To take Ms. Zigfeld’s “bathtub” analogy further, Russians have pretty much taken the knife of authoritarianism and slit their wrists of democracy, and all of the freedom-blood is draining away… But really should we be surprised? Putin came to power in shame elections, he shut down the opposition media first thing, and he’s been attacking democratic and pro-Western institutions ever since. We’ve woken up too late to change Russia peaceably and through civil society. We don’t have any “soft” influence anymore. And we can’t ignore the inimical skimpy midget Putin, because he arms Hezbollah, Chavez, and he plays gas politics with his neighbors to bring them to their knees. That leaves only two options: either the Neville Chamberlain option, or the Winston Churchill option. Time for some more blood sweat and tears to protect our way of life, people.
