the hypocrisy of Russo-phobic propaganda in American media

admittedly, I don't follow a lot of American mainstream sources. However, the ones that I am exposed to, all of them, both Republican and Democrat, follow the same patterns.

Predictably, the entire American media landscape erupted in rampant, blatantly racist, Russo-phobia immediately after (if not even slightly before) Putin claimed his fourth term as President of the Russian Federation. It's become clear beyond doubt, the numerous identical reactions to his election victory, across the entire spectrum of "free" media, were equally as pre-mediated and manufactured as they allege the Russian elections to have been.

Some propaganda-apologists might say that it was a "safe bet" to report in this way, because the Russian democratic system is "obviously" corrupt...
To which one must reply: then how does transforming your own media into a pre-scripted, pre-mediated cacophony of propaganda help the Russians achieve liberty? Or, indeed, help global liberty at all?
How is the single-minded American media monolith, that actively persecutes and punishes difference of opinion (just like Stalin or Hitler would) instead of promoting healthy debate, representative of "progressive" values?
How is airing pre-scripted, pre-vetted, copy-paste stories helping create a healthy, critical, fact-based society?

To all this one must add that the denunciation of Putin's victory isn't exactly justified either. Yes, there were irregularities reported by observers, yes the opposition complained over a lack of "fairness"... But even accounting for these, Putin still won comfortably above 50% of the votes (by how much, that is where we can argue), which enshrines him as legitimate ruler of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, one simply cannot talk about American criticism of Russian democracy without mentioning the blatant and obvious failures to adhere to democratic values by both Democrats and Republicans in the latest American election.
In reality, what we see is the same papers that actively mislead voters about Bernie Sanders' position in the Democratic runner-ups, the same pundits that whitewashed Hillary Clinton's un-obscured corruption, the same editors that allowed Donald Trump's hateful and divisive rhetoric to go unpunished.... all these people who personally participated in undermining the due process of democracy, and personally benefited from election-rigging and vote-fixing... these people are now telling us about the alleged "illegitimacy" of the electoral process in a different country?

Firstly, one must rightfully question the authority on which these propaganda-marionettes criticise the legitimacy of any electoral process other than their own. Secondly, one has to allow for cultural diversity: not every system can work in every cultural setting. Just because a democracy somewhere works differently, that doesn't make it automatically "worse". Thirdly, one simply cannot ignore the lack of familiarity of American commentators with the realities on the ground in the Russian political and social landscapes.
Quite frankly, reading some of the scalding rants directed at Russia by self-proclaimed "experts" (exerts of bi-partisan election fixing and misleading the voters) are painful to read simply by virtue of their complete and utter detachedness from reality or any grounded facts. As always, the American society rewards ignorance and punishes inquisitiveness and critical thinking.
The American media is just as guilty of silencing dissent and diversity as they accuse the Russian media to be. What makes it doubly contemptible, is that they refuse to acknowledge it.

Now, we even see prominent figures in American politics and media trying to pressure Trump into not congratulating Putin on his election, as is his right as newly enshrined leader.

Can we please just pause for a second and let it sink in how draconian and fascist the very notion of refusing a handshake is?!

You can have it one way, or the other, American propaganda-puppets, but not both ways at once. Either you promote "progressive" values, or you vilify a friendly, human gesture.
What kind of society is it, that decries somebody for lack of morality, when they merely wish to greet someone?!
In what shape or form is it supposed to promote "progressiveness" or "liberty" to vilify outsiders to the point where you even refuse to simply greet them?!
How can you pretend to want a constructive relationship, when you even refuse the first attempts at civility and politeness?
If a constructive relationship with Russia is not what the American society wants, then what do they want?

Please, let's all stop pretending that the "progressives" in America in any way represent "global" interests. Because it's in nobody's interests, except their own, to start a new war, hot or cold. And if the American "progressives" don't stand for global peace and stability, then they have no authority to criticise any country on what they do domestically, let alone use it as an excuse for pre-emptive aggression.

The fact that even self-proclaimed "progressives" in the USA have such authoritarian and divisive tendencies, is testament to how fascist and polarised American society really is, and it's not Trump's fault.