WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The iron fist in Russia shows early signs of rust.

Vladimir Putin is still the tsar of all the Russias, but a few flakes of rust have appeared on the iron fist. United Russia (URP), the political party of Vladamir Putin, appears to have won a majority in Parliament in Russia’s most recent elections. It is not quite the majority Putin would have wanted, and he had to fight hard to win what he did — allegations of vote rigging and intimidation are swirling in the news today.