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Even the Russian newspaper Izvestia equated President Putin’s consolidation of power this week to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Despite the sudden and radical curtailment of democracy, however, the Bush administration hardly seemed to notice. “These steps do appear to run counter to fundamental principles,” a White House aid was quoted in the NYTimes. “But we want to get a better sense of how the Russians think they’re going to be implemented.”

(The article detailing the U.S. response to this dramatic turn of events appeared on page 12.)