Every once in awhile, a voice of reason and truth can be heard -- even on Russian state television.
What? You don't believe me?
Well, look, I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears -- and I don't think I was hallucinating.
Appearing on a talk show on Channel One earlier this week, liberal politician Leonid Gozman said some remarkable things.
He said Russia was responsible for a war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 8,000 people and as a citizen of the Russian Federation, he bears responsibility for this.
WATCH: Today's Daily Vertical
He emphatically called on Vladimir Putin to release Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko.
And he appealed to Ukrainians, saying that all Russians do not support the "barbarism and cruelty" that Moscow has unleashed on their country.
Bravo.
Now Gozman, of course, was quickly shouted down by the host and other guests -- which is something of a metaphor for anybody expressing dissenting views in Russia today.
But his voice was heard.
He managed to hijack a talk show on national television and get his message out to the whole country.
And as a result, others who agree, others who have been intimidated into silence and conformity, others who are ashamed about what is being done in their name, might finally have the courage to speak out themselves.
In Russia, television has become a substitute for reality. And Leonid Gozman has bravely just made it a little bit more real.
Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
