I thought that his machinations to step down from the Presidency, essentially switching roles with Medvedev, just so he could come back as President again later, was a bit contrived. But if the Russian people are OK with it, so am I.

And I suppose that is my general response to such questions as "why won't you condemn Putin?"

It i not my place to criticise Putin. He is staggeringly popular in Russia, as my article documents. If the Russian people are happy with him, then who am I to criticise?

"Physician heal thyself" should be the proper motto. I am a US and Italian citizen. I concern myself with righting the wrongs in those countries in which I have "standing", as the lawyers say.

I have no standing in Russia, no right to bring an indictment against Putin or the Russian government - even if I wanted to. Which I do not. I can only dream of having a leader in the US that was as responsive and representative of the needs of the American people as Putin does for the Russians.