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I don’t excuse the practices of other countries merely because they are not the USA. The cause of liberty is not restricted to our borders. And what with the “old leaven” (to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson) of the past entrenched in the RF’s current “social” constitution, allowing old enmity to spring back up is against the best interests of the USA.

BTW, nice use of the leftist “cultural differences/we must respect the cultures of others” canard.

Aren't all people entitled to self-government, of the form of their choosing? It is not leftist (even a little bit) to respect this right of self-determination. This right is indeed part of the liberty to which you refer.

In the USA, us conservatives go on and on about how we are a Republic, and therefore not directly democratic, and as long as we select our leaders according to the Constitution, this is a good thing (electoral college, etc. comes to mind). Why is this ok for us, but not for the Russian people? They overwhelmingly support Putin's leadership, and when Putin finds problems, he deals with them using the tools provided to him under the constitution of the Russian Republic.

Aside from that, Russia is not socialist in any meaningful way, so this reference in their constitution doesn't make them socialist in practice any more than India's constitution does.