Russia prepared to challenge the man who Vladimir Zhirinovsky ^[1] called “the American Gorbachev”. The AP ^[2] reported yesterday that “Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland to counter U.S. military plans in Eastern Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday, setting a combative tone that clashed with global goodwill over Barack Obama’s election.”

The problem is that in certain societies goodwill is perceived as identical to weakness. Zhirinovsky described Obama as “the American Gorbachev, he will destroy America, it will not be rebuilt”. Whatever the truth of those words it represents the perception of some of America’s enemies. They’re wrong of course. Aren’t they?