In addition to being the subject of inspirations like those in the above video, the Kalashnikov assault rifle has a new role: hero. That's right, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev just named the designer of the Kalashnikov a "Hero of Russia." It is unclear whether the President had his tongue in cheek as he made the pronouncement. After all, the Kalashnikov, is responsible for about a quarter-million deaths every year. Medvedev is widely considered to be a political figure head for his master Vladimir Putin, who is constitutionally inhibited from holding consecutive Presidencies. Perhaps, keeping that fact in mind, we can overlook such a ridiculous statement by a sitting statesman of an important nation. Medvedev lauded the frail 90-year old Mikhail Kalashnikov, the gun's maker, for creating "the brand every Russian is proud of." Who writes this guy's punchlines?

The Kalashnikov -- also known as the AK-47 assault rifle -- is, because of the rugged simplicity in which it delivers terrible death, the weapon of choice for gangsters, paramilitary units and drug cartels. You know, the good chaps. At a Kremlin ceremony today celebrating, ironically, the long life of its maker, Medvedev remarked: "I mean not only the Kalashnikov rifle but also the national brand created by you, which makes every Russian proud, makes him feel he is part of history and inspires him to work for the future."

Dark Russian irony at work? The weapon was initially made to help counter Nazi Germans firearms during World War II. Since then, the gun has taken on a life of its own. "It is," wrote Larry Kahaner in The Washington Post three years ago, "the firearm of choice for at least 50 legitimate standing armies and countless fighting forces from Africa and the Middle East to Central America and Los Angeles." The AK-47 is only more so the go-to gun now, as the Afghanistan war rages; ironically -- there's a lot of that going around -- it was the CIA in the late 70s which supplied those weapons to our then allies in the Central Asian country. "Hero of Russia," not unlike America's Congressional Medal of Freedom, is Russia's highest honorary title. That's right; it's the highest title anyone can hope to earn, and it went to the inventor of the Kalashnikov. Even if i tried, I could not make this post up.