Yesterday I watched a talk show on ORT (Russia’s main TV channel at the time) called "Decide for Yourselves" or something like that. The country’s main political talk show. Topic: "Does the West want to turn Russia into a raw-materials appendage?" The host—a scruffy, unshaven guy in a striped suit named Maxim—wrapped up the program like this: "It was the Lord God Himself, and no one else, who ordained that Russia be a superpower."

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