That bad boy Dick Cheney, he called the kleptomaniacal Russians bad names. Here's some plain facts: the entire country is a kleptocracy where everybody steals from everybody. Corruption cannot be total but this comes close. The exception? Gazprom, the giant government run energy company. When oil was $25 a barrel there was no end to their thievery, but now with oil at $70 there is more money in running it honestly than stealing from it. So it's honest. Gazprom is a serious threat to all the democracies in Europe because they will have their corrupt foot on everyone's throat. Russia has always been an imperial power and they will continue their bad behavior til the sun finally burns out.