...the country that has only known brutality and strong-armed rulers minus the Kerensky government which lasted about as long as your average hemorroid.

Comparing Putin's Russia to the United States under Bush is laughable. Yeah, yeah I know -- Bush is evil and a facist (sarcasm font). Putin's new Russia is essentially a facist nation: welcomes big business, strong arms corporations who do not march in step with the government, squashes free speech, puts its citizens in prison for simply opposing the regime, and rigged elections.

Putin, minus his nukes, are the "sick man of Eurasia." If not for their stockpile of destruction, they would be nothing.