cant common on all the Russian dezinformatsia interwoven into this post;But, in between, when there was some glimmer of hope Russia wouldn't just be a strong-man kleptocracy, when Putin at least nominally stepped away from the presidency, Romney was sounding the alarm. It's pretty weird.
except to remind a reality check is a "strong-man" was what Russia needed after western stooge/drunk Yeltsin, and what Russians still do -at least upto this war.