PUTIN' PUTIN DOWN

Hillary Clinton’s comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler may have opened a Pandora’s Box for  Cold War revivalists, conspiracy theorists and political gossippers.

So here’s my beginners list of 10 eerie parallels between Put. And Hit.:

*Highly charismatic heads of state,

*Masters of national propaganda machine,

*Little tolerance for political opposition,

*Tapped into national yearning for a return to glorious Empire of previous century and earlier,

*Rewrote national constitution to extend power grip,

*Held power in shakey economic times,

*Hosted an Olympic Games,

*During which chided for anti-progressive stance on social issue (Aryanism; gay rights),

*Swift early military campaigns explained as “annexation” (Sudetenland; Crimea)

*Trying to reacquire border territory lost in aftermath of prior war (WWI “punitive” settlement; Cold War).