Oligarchic who?

LET'S RUN through this again. Vladimir Putin is not a nice man. The KGB, with whom the young Vlad earned his reputation as a people person, was not Russia's answer to the Rotary Club. As a direct consequence, Russian traditions of democracy remain wafer thin, a cracked veneer that fails utterly to conceal thuggery, rigged votes, oligarchic mafias, corruption, and the corpses of journalists. Are we clear?

Russia's current identity is composed, meanwhile, of a volatile mixture of intense nationalism and paranoia. Its rulers, whatever their labels, take it as read that their country exists under permanent threat of encirclement by its enemies.

-- Ian Bell on "the new cold war", Sunday Herald, August 25, 2008

Wait...

Let's run through this again.

George H.W. Bush Sr. is not a nice man. The CIA, with whom the young Bush earned his reputation as a people person, was not exactly the Rotary Club. He and his cronies have created a political dynasty, and as a direct consequence, U.S. traditions of democracy remain wafer thin, a cracked veneer that fails utterly to conceal thuggery, rigged votes, oligarchic mafias, corruption, and the corpses of journalists. Are we clear?

The United State's current identity is composed, meanwhile, of a volatile mixture of intense nationalism and paranoia. Its rulers, whatever their labels, take it as read that their country exists under permanent threat of terrorist attacks by its enemies.