George Will on This Week, speaking about Russia:

Yes, into the eyes of his good friend Vladimir he peered famously (chuckles from his peers) and found a soul that he liked. Well, that's the soul of a product of the thug culture of the KGB who is nostalgic for the Soviet Union, the collapse of which he has termed 'the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.'

Mr. Putin want Russia to be a superpower. The problem is it's not even a developed nation anymore...it's not even a developing nation. It has an economy larger than, but only slightly larger than, Los Angeles County.There's an alcohol problem such that 80% of Russian men drink and the 80% who drink, drink on average five bottles of vodka per week. They have a public health problem worse than sub-Saharan Africa (chuckles from his peers). I mean, it's a collapsing country and we're supposed to be... (cut off by Cokie)