Putin hasn’t been bad as far as Russian Leaders go- has he?
I mean he hasn’t murdered millions, Russia seems to have a stable economy and people are not starving, and he is not provoking the world...
There have been far worse than Putin. I really don’t care who Russians want as their leader, as long as it is not a power-hungry dictator bent on taking over the world.
And Putin does not seem to be that- is he?
You make a good point. He has been very selective in his use of violence. Considering Russis’s past he has been very mild.
And Putin does not seem to be that- is he?
I think he just might be, but he is more subtle than most.
The Freepers who are foaming-at-the-mouth Putin haters will tell you all about how he “invaded Crimea” as an example of his belligerence. In reality, there probably hasn’t been a more willing “invasion target” in the history of humanity. Crimea was returned to Russia, where it belongs (its possession by Ukraine was a quirk of Soviet internal politics), and the people got a serious quality of life upgrade moving from Ukrainian administration to Russian.
Technically true, he hasn't enslaved a population, and has opportunistically invaded and seized only small portions of neighboring countries. But it is a pretty low bar.
Mr. Putin is not Stalin bad, Hitler bad, Mao bad, or Xi Xiping bad. But he is an autocrat who squashes the individual liberties of the Russian citizenry. Overseas, he is an opportunistic troublemaker, involving Russia in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, the Sudan to gain Russia access to resources, but in ways that make crappy, strife torn, areas even crappier.