https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/09/19/thank-obama-for-russias-resurgence/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 07:23:57 -0400<![CDATA[Russia has expelled USAID, and the pundits are wagging a collective finger at the Kremlin. Complaints about the lack of democracy in Russia recall the late Sam Kinison&#8217;s monologue about food in the desert. There has never been democracy in Russia, least of all during Boris Yeltsin&#8217;s presidency. Yeltsin and his oligarch friends stole more than any thieves in world history, which is why so many of the world&#8217;s richest people are Russian and why Russia went bankrupt in July 1998. The free-for-all following the collapse of Communism ultimately gave us the Putin regime, and there he remains. It is easy to to support a noble democracy activist like Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion. It&#8217;s a bit harder to cheer for the women of Pussy Riot, who didn&#8217;t deserve long prison sentences for their disgusting behavior in a Moscow cathedral. In America, we would ignore them, while Russia characteristically made a horrible example of them.]]>Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:46:16 -0400<![CDATA[David P. Goldman]]>https://pjmedia.com/david-p-goldman/2012/09/19/thank-obama-for-russias-resurgence-n131039