"Random chess lets me enjoy myself and get publicity for chess without having to disrupt my life for months of preparation." August 2018 - Garry Kasparov

This is not to say that a dictator or his policies cannot have popular support. The problem is defining what support means after 18 years of a personality cult and 24/7 propaganda that portrays Putin as a demigod protecting Russia from deadly enemies without and within. A year of fake news trolling and half-baked social media memes had half of America and its vaunted media running in circles in 2016. Imagine what it does to a population when that’s all there is, every hour, every day, for nearly two decades.

Once the move is made you cannot change it. Acknowledge the wrongdoings of the past, but do not pretend it can be fixed. It's the present that must be fixed. The heroes of the past were far from perfect. But the world we live in is better because of them. We too cannot be perfect. But we must always try to be better.

You can get quite far in a democracy if you can convince a majority that they are victims of a minority, and that only you can protect them.