Things have come to a pretty pass, and we don't know where we're at concerning Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.  But we can't call the whole thing off.  We can legitimately differ on whether Putin is a "killer" or not, or the father of his nation, or the noble knight saving Russia.  Few, however, will dispute the conviction that there is no moral equivalence between the Russian and American political and social systems. Understanding of the Russian system becomes imperative with the announcement of the creation of the MGB (Ministry of State Security), combining a number of existing bodies, which is to be operative before the Russian presidential election of 2018.  It is ominous for two reasons.  One is that with its seeping powers, it will resemble the former KGB; the other is that the MGB was the name of the infamous Stalinist organization for eight years, 1946-53. The current differences between President Donald...(Read Full Article)