Vladimir Putin, Russia's Dictator, today held a phone in show with Russians.  The western press said it was to reassure a worried public that Russia would be okay. 

Fact is their stock market has fallen much father than the US market.  Putin tried to blame it all on the US.  He also has been trying hard to get into a spitting contest with the west over NATO so he can distract his people with National Security issues.  You may remember that is how he was elected in the first place.  The FSB bombed Moscow apartment buildings, labelled it Chechen, and Putin was portrayed as the only man to stop it.  Worked well until his pal Alexander Litvenko, head of FSB Section Seven, blew the whistle (and was later assasinated for doing so).

Fact is Putin himself caused the sharp demise of the Russian economy.  The global economy did turn bad and that's not his fault.  But then Putin went on TV and publically threatened the head of Mechel Steel & Coal, an independent company co-listed on Russian and US exchanges.  A short while later he invaded Georgia.  With those two moves he told the world the truth, that Russia is no place to invest. 

The rules in Russia are that the dictator and his friends get all the marbles.  So western money ran and now poor Putin also faces extremely low oil prices.   

If Putin doesn't fix this he'll get the bullet.  That's the way they do it over there.  In the meantime, Russian's have no heat, little food, no job prospects and damn little help from their mafia lords. 

Normally it would be a really good time to repair relations but we have our own problems here and in this instance it may be wiser to let Putin stew in his own juices.  Do not get into any confrontation and do not meet with them for anything.   Do not help him find a way to distract Russians from what Putin himself has done. 

In the end there is only one power left to stop Putin.  The Russian military can remove him at any time.  In fact, today Putin made a point of telling Russian military officers that free apartments would soon be offered.  So their choice is clear.  They can sell out their Babushkas and Dedushkas for some silver and an apartment or they can quietly put together a plan to restore the constitution, the peoples faith, and Russia's standing among the community of nations.