There are plenty of similarities in the way North Korean dictator (or puppet, depending on who you ask) Kim Jon Un and Russian dictator (or teddy bear, depending on who you ask) Vladimir Putin maintain a political/security power base at home:
In a 2012 report for Chatham House, James Greene wrote that a key part of Putin's method is to use corrupt business schemes to make elites in former Soviet states compliant. It is an extension of his strategy for controlling his own Kremlin elite.Such cynical 'leadership' is often effective at maintaining a regime's loyal core domestically, and the Kremlin also widely employs corruption as a tool of foreign policy. But this was the model that eventually backfired in Ukraine: Putin found it easy to control the elites through Yanukovych while teaching them how to fleece their own populace-- alas, keeping a lid on the Ukrainian people was another issue entirely.
Yes, the utterly shameless Putin has even orchestrated one of these mafia-style 'overcharge/kickback' schemes to reward himself for loyalty to... himself.
As we've recently learned, this plunderous reprobate had zero problem buying-off the hyper-corrupt Clintons when he wanted to make a move on America's uranium supplies... and since Obama is hardly any better a human being than Hillary, you have to wonder what kind of reward came to them (from the Kremlin) that brought us otherwise inexplicable head-scratchers like the goofy 'reset button' -or more chilling 'I'll be more flexible after the election'.
So Russia is run by corrupt, ruthless scum- and the US is run by corrupt, traitorous scum... what a wonderful world, and how fun it is to be on the losing side all the time now, as our clueless/disloyal White House repeatedly gets trounced by an ex-KGB gangster who simply plays a weak hand well.
Vladimir Putin sure isn't what I'd call unstoppable... and as Reagan made clear, 'The Russians aren't ten-feet tall'-- but I never thought I'd see the day like this, where the US leader -still in charge of the world's most powerful military- seems neither able nor willing to stop nefarious forces hostile to American interests as they continue to make illicit gains worldwide...
and at severe costs to innocents.
It is a fact that sanctions have hurt the Russians -and that Obama's White House negotiated the toughest ones with the EU- but that may be more out of a sense of abandonment than anything else, as he's caved on every issue from Czech/Polish missile defense to nuclear reduction deals to Ukrainian arms sales, and still keeps scheduling 'talks' and licking their posterior.
In fact, Obama seems to be in-cahoots with Moscow, Tehran, Havana, Gaza... as do the Clintons. And with the release of Clinton Cash, a lot of things have begun to make sense: these lying, thieving, Dem traitors have selling us out to our most vile enemies -enriching themselves directly in the process- and as if that weren't all enough, they somehow control the Republicans, too!
Is the establishment GOP in on it? Blackmail? Who knows- but America's powerful Democrat elite are clearly not interested in protecting this nation
-only in radical leftism and personal financial gain- while on Capitol Hill
-which the Republican Party is said to control- we as a party present almost no effective opposition whatsoever-- what a nightmare.