I've spent a lifetime being a contrarian, and I've found a couple of skills required of contrarianism: the drive to question everything (even your most heartfelt beliefs) and the ability to accept facts that would normally make one uncomfortable.

But you are not being a contrarian. You are only parroting talking points and claims from the pro-Russia crowd. That may make you popular with the Assange/Greenwald/Snowden supporters, but that does not make your claims factual.

Yes, the Western nations have feet of clay and lots of warts - we've done great wrongs, too. But you do not appear to grasp what life is like under authoritarian rule, much less how deeply the corruption affects every walk of life. You think the US and UK are corrupt? We're amateurs compared to what goes on in an authoritarian state.

No, you wrote your article with the very best of intentions, but it is ruined by an utter lack of perspective of the differences between democratic and authoritarian governance.