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• This week, Putin signaled his intent to reverse one of the few high-profile reforms Dmitry Medvedev enacted while president: keeping Russia stuck in summer time all year after clocks sprang forward in March. It's perhaps an apt symbol of Putin's relentless drive to roll back even the modest liberal legacy left behind by his protege, who made timid attempts at modernization as president but never emerged from the shadow of his patron -- and meekly agreed to step down to let him reclaim the top job.
• One by one, each of Medvedev's reforms -- from decriminalizing slander to purging the boards of state-run companies of government officials -- has been swept aside. Observers see it as part of a new tough course taken by Putin in response to massive winter protests against his rule, an indication that he sees no need for a compromise with the opposition. Suspicions are also rife that Putin may even be gearing up to dump Medvedev, his longtime political partner, as prime minister.
• Nobody believed that Medvedev would really be in charge when he took over as president in 2008, while Putin moved into the prime minister's seat to observe a constitutional limit of two consecutive terms.
• But he led many to believe that he may at least soften Putin's autocratic ways, especially when he proclaimed in a speech that "freedom is better than non-freedom." He heartened many by promising to allow greater political competition, champion media freedoms, liberalize the economy and fight graft.
• ___

• CHICAGO (AP) -- His home in Washington is for sale. His wife says he'll come back to work only when a doctor approves. He vowed to return to the campaign by Labor Day, a deadline that came ... and went.
• Election Day is five weeks away, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. remains out of sight.
• It's an absence, both from his job in Congress and his campaign, that's starting to test patience in his Chicago hometown.
• More than three months have passed since Jackson disappeared, initially a mystery that was later revealed to be a hospitalization for severe depression and gastrointestinal problems. There have been few updates on his condition and no hard answers to questions about his future.

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