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Biden, just back from a trip to Georgia and the Ukraine, said that Russian leaders are "clinging to something in the past," and dismissed Russia's claim to a sphere of influence extending to neighboring countries. “It’s a very difficult thing to deal with, loss of empire,” said Biden.

Sergei Prikhodko, the chief foreign policy adviser to President Medvedev, shot back: “The question is: who is shaping the U.S. foreign policy, the president or respectable members of his team?”

It wasn't immediately clear if Biden's aggressive, and extended, comments represented a broader change of U.S. tone or policy, and the White House hasn't offered any comment on the interview.

Obama Preached Democracy To Russian

If democracy is good enough for Russia, then why doesn't Obama support it in Honduras?

American News Coverage Too Biased For The Land Of Pravada

Russian will be sending observers to watch the US elections to determine whether or not we are capable of holding free and fair elections. They're already skeptical, because the American media had been so horribly slanted in its news coverage.

A preliminary report obtained by the Russian daily online newspaper Kommersant concludes the U. S. television networks devoted more time to Republican candidate John McCain, but "the material that makes up that time difference can be assessed as negative."

The Russian study also said Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential pick, has been subjected to more criticism than her Democratic counterpart, Senator Joe Biden.

It adds that when the presidential candidates' platforms are described, Mr. Obama's is described last, to make it look better, and when platforms are compared, "Obama's is presented preferable."

The observations appear to ape western criticisms of Russia's elections in which international observers have complained Russia's television networks are overwhelmingly pro-Kremlin and offer unbalanced and unfair coverage of opposition candidates.

Russia's Looming Oil Bust?

Experts have pointed to a grave deficiency in Russia's oil boom - no new exploration. Sound familiar?

Most of the oil produced after the country's 1998 financial collapse has come from drilling and re-drilling old Soviet oil fields with more advanced equipment — squeezing more black gold out of the same ground — and efforts to develop new fields have been slow or non-existent.

That strategy is potentially disastrous, said Valery Kryukov, who researches oil companies in western Siberia for a government-funded think tank.

"If the situation which exists now stays the same, oil production will start to decline seriously in two years," Kryukov said in a phone interview from his offices in the city of Novosibirsk.

The implications extend far beyond Russia's borders. Last year, Russia was the world's second-largest oil producer. If its output begins to decline or is hampered by inept or corrupt business practices, the price of oil could begin climbing again.

It seems that leftists are the same everywhere.