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I think that Putin is the band-aid Russian needed ten years ago, but gone mouldy for a few years now.

Mugabe, yes, initially wanted to redistribute the land wonderfully... didn't totally think that one through.

I just mean to say that integrity and competence are not analogues.

Russia didn't need an authoritarian state 10 years ago and didn't need one now.

Putin never achieved anything without cutting down his opposition.

How familiar with Russia are you, by the way? Maybe if we trade backgrounds, the conversation could proceed more interestingly... My contacts are mostly through my wife, so I hear it from St. Petersburg, North Ossetia, Georgia, and the Ukraine, with a slightly over-representative Jewish tint. I am none of the aforenamed.

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