Your attitude to Putin

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by WaldoKitty

He has an 87% approval rating among his people. That is the only metric that matters. He also has a fairly high approval rating in the USA despite a mainstream media that never misses a chance to spin him as an untrustworthy devil that can't be trusted. IMO, they need to look a lot closer to home for a "leader" that much better fits that description.

The old Russian desires to expand westward and to assimilate neighboring cultures go back well before even the rise if the Soviet Union. Putin inherited this after the fall of the fools and butchers before him set the dream of a Russo?/Soviet? "empire" back by more than a century.

So the question has to be "What do Putin (and Russia) really want?" The desire for a better life within the tested democracies continues to pit the natural predisposition for entrepreneurship against political pressure for security in the form of a bureaucratic state. And without much of a capitalist tradition, the rise of gangsterism in Russia is a natural outcome.

So long as Putin merely struggles to balance these forces, there isn't too much of a problem, but he also has access to the second-strongest military machine in the world, and one with nuclear capability. Assuming he grooms a stable successor, the rest will take care of itself, but otherwise .....

[WaldoKitty]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

The old Russian desires to expand westward and to assimilate neighboring cultures go back well before even the rise if the Soviet Union. ......

This is a logical fallacy. You are simply creating a strawman then burning it. It sounds like it came right off the pages of CNN, FOX, NBC, etc. The fact of the matter is that NATO/USA reneged on it's expansion promise made by Clinton to Yeltson 20 years ago. The Russians are no longer going to put up with it.

But this isn't the point of the topic. The point is how people feel about Putin and I contend, he is doing what his people want and that is what matters.

[pennyone]

From what I see, Putin is extremely popular with his people. This is what's most important. For us who live outside Russia, our likes and dislikes do not really matter. I don't like Putin because he is so closed- minded about gays. This is because I have several family members who are. But aside from his homophobia based on deep seated Slavic ignorance, there is not much more that I see wrong with him. Just because he places the national interest of his country above those of the West does not make him a villain. In fact, it makes him a good leader of Russia.

[alphamale]

I don't like the man, his background or his policies.

I do however admire his love for his country.

It will be nice to have a potus that loves America again.

[Old Gringo]

Putin is a dwarfish dictator who seems to see himself as Russia's Napoleon. His country remains mired in corruption and economic stagnation. I see little to admire.