The GOP leadership is toning down the tea-party chest-thumping that characterized the aftermath of the 2010 congressional races.

FORBES: Washington Starts To Dance Away From The Fiscal Cliff

The Washington Post (nyse: WPO - news - people ), a closely held and thinly traded company, did its chest-thumping July 15 following the Coke announcement.

FORBES: Will Coke Make Pepsi Gulp?

If the government in Moscow comes to the conclusion, during the presidency of Vladimir Putin or afterwards, that it cannot otherwise bring under control either the country's regional dukedoms or the plutocrats who rose to almost uncontrollable wealth under Boris Yeltsin's tolerant gaze, it may reckon that its only hope of survival is a chest-thumping, rally-all-Russians foreign policy.

ECONOMIST: Weathering the storm