[henkster]

I do not and never have contended that Putin is a saint or “good guy” to his people.

My point is that Putin does not sell out the international interests of Russia when he deals with other countries. He does not bow to foreign leaders. He does not gut his military. He does not empower regimes hostile to Russia.

I cannot say the same about Barack Hussein 0bama, who is little different than Putin in his vision for domestic politics, but vastly different in his vision of the international standing of his country.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I cannot say the same about Barack Hussein 0bama, who is little different than Putin in his vision for domestic politics

I don't know about that. The Russian Army has Orthodox priests as chaplains. He seems to understand the nature of Mohammedanism. And he seems hostile to the homosexual radicals.

[Jeff Head]

I agree with 100% of what you just said.

Putin is trying to make Russia as powerful as possible, and himself the leader of the resulting powerful nation. He is doing so because he himself wants to rulke and wield the power. As such, he is defintely making Russia stronger so that he can do those things. He would love to see a eventual return to a "Union" of a large number of nations similar in scope and power to the Soviet Union, though he will call it something different now.

Obama. on the other hand, is gutting America because he feels America needs to be punished, and I believe sees himself presiding over that, while maintaing enough force at home to control all of us, and enough military force to credibly deter others, and helps those nations he feels more alinged with. That's where he is taking it. And that does not allow for making the US a leader amongst free nations, and particularly not for ideas like our Constitutional Republic and citizens who have been given unalienable rights by God as enumerated in our current Constitution.