When the Marquis de Custine traveled around Russia in 1839, he observed in his diary: "Russia is a nation of mutes; some magician has changed sixty million men into automatons." Some Russians say that their compatriots have become once again a "nation of mutes," who sit glued to the state-dominated television absorbing the continuous propaganda glorifying their leaders. Perhaps. But as one Russian liberal commented recently, "nations are mute only for a time. Sooner or later the day of discussion arises."
