I thought this quote was great: "Russia is a state that is effectively run by its intelligence services. Mr Putin is a former KGB operative. Spies and their cronies dominate his inner circle. Indeed Russia – which has become Mr Snowden’s temporary protector – is the perfect illustration of his argument that a state in thrall to its intelligence services would be a frightening place."<p>It's funny how much the US is starting to parallel this, or perhaps already does (or even exceeds it, and we are just starting to realize it).<p>We did have one president who was a former director of the CIA, as recently as 1988, and then his son for 8 years.<p>When we live in the information bubble of US media, we don't think about how it might look to a foreigner. Kind of like a goldfish not noticing the water he's swimming in.