[Opinionated Blowhard]

Putin is about the same as a Mafia thug. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants — lie, steal, kill, torture, subvert democracy. You may need to be a “tough guy” or a “man’s man” to do those things, but that certainly doesn’t make him admirable. And sure, he may be religious and people may find his defense of religion admirable, but a lot of Mafiosos went to church on a regular basis too.

[x]

Putin is about the same as a Mafia thug. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants — lie, steal, kill, torture, subvert democracy. You may need to be a “tough guy” or a “man’s man” to do those things, but that certainly doesn’t make him admirable. And sure, he may be religious and people may find his defense of religion admirable, but a lot of Mafiosos went to church on a regular basis too.

Well put.

I'm not sure Putin really is authentically religious, but who can say?

[ek_hornbeck]

Putin is about the same as a Mafia thug. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants — lie, steal, kill, torture, subvert democracy. You may need to be a “tough guy” or a “man’s man” to do those things, but that certainly doesn’t make him admirable. And sure, he may be religious and people may find his defense of religion admirable, but a lot of Mafiosos went to church on a regular basis too.

It takes a thug to keep order in places like Russia. Yeltsin allowed a lot more personal and political liberty under his watch, and the country descended into chaos. Military dictatorships and thuggish autocrats were the only ways to keep or restore order in places like Chile (Pinochet), Iran (the Shah), Egypt (Mubarak), etc. If having corrupt and thuggish strongmen is the alternative to chaos, civil war, or mob rule in those places, so be it. That doesn't mean it would work or be desirable in the western world.