MORE PUTIN. In a slightly confusing series of moves, a right wing Russian autocrat has published an op-ed (really just an edited version of a recent speech) in a left wing British newspaper criticizing America's right wing foreign policy -- and he leads it off with a quote from FDR! The times they have a-changed. Putin's assault is slightly strange and more than a bit hypocritical, but its very existence speaks to the dawning realization that Bush has weakened America internationally, degrading both our moral authority and exposing the limits of our military's might. It's no surprise that a militarily diminished, veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council would want more responsibility devolved to that body, but it's somewhat more unsettling for Russia's dictatorial leader to offer and distribute a speech frontally attacking the United States' foreign policy -- a move he would only make if he thought the relative benefits in being seen standing up to America outweighed the costs of doing so. --Ezra Klein.
