Quote of the day: On the happiness (or otherwise) of dictators

"It’s a great mistake to think that dictators are motivated by a rational
calculation of their own happiness. They are motivated by an irrational
obsession with raw power, power for its own sake, which they pursue far
beyond the point where its benefits might conceivably justify the effort.
Whatever opulence there is in their palaces, whatever empty satisfaction
there may be in the pomp and circumstance of their office, it cannot outweigh
the burden of living in fear, doomed to endless scheming and intrigue."
~ Robert Tracinski, from his article ‘No, Obama Critics Don't Admire Vladimir Putin’