...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...to send troops into Ukraine, in a move Moscow says will help the grinding of the peace processor.
Only one senator voted against Putin's Tuesday proposal to rescind the March 1 decision granting him the right to intervene in Ukraine to protect Russian speakers, while 153 voted in favor.