[hermaj]

Although I agree with you on many points I think you might be projecting onto D9u's comment. Nothing in the quote he posted suggests it is necessary to disband the NSA, nothing suggests Americans should wish they lived in a country like Russia. A 'course taken' implies a general direction, not a revolutionary change.

In the current situation Russians should be allowed to feel pride that it was their decrepit mafia state that opposed the United States on Snowden. That doesn't mean Russia did it for the right reasons, or that Russia is now a better place than it was before. A lot of Russians who feel pride in this action would probably still take the opportunity to live and work in the USA, the two are not mutually exclusive.

The problem I have with posts like yours is that they imply that because other places are a mess that exonerates the USA heading in that direction too.