[2ndDivisionVet]

Putin was once a GRU or KGB officer. They’re attacking ISIS rather than arming them. They invented the AK-47. Cold soup?

[CGASMIA68]

Communism ?

[353FMG]

Pray for lower caviar prices. Beluga in particular.

[WilliamIII]

and by “the Left” I include McCain and Lindsee. They’re cultural leftists and supporters of the biggest government protect of all - endless warfare

[Jim Robinson]

They don’t have Obamacare?

[Rurudyne]

It should be ironic that one of the few places in the West that cultural Marxism isn’t running amuck is Russia; however, CM was always ever them taking a dump in someone else’s back yard in order to befoul the landscape and they rationally never permitted it to flourish at home.

[Alter Kaker]

Russia's population is shrinking fast, its economy is in free fall, it's at war with its neighbors, the rule of law is essentially nonexistent, local and regional governments are dominated by strongmen, corruption is universal and the economy is significantly smaller than Italy's. The public health infrastructure is in a state of collapse, drug use and HIV are widespread, alcoholism almost universal.

Yeah, lets be them.

[ClearCase_guy]

+1

Putin is not going to rush through the Fulda Gap and conquer Europe.
Putin is not going to nuke Washington DC.
Putin is not an idiot — he is no threat to us.

[Chuckster]

So, With just a few weeks left in his administration, Obama, with help from the usual RINO suspects, gives every appearance of trying to start a war with Russia.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Why would he do that?

[babble-on]

Fascist dictatorship with global colonialist ambitions. Want to reimpose hegemony over the formerly enslaved satellite states in Europe.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Putin’ an ex-Communist autocrat who invades his neighbors. He is a dictator who rigs his elections, and imprisons or kills his opponents.

He is occasionally useful, but never trust him...

[kaehurowing]

Why we oppose Russia:

1. They are an overtly Christian country.

2. They reject the homosexual agenda and same-sex marriage.

3. They support the legitimate government of Syria while we support Islamists trying to overthrow it.

4. They support the Christians in the Middle East while we support the Islamists.

5. They exposed the corruption of the Democrats.

[Alter Kaker]

GDP (Nominal) in 2015, World Bank Numbers:

1 United States 17,946,996
2 China 10,866,444
3 Japan 4,123,258
4 Germany 3,355,772
5 United Kingdom 2,848,755
6 France 2,421,682
7 India 2,073,543
8 Italy 1,814,763
9 Brazil 1,774,725
10 Canada 1,550,537
11 South Korea 1,377,873
12 Australia 1,339,539
13 Russia 1,326,015
14 Spain 1,199,057
15 Mexico 1,144,331

Its economy is still a little bigger than Mexico's so there's that.

[Navy Patriot]

explain why I should fear Russia.

Putin won't let me riot.

[LeoWindhorse]

I think the only reason Russia got involved in fighting with Ukraine is because they became aware of the nearly overt meddling by Obama admin ambassadorial officials trying to instigate anti-Russian sentiments and actions by the NATO friendly Ukraine gov . They caught us , in the O Admin’s bumbling ineptitude , down & dirty .
Obama’s admin stirred up so much s#it EVERYWHERE , thinking they were being righteous with their Alinskyite crap .
If anything we should apologize to Russia for forcing them to endure 8 years of inept and feckless U.S. leadership . And invite them to now JOIN with us to grapple with radical Islam and many of the other world’s problems and offer them a complete removal of all the ridiculous Obama era sanctions and a return to full economic engagement and parity . Mutual respect and allies status . Not antagonists . No 2nd Cold War .

[Timpanagos1]

First of all, Russia has a GPD less than that of the State of California.

Russia’s GDP is just above that of Australia.

Australia has 24,000,000 people
Russia has 144,000,000 people

Russia is a Third World basket case.

[A_perfect_lady]

Over at the Beltway Times, a Tom Kawczinsky put it this way:

They fear Russia because it is strong, nationalist, and unapologetic for its values. They resent Russians because they rejected communism, the end goal of every liberal, and exposed how the state can never be the solution to all man’s needs. And now, they oppose Russia not because they care about Crimea, but because they fear what America and Russia might accomplish allied by the shared value of fighting radical Islam.

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting perspective, but we should get one misleading bit of information out of the way. Russia does not have "low taxes" at all. They have a low income tax rate, but that doesn't apply across the board to other taxes.

Their payroll taxes, for example, are so high that employers routinely look for ways to work around them by offering employees other forms of compensation that don't show up in their payroll records. For years it has been commonplace for employers to offer apartments, cars, etc. so they can pay minimal direct wages to their employees.

[oldvirginian]

When the Department of Homeland Security was established I, jokingly, stated that Russians now have more freedom than Americans.
And that was before the first baker was sued out of business for not baking a cake for a homo “wedding”.

I’m pretty sure they look at us with a healthy dose of suspicion.
Can’t undo 50-60 years of propaganda overnight.
Some cold war holdovers like McCain will never change because Russia has been a convenient boogey man since 1946.

I prefer to use the Reagan approach: trust but verify.

[Timpanagos1]

In Russia, the Male Life Expectancy is 64.7 years.

That is just above the Male Life Expectancy in Yemen and the same as the Male Life Expectancy in Gabon.

With that, Russia cannot even be considered First World.