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That's a bit of revisionist history. Russians definitely chose Putin. Not all of them did, of course, but too many to ignore.

Just like many Italians chose Berlusconi and many Germans chose Hitler.

I feel sorry for the Russians who didn't choose this, but we shouldn't let the ones who did off the hook.

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That's a big fallacy - Putin is a dictator. The first rule of democracy is that democracy must not kill itself to prove it exists. The same goes for Hitler and the other dictators. Democracy is not the solution but a tool. This tool is being cynically used by these criminals. Sure they get elected. But once they're in power they destroy it. They throw everything out of the window. This is not democracy. Don't fool yourself.

It's not a fallacy, and I think we agree on most points.

Russians today can't get rid of Putin through votes.

Russians in the past did vote him into power though. Because of that, they carry a part of the responsibility for what's happening today. Don't let them off the hook.

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