>>It's amazing how this is now snowballing... I suspect that no one, anywhere, wants all of this to happen. Too much upheaval and scary consequences. While I think that each country has the right to decide their future (in a democratic society or at least by consensus of the people), this has the probability of really stirring up a hornets nest...
>>
>>I found it interesting that Russia seems lately to be confused as to who their leader is...
>
>They aren't confused. They know Putin runs the show regardless what his or anyone else's title is.

They are so fucqueing concerned about who's the boss. Who cares? This is a whole country that's involved, and whoever is calling the shots has the parliament, public opinion etc to worry about. They can't operate on a whim, they are quite limited in what they can and can't do. This is no empire, no matter how much personality cult projection is thrown into it.

Imagine if every, but every article in Russian newspapers about USA contained a mention of "the son of the old Bush, who is running the country".

Maybe that's why the whole EU is so confusing, because there's no boss to talk to. If you make a secret deal with one, within six months there's another one. Can't rely on anyone nowadays.