Russia versus the West - like old times.

The scariest bit of news today is that Russia has apparently managed to gain a digital "hacking" foothold into America's energy systems and could cut off US power just like that if it wanted to. This is how powerful and deadly Russia has become. Not nterested in developing warm and friendly relations with the West, Russia - ie Vladimir Putin - is turning itself into World Enemy Number One and has made preparations to undermine our very existence - turning off the energy taps here, killing Russian double agents with military nerve agents there. Do the ordinary Russian voters really grasp what the Kremlin is doing in their name and if they do, do they care enough to vote for Putin's opposition candidates in Sunday's election? It looks like the answer is: they don't care what Putin is up to on the world stage. They like having someone tough in the Kremlin and, presumably, they believe what Putin, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister, and the other Kremlin cheerleaders are saying about the West's "provocations". Perhaps they like Putin against the rest of the world. They always did like powerful leaders. There were even some who were so put off by Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian leader with a smiling face who got on well with western governments, that they wanted Brezhnev back!! Can you imagine? So Putin will sail through the election on Sunday and get himself six more years at the helm. If it's true that his hackers have their tentacles around America's energy supply networks - and perhaps around Britain's too - he is literally in a position to blackmail the West. He has already said he could cut off Russian gas supplies to Europe. This man with the medically stretched face and crocodile eyes is now showing his true colours. Kicking out two dozen Russian spies from Britain is just not going to make any difference.