Anti-Kiev separatists score major successes against loyal forces near Donetsk.

[VanGoghRocks]

33. I do not believe we will convince one another as to whether the Russian Federation

under Putin is fascist or merely nationalist. But I would suggest, Sir, that you take a look at Robert Paxton's Anatomy of Fascism and consider carefully Paxton's criteria for what constitutes fascism before rendering a verdict on the RF. Specifically, fascism seeks to achieve either de jure or de facto a one-party state (among other hallmarks). This manifestly is not the case in the RF currently, under Putin's latest presidency and Medvedev's prime ministerial tenure.

I think a far better analogue for the RF and Putin is 19th-century unified Germany under Bismarck. Bismarck was certainly no leftist, but he did preside over a multi-party Reichstag, much as Medvedev and Putin preside over a multi-party Duma.

BTW, Sir, those 14 characteristics you list certainly sound as though they apply to the U.S. as much or more than they do the RF. Certainly you're not suggesting that the U.S. is 'fascist'?