As a child of the Cold War, growing up in the United States, it is sobering to now understand fully how one of those former Soviet republics on the border with Russia feels when their politics is so heavily influenced by another country that their own government becomes a sort of farce. Imperialism is imperialism. It is funny to see the reversal, in our case, though, as the tail wags the dog. The mighty empire of commerce finally selling itself and its very soul. An appropriate epilogue.