[bert]

Putin has one task. Save Mother Russia from dying.

At this point his degree of actual success is not at all clear.

[elhombrelibre]

I think he's whipping up war hysteria to stay in power. I mean is he really afraid of Estonia? Or how about the neutral nations (Ireland and Sweden come to mind) where he has sent his bombers and submarines into their airspace and their territorial waters?

The dissidents now in the West who admire and flock to Putin remind me of years ago when Left wingers admired all kinds of Left Wing and communist loonies. The Left was mad at the USA so it rallied around Castro, Ho, Mao, Stalin, etc. Now we have putative conservatives who think Putin is a Christian and a conservative despite much evidence to the contrary.