Ex-Georgian president, slumming it in Brooklyn, says he's huge in Eastern Europe

Ex-Georgian president, slumming it in Brooklyn, says he's huge in Eastern Europe
(Image credit: Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

You might be wondering: What is former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili up to these days?

The New York Times' Jason Horowitz found him slumming it in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he's been "plotting a triumphant return" to Georgian politics from "his uncle's apartment in a tower on the Williamsburg waterfront."

The article, replete with The Onion-style area man photos of Saakashvili hanging out in bars and walking around with his bike, is full of gems, but here is one that fully captures the steep fall Saakashvili has undergone since leading Georgia's Rose Revolution in 2003:

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Mr. Saakashvili said that while he had a "normal life" in Brooklyn, he considered himself a big deal in Eastern Europe, pointing out that on a recent trip to Albania "they shut down traffic for us and our 20-car escort." [The New York Times]

To be fair to Saakashvili, the big-deal-in-Eastern-Europe thing is probably pretty common in Williamsburg.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.