With Tight Grip on Ballot, Putin Is Forcing Foes Out - New York Times

With Tight Grip on Ballot, Putin Is Forcing Foes Out - New York Times: "Nearly eight years after Mr. Putin took office and began tightening his control over all aspects of the Russian government, he will almost certainly with this election succeed in extinguishing the last embers of opposition in Parliament.

Strict new election rules adopted under Mr. Putin, combined with the Kremlin’s dominance over the news media and government agencies, are expected to propel the party that he created, United Russia, to a parliamentary majority even more overwhelming than its current one."

So while the state of affairs in the US is pretty poor, at least we can say we're not as bad as Russia. At least not yet.