether, by repeating this post, I become a stupid sheep with odd proclivities. However, I ought to at least explain that the phrase "party of swindlers and thieves" has become rather attached to the president's United Russia Party, given that quite some criticism of its manners and general demeanor has wafted its way.

The Kremlin reacted vigorously to the retweet, feeling it didn't quite reflect the appropriate image. A statement read: "During a planned change of password, a member of staff responsible for the account's technical support carried out an unacceptable intervention into the @MedvedevRussia account."

The statement ended, ominously: "The guilty will be punished."

I worry for those deemed guilty. It's such a difficult term in Russia. As is the term "punished."