Doped up to the eyeballs

In some ways, it is understandable that the public voices in Russia see an anti-Russian campaign every time Russia is criticised because there is so much criticism.  The trouble is, policymakers in the Kremlin and their pawns in the state media are believing their own propaganda because almost always the criticism is justified.  Whether it be stifling democracy at home, fostering chaos in neighbouring states, backing to the hilt the murderous Assad and now being accused of state-sponsored doping of its athletes by the respected World Anti-Doping Agency, Russia generates negative headlines because their activities are overwhelmingly negative.
Trying to spin the aircraft bombing as Britain's fault when the UK grounded all British-bound carriers from Sharm el-Sheikh was ludicrous, especially when it did a humiliating about-turn, evacuating 11,000 Russians from Egypt by military aircraft and banning all future flights to that country.  It was another case of reality crushing Kremlin rhetoric - 'we will fight in Syria because it is better to do the fighting there rather than on home soil' exposed by slack checks at a Sinai airport.  Putin and his cronies got it wrong in trying to play a clever game in Syria but can't admit so.  Russian authorities haven't admitted to getting it wrong since the sinking of the submarine flagship Kursk in 2000.  It is the messenger who is always shot.
WADA have variously been accused as being 'idiots' (from head of anti-doping in Russia), writing 'nonsense' (Russian sports minister and FIFA executive committee member Vitaly Mutko) and making 'groundless' statements (Russian sports ministry).  Russian officials have gone on state television to talk about the anti-Russian nature of it all.  At no point, do they actually address the accusations with humility.  For WADA isn't just accusing Russia; Kenya and Jamaica too come in for some stinging criticism.  Also, much of the WADA report had to be withheld because it directly pertained to the former head of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Lamine Diack, who has been arrested by French police on conspiracy to cover up doping tests; thus the report could have compromised a criminal case and will have to wait for that to be concluded before it can be released in its entirety.
Sebastian Coe, Lord Coe, the new head of the IAAF, has always been a 'company man' - always loyal to his body (in this case sport) than outside pressures.  He ran in the Moscow Olympics in 1980 when Margaret Thatcher demanded that they join the American boycott - in doing so, he won the undying support of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the (corrupt) supremo of the International Olympics Committee.  Samaranch's support came in handy when he transferred his support to London after Madrid was eliminated in the bidding competition for the 2012 Olympics.  And now, Lord Coe's beloved London Olympics has been besmirched by drugs cheats, at the apex of whom was Russia.  Maybe that 1980 connection was why he refused to throw out Russia before WADA released its report but sport being above politics cuts two ways and Coe cannot ignore WADA's demand to be thrown out of the 2016 Olympics and the World Athletics Championship, for if he did that would be putting the politics of sport above sport itself.
There should be lifetime bans for drug cheats, no its, no buts.  A lifetime ban for Russia as long as Russia exists as currently configured may be harsh but once Putin steps down (and maybe before that), the edifice will totter.  It will take a while and waiting for democracy to return, to avoid any chance of a repeat of East German tactics (Putin served in East Germany as KGB liaison officer in the 1980s), will also be a long time in the making.  Logically, why would Russia stop with its track and field athletes?  Why not its national football team too?  Will we have the first nation to host a football World Cup whose own national team has been banned from competing?  Now that would be a humiliation Putin could not sidestep.