I don’t think we admire Putin per-se so much as the abstract concept of having a President with actual testicles.
Well, lots of people admire leaders with brazen and cruel use of power politics. They’re admired when the succeed, like Hitler was. It has nothing to do, though, with common sense. The fact that Obama has no balls doesn’t mean you go out and lose good judgment so much that you cheer for a bully with balls.