Vlad “the impaler” Putin has calmed the post Glasnost chaos enough that the Russians (at least the ones who are still living in Russia) have lost sight of HOW he calmed the chaos. They voted for his party in a sketchy election, covered by a tightly controlled media, in which his opponents were jailed for saying mean things about him. So now he can, if he chooses, remain in a position of power indefinitely. Not even Hugo Chavez managed to pull that one off in his weekend “coronation” referendum.

I can’t imagine living in a place where a leader tries to circumnavigate a constitution in order to award himself more powers.