It seemed puzzling at first that so many were talking about the Russian election when the results were announced on Sunday (17 March). At that point, I still did not know who the other candidates were, and now it seems pointless to type the question into a search engine. Putin won with nearly 88 per cent of the vote. There was never much question this would happen. Anything less would raise questions about where exactly might those votes be going and why.
Putin made sure that would not happen by imprisoning, exiling or assassinating every opposition figure and by sending the police and the army around the country with instructions to help prevent surprises. Nevertheless, every Western mainstream media still chose to speak of an election and to give it pride of place on their newscasts, web pages and print editions. Why?
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