Kudos to President Bush for standing tough in favor of democracy :

Struggling to repair troubled relations, President Bush prodded Vladimir Putin on Thursday about Moscow’s retreat from democracy but the Russian leader bluntly rejected the criticism and insisted there was no backsliding.

“Strong countries are built by developing strong democracies,” Bush said he told Putin. “I think Vladimir heard me loud and clear.”
[. . .]
Yet Bush challenged Putin about his government’s behavior, saying that democracies reflect a country’s customs and culture but must have “a rule of law and protection of minorities, a free press and a viable political opposition.” He said he talked with Putin about his “concerns about Russia’s commitment in fulfilling these universal principles” and about Putin’s restrictions on the press.

Of course, Pootie-Poot had a pretty devestating comeback of his own :

In public, Putin compared his move to end direct popular election of regional governors to the American process of electing presidents through the Electoral College rather than by the results of the popular vote. “And it’s not considered unsenate, is it?” Putin said.

Ouch. I don’t agree with Putin’s moves to consolidate power, but it’s nice to see somebody call the President on his “do as I say, not as I do” lecturing.