People like you completely miss the point on Russia. You cannot accept that it is indeed a democracy, that people are not brainwashed. And that pretty much the contrary of what western media portrays is happening there. Trust me, i've been there.
Like Neocons in the US.
The wonderful thing about modern propaganda is that it has become so subtle we often mistake it for our own opinions.
As a European when I watched CNN for the first time at the early stages of the Iraq war, I first wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be satire or fiction. It took me a while to realise that this is what many people think of as "news" in the US. Makes me wonder what I miss in our own news media -- you only spot bold faced lies when you have a trusted reference you can compare them to.
That makes it a bit difficult to respond in good faith to people who chime in with vague, 'you people believe the western media too much' comments.
But I'd be interested in knowing your response to concrete things I mentioned in my comment. For instance, how wealthy is Putin? How about his close allies? And how did they make their fortunes? And is he in an endless Presidency, or not?
(None of which is to say that Putin hasn't been a fantastically successful President; he reintroduced the stability necessary for Russia to succeed, which it really has during his Presidency ... but the problems with success via concentration of power in one man are age-old, and a common one is a foreign policy, motivated by entirely domestic concerns and a desire to stay on top, that appears irrational on the international stage).
I just think its a tell tale when people disregard opinions like mine as enemy propaganda.
Its like a sign of the hyve mentality. Contrarian opinions are always right in cases like this.
Because any I've been reading a lot of information on the matter from a large number of sources, and couldn't help but draw a conclusion that Russia is indeed a pseudo-democracy trying hide its totalitarian essence.