Show me the opposition in Russia.
Perhaps if there were checks and balances in Russia you would have a point, but there are none.
Make no mistake - Putin is a very dangerous man.
Because of his nuclear arsenal, and because of his nuclear arsenal alone.
He can barely project credible conventional force 50 miles from his own borders.
And as far as his nuclear arsenal is concerned, the Russians only claim that 60 of their 16,000 warheads are both operable and able to evade US missile shield systems.
And our missile shields continue to improve dramatically.
What makes Putin dangerous is his apparent need to reassert Russia's imaginary "greatness" before US technology completely outmodes his one trump card.