Apparently Pooty is "one of those types."
I think what Putin has been misquoted in this thread. He said that anyone who did not mourn the passing of the USSR had no heart. However he also said that anyone who wanted to go back to the USSR has no brain. The first statement is being quoted often, with the second being conveniently ignored.
And think of it ....the USSR was a military juggernaut. The current Russian military is more efficient, and it is taking steps to modernize (and even trying to move away from conscripts), however it is still a shadow of what it was during the USSR aegis. Any red-blooded person would miss the days when his/her country was a glbal super-power. Imagine if the USA one day was not number one militarily? Most true Americans would feel horrid.
Hence Putin saying anyone who does not mourn the passing of the USSR has no heart.
And then he said anyone who wants to go back to the USSR has no brain. Why? Because that system was a cancer.
Once you put the two statements together the guy makes sense. If onyl one (the first) is used then it seems as if Putin is trying to resurrect the soviet beast. He is not .....the guy ahs done a lot for Russia, including uplifting its economy (obviously not on US standards ...and what country is anyways ....but for most of the world Russia is doing well, especially when you consider less than a decade ago it was in shambles).
Many people do not like Putin because he is a maverick, and does things not as the world community would want but according to the will of the Russian people. He is basically a leader who thinks his country first and the rest of the world later. That is not a popular view in the world community.
Is he perfect ....far from it. But he is the best thing to happen to Russia in a long time.