The difference is that Putin, whether one agrees with him or not, is acting on the basis of what he thinks is best for his country, that is, on behalf of the interests of his country. Obama has never done that in any situation and in fact acts as if he never considers it and believes that he is in some way separate from his country (assuming that country is America...).
So I don’t see why people are snorting, “ yeah, right, Putin is only doing this to further Russian interests.” What’s wrong with that? It’s not an ulterior motive; it’s what the leader of a country is supposed to do.
But Obama started off with the proclaimed goal of reducing US importance and his “strategy” of never considering or even acknowledging US interests in any way is certainly achieving this goal, which is clear to people like Putin. Like him or not, Putin is defending the interests of his country.
>> Putin is defending the interests of his country.
It’s probably written somewhere that people respect their enemies more than their indifferent selves...
We will recover, with scars, but we’ll recover.