Joe Pitts: “Vladimir Putin lives in an alternate reality, one where the state is still all-powerful and can control reality for its…”

“Vladimir Putin lives in an alternate reality, one where the state is still all-powerful and can control reality for its citizens. In the 1930s, Stalin could make people disappear by sending them to the gulags and then erasing any mention of them in state archives. By controlling all information, he could pretend that black was white and up was down. Today, in Russia, Putin wants to pretend that the Ukrainian insurgency is homegrown, that Russian soldiers on the other side of the border are lost or just volunteers. He wants to pretend that Kiev is controlled by Nazis. His state-owned media dutifully reports these fictions as fact. The Soviet Union hasn't existed in more than 20 years. It collapsed out of weakness, and Russia remains weak and wholly dependent on energy exports today. Putin can pretend all he wants, but the reality is that he does not have the power of the secretary general or the czars. Let's not let him turn his dreams into reality by abandoning our friends and NATO allies. We must stand up for their freedom and support them more vigorously. ____________________”