Luke O’Brien: Putin’s Washington
An amator actor wearing a mask depicting Russian president Vladimir Putin perform the living nativity scene during the Orthodox Christmas Eve show in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Jan. This year the role of King Herod embodies actor in mask of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Inside the bar near Union Station, the two men propped their elbows on a table and locked hands. They'd paired off, American versus Russian, congressman from California versus deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. It was the 1990s, not long after the Soviet Union's collapse, and Dana Rohrabacher squinted across the table at his opponent, a compact Russian with wispy blond hair and hooded blue eyes. The man carried himself with cool poise. Earlier that day, he and two of his colleagues had joined Rohrabacher and a group of right-wingers for a game of touch football. The Russians acquitted themselves well.
