[ShadowAce]

Putin is a thug. So why would we back a thug?

He may be a thug. I agree. However, he is a Russian first--not a Deep State thug. That is the issue and why he is being brought down.

[Zhang Fei]

[He may be a thug. I agree. However, he is a Russian first—not a Deep State thug. ]

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He is hiring Chechen terrorists to be his Praetorian Guard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzan_Kadyrov

When he goes, those terrorists might end up in charge. Saying he’s a Russian first means nothing. Of course he’s a Russian. What else could he be - an American? A Nigerian? The other thing he is? A billionaire 200 times over:

https://nypost.com/2015/02/16/investor-putin-could-be-worlds-richest-man-with-stolen-200b-fortune/

From a Russian standpoint, the issue with Putin isn’t that he kills his political opponents or has amassed large sums of money for himself. It’s that huge swathes of Russia remain undeveloped even as he vacuums up billions of dollars of state money into his personal accounts that were slated for things like roads and bridges. I understand that a king has his prerogatives. It would be nice, however, if he actually spread some of that money around on infrastructure to benefit the ordinary Russian, instead of spewing empty rhetoric about traditional values even as he installs a strip club in his palatial mansion:

https://nypost.com/2022/01/21/putins-own-personal-strip-club-purportedly-shown-in-photos/

[Zhang Fei]

[He may be a thug. I agree. However, he is a Russian first—not a Deep State thug. That is the issue and why he is being brought down. ]

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In case you’re skeptical that a Chechen might end up the top guy, have a look at this guy’s bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruslan_Khasbulatov

He came within a hair’s breadth of replacing Yeltsin. That Putin has an Islamist version of Khasbulatov as his right-hand man isn’t confidence-inspiring, unless you’re a Muslim.

[Zhang Fei]

[He may be a thug. I agree. However, he is a Russian first—not a Deep State thug. That is the issue and why he is being brought down. ]

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A tiny sliver of the self-dealing that funneled money into Putin’s pockets instead of the general welfare. He makes Biden look like an honest man:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/maxseddon/eye-popping-excerpts-from-a-report-alleging-corruption-at

[nickcarraway]

Are you Russian or from the U.S.? And if you are going to use the term Deep State, then yes, he is. Why else does he have the backing of Obama, Bush, and others?

[nickcarraway]

However, he is a Russian first--not a Deep State thug

Wow, could you have said something more demonstrably false. He's Deep State for Russia and the U.S.

Putin is doing all the things in his own country, that you hate people for doing to the U.S. Do you actually like Bill and Hillary? Because they are amateurs at their game compared to Putin. Basically, he's enriched his cronies at the expense of the people of Russia. If he were a U.S. leader, you'd be shouting that e was a globalist. But since he is the leader of another country, somehow he is good?

And he has the backing of U.S. leaders like Obama and Bush. Do you like those guys?

And who is his biggest international ally? That would be Xi Jinping.

I'm sorry, you've posted smart things elsewhere, but what you've said on this thread is beyond nonsense. By any objective standards, V. Putin would be one of the most Deep State leaders in the world.

[rbmillerjr]

You are a complete moron.