"... Now we're confronted with an ex-KGB agent who has been publicly bemoaning the fall of the Soviet Union, has been pushing his nation backward to the darkness, is now making his move to take over the government, muzzle the media and raise his Soviet empire from the ashes...and some people in America are worshiping him ..."The problem our ignorant public has is that the ex-KGB guy is the President of Russia.
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He's the leader of his government, and as noted,
"... Whenever an extrodinary claim of a "government conspiracy" arises, I get suspicious ..."People want to believe good things about leaders even if that leader is in another country, unless that leader is denounced by one of our own leaders. That's why Reagan's "evil empire" comment made such a huge difference; for the first time, our leader pointed out the truth.
Our leader today hasn't denounced Russia's president, so in the eyes of the majority of our citizens, he's a "good guy," and all those who talk against him are "kooks."
As I posted on the other Putin Putzes cheerleading thread, yes, the State Department is concerned over Putin's rollback of democratic gains...as are many people in the world with a memory and the desire for the truth.
"After the first Chechen war ended in 1996, the province descended into lawlessness, and kidnappings became rife as rebel warlords fell out with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov.
Victims included British aid workers Jon James and Camilla Carr, who were freed in September 1998 after a year in captivity, and four engineers who were kidnapped but later found beheaded. Herbert Gregg, an American missionary held hostage for seven months and released in July 1999, said much of his treatment was good - despite the fact that the rebels videoed themselves cutting one of his fingers off."
A week later, several pro-Chechen gunmen seized about 120 tourists at a luxury Istanbul hotel in protest against the war.
In July 2001, up to 30 people were held in searing heat on a bus in southern Russia by a Chechen man demanding the release of five Chechens who had been captured in a previous hijacking.
And in May 2002, a lone gunman held about 10 people hostage - again at an Istanbul hotel. They were all released unharmed.