Katie Couric, the first female network news anchor, has launched an attack on Vladimir Putin. On her blog she states:

Investigators from around the world are now involved in trying to crack one of the biggest spy scandals in recent memory: the death--by poisoning--of a former KGB agent, living in London, who was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alexander Litvinenko was killed by what one expert called a "tiny nuclear bomb" in the form of the rare radioactive substance Polonium 210...and, on his deathbed, he said Putin did it. And then last week, more bombshells: the former Russian prime minister was also poisoned. An Italian security expert, who told Litvinenko that they were targets, tested positive for radiation poisoning...and so did Litvinenko's wife. While Russia denies that Putin is behind it, all these coincidences raise serious questions about an important American ally. President Bush once said he looked into Putin's soul and saw a good man. But maybe it's time for a second look.

Watch her video presentation "Putin on the Brink." If the Kremlin has managed to piss of Katie Couric, that's about as massive a public relations fiasco as you can get, just another nail in the neo-Soviet coffin. Clearly, a good deal of Couric's ire is directed at George Bush, and Putin's cuddling up to this increasingly despised figure is yet another gross miscalculation on his part. What's more, Putin couldn't even be consistent in supporting Bush, but rather grievously undermined him when he moved against Iraq, in some part contributing to Bush's downfall.

And so it goes in Russia.