And in Russia and China there are totalitarian governments with no accountability by the people, at least in the West we have a faint illusion of democracy!

__________________
'May no obstacles arise on the path of enlightenment!
May the enlightened intention of Those Gone to Bliss, past, present and future, be realised,
May I neither be bewildered in migratory existence
Nor I lulled by the solitary quiescence [of nirvana]!
But may I liberate beings throughout the expanse of space!'

- Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padmasambhava

China is far worse than Russia in that terms. Russia is much much better now than in the Soviet days. Hopefully, she will become even better in the years to come. One cannot conduct a radical revolution and change the system from within, without having some side effects. Time will heal those side effects.

__________________
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master

Wrapped around your finger - The Police

No argument here. Russia is still a true democracy.

But as democracies go, Russia is pretty repressive.

__________________
My Political Blog (Last post Feb 14) - My MySpace Page

We are talking about police brutality and their accountability, not democracy.

__________________
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master

Wrapped around your finger - The Police

Will time heal those side effects? Russia has no democratic tradition and is more likely to revert back to old ways.

__________________
'May no obstacles arise on the path of enlightenment!
May the enlightened intention of Those Gone to Bliss, past, present and future, be realised,
May I neither be bewildered in migratory existence
Nor I lulled by the solitary quiescence [of nirvana]!
But may I liberate beings throughout the expanse of space!'

- Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padmasambhava

No argument. The sense of democracy and the value of human rights is much stronger now in Russia than 10 years ago. No one is reverting to the old days. You are wrong.

__________________
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master

Wrapped around your finger - The Police

No, you are wrong.

Putin has nationalised all state industries, destroyed people who were critical of his government, rigged the election. If anything he is destroying whatever democracy they had there.

__________________
'May no obstacles arise on the path of enlightenment!
May the enlightened intention of Those Gone to Bliss, past, present and future, be realised,
May I neither be bewildered in migratory existence
Nor I lulled by the solitary quiescence [of nirvana]!
But may I liberate beings throughout the expanse of space!'

- Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padmasambhava

Your prejudices speak from you. You haven't overcome the Cold War days. Go and ask Russian people how they feel about Putin and Medvedev.

__________________
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master

Wrapped around your finger - The Police

Of course they love him but calling Russia a democracy is a slap in the face.

__________________
'May no obstacles arise on the path of enlightenment!
May the enlightened intention of Those Gone to Bliss, past, present and future, be realised,
May I neither be bewildered in migratory existence
Nor I lulled by the solitary quiescence [of nirvana]!
But may I liberate beings throughout the expanse of space!'

- Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padmasambhava

Calling Uncle Sam's invasion of Iraq a "democratic intervention" is a slap in the face to the whole reasonable world.

As well as the new "democracy" you established in the Balkans.

Double standards is your middle name, therefore you have no credibility.

__________________
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you will find your servant is your master

Wrapped around your finger - The Police