I don’t think this circular firing squad is very productive. I understand why some people might have a begrudging respect for Putin. He is a formidable politician and effective, if brutal and scheming leader. However, we must not forget that Putin is a bitter enemy of this country as well. You could say that our current administration to has exacerbated tensions between our countries. You can also say that Obama and his fellow rejects from 60s have made blunder after blunder on the international scene. I think that people can hold different opinions about Ukraine, but do we have to informally “zot” each other in the process? Can’t we all just get along, Freeper brothers and sisters?
Putin is a nationalist. You threaten Russians, he will counter attack. You give him pretext to threaten Russians, he will attack. Do not feed the bear. Unless of course you think GWB was a closet Putin loving Homo. He did drive him around his ranch in a white pickup truck.
*shrug* Every side has its propaganda. Plenty of what our side feels, for good or evil, is the result of decades of propaganda. If it were always the result a sincere repulsion for the totalitarian neo-aristocrats it would work much better. But there’s still a lot of mindless “them equals bad, and stupid” resulting from indoctrination making things a little bit harder than they should.
Just remember one thing: for all the “Nazis are evil” we all know from like, ever, they were an extremely talented and successful evil bunch. They had strong men, heavy machines, pretty girls. We were supposed to hate them, think they were ugly and stupid, lest their attractive distracted us from beating them. We probably didn’t have a real chance to sit down and think “yeah, they’re cool and all, but I don’t like their tyrannical ways”. The Powers That Be (TM) weren’t taking that risk. Personally, I think taking that risk is the only thing that matters. Believing “they are bad” is useless without feeling “yeah, they have a good side, they’re awesome in a lot of things, maybe they’re smarter, stronger or whatever, but I DON’T LIKE THEIR OPPRESSIVE WAY OF LIFE!”.