UGLY: Russia was not devastated by Yeltsin, it was devastated by the cowardly failure of the Russian people to take an active role in politics. Although you blame Yelstin, what did you do when he told you to elect Vladimir Putin? You obeyed like lemmings! Yeltsin correctly predicted that Russians could return to Soviet dictatorship of their own free will, and so he tried to disperse the assets of the Kremlin as fast as possible so that when they tried to put the USSR back together it would be difficult. He was right! Second leader of Russia became a proud KGB spy!

By destroying the Internet, just like USSR you cut yourselves off from information. You make bad decisions without information, and destroy yourselves all over again.

We Americans say: "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on ME!"

UGLY:

For a person who claims to find this blog "boring" you sure do manage to leave an awful lot of comments here, don't you (they're rather like rodent droppings in fact . . . )

You need to try to get a grip on your meglomania. When I asked "what did you do" I didn't mean YOU personally, I mean Russian people generally. What you personally do, hard as it may be for you to believe, is not a matter of interest to me.

There's no contradiction regarding Yeltsin and Putin. Yeltsin NEVER said he was a benign or democratic ruler. He merely said that he hated communists and believed the Russians would return power to them if given the chance. They did so. He was right. Did Yeltsin play a part in that? You bet he did. But if Russians hated him so much, they wouldn't have voted for his hand-picked successor, now would they?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Destruction of the Internet has to begin somewhere. But it's not that crucial in any case, since most Russians are far too poor and ignorant to access it.

Actually, we're quite proud ever four years. Quite often, we peacefully change power from one rival party to another, something Russia has not done even once in it's whole history.

Just curious: In your view, everybody you don't agree with is a "paranoid" who needs to be put in a mental institution, aren't they? Can you give an example of a harsh critic of Russia who you respect?

Thanks for the link! It's the first time you've actually added some value to the blog. I must be rubbing off on you.