I wasn't trying to make it subtle, but it's not a topic of the discussion and talking about it will take too much time. Though in a long enough dispute, it eventually goes to the basics and false beliefs, nothing to undermine there.
> I think, temporarily[1] until we get this mess sorted.
> [1]: In the long run oil and gas prices should probably increase until solar and nuclear power become very profitable.
> Nasty surprises seem to happen to people who credibly oppose Putin
I believe, they just don't have/don't want to spend money on showing a real election circus, like in US. Russia is a poor country and making people believe that a cross in a white form means something if you are not a billionaire and can't get billionaires to support you with money, costs a lot.
You have "free press" and "free speech" in the internet, doesn't seem to help much, does it?
And the argument "we're too poor to be a democracy" is bullshit. The real issue is that the country is too corrupt to be a democracy. (The US also has this problem, but to a much lesser extent. Well, somewhat lesser, at least. Trump has certainly has certainly tried to follow Putin there.)
And of course the country is too oppressed to be a democracy. You can't have meaningful elections if you don't have free speech and free press.
