russia's more of a market economy than most of europe is, steve. also, vlad would probably dig your new monument. i think he's put a few like it up, himself.

in truth, harper's latest dumb comments are incredibly insensitive to the millions of russians who look to putin to keep the communists out of power. 'cause that's vlad's real competition, after all - not these kleptocratic fascist "liberal" billionaires that the west wants to let back into yeltsin's liquor cabinet.

steve and vlad are actually very similar, kindred spirits of a sort. if steve ever decides to pull his head out of his ass and gain some kind of grasp on reality, he'd see his ideological brethren across the arctic ocean.

but, he'd rather hit the bunker and play with his plasticine soldiers, and send them off to fight his imagined boogeyman. do it for the gipper, steve-o.

i actually think it's fully plausible that steve has been left in the dark and fed propaganda and doesn't really have the slightest idea of what is going on on the ground in ukraine.