There has to be some sort of law of the internet that on a long enough timeline the political conversation will converge on modern American politics.

As a non-American that's probably my biggest irritation with the internet. Beyond the inane Facebook arguments, beyond the cesspool of comments on modern news websites, hell even beyond the Youtubers hawking stupid services, I have to say the single most irritating thing about the internet is that someone somewhere is waiting with bated breath to turn the conversation into some diatribe on the state of modern American society and the historical context in which it arose.

The article is about Moscow, not America. If you don't anything to say about Moscow don't feel nervous and start talking about America the one thing you can talk about. Don't sweat it, just sit this one out and let other people talk about the subject at hand. Listen and think about what people are saying about Russia and then the next time there's a conversation about Russia you will have something relevant to say about it.