Yeah, and the fact that Putin didn't find it particularly important to attend the recent American-hosted G-8 meeting at Camp David kind of tells you which side of the bread Russia sees the butter on, don't you think?

But if we're looking for someone to blame, ask yourself how much U.S. public discussion, debate or concern occurred as the rest of Russia thumbing it's nose at attending "our" meetings? Would Putin have stiffed similar meetings hosted by China in Beijing? Because the American public doesn't seem to care about our badly deteriorating influence, why should those we elect to represent us?