How to Think About Vladimir Putin - Imprimis

[The Annoyed Man]

I subscribe to the Imprimis newsletter from Hillsdale College. This one came in the mail a couple of days ago, and it is very much worth reading because it gets at the heart of not just how we as Americans ought to view Putin, but also how we as Americans ought to relate to our own gov't, and whether or not that gov't is serving our interests first, or everyone else's

https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/think-vladimir-putin/

Vladimir Putin is a powerful ideological symbol and a highly effective ideological litmus test. He is a hero to populist conservatives around the world and anathema to progressives. I don’t want to compare him to our own president, but if you know enough about what a given American thinks of Putin, you can probably tell what he thinks of Donald Trump.

Let me stress at the outset that this is not going to be a talk about what to think about Putin, which is something you are all capable of making up your minds on, but rather how to think about him. And on this, there is one basic truth to remember, although it is often forgotten. Our globalist leaders may have deprecated sovereignty since the end of the Cold War, but that does not mean it has ceased for an instant to be the primary subject of politics.

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Out of a crumbling empire, he rescued a nation-state, and gave it coherence and purpose. He disciplined his country’s plutocrats. He restored its military strength. And he refused, with ever blunter rhetoric, to accept for Russia a subservient role in an American-run world system drawn up by foreign politicians and business leaders. His voters credit him with having saved his country.

The reason that Putin is a sort of hero to some conservatives (yes, we KNOW he is a ruthless swine), is that we see him, and we wonder, "why can't OUR leaders defend OUR interests the way Putin defends Russia's? Why do we elect presidents like Obama who sell us down the river without ne'er a fair-thee-well? Why do we elect Congressmen who aid and abet them? When did we decide that our sovereignty, both as a nation and as individuals, must come second to the demands of every tin-pot dictator and slimy bureaucrat?"

I found that this article explains exactly why I am an occasional grudging admirer of Putin........NOT necessarily for his methods, but for his unapologetic promotion of his own country's interests, ahead of anyone else's.

Anyway, an interesting article and subject.

[mojo84]

I think this describes what Trump was getting at when he said Putin was a good leader. Good person and good leader are different things. Putin has done a lot to restore his country. His motivation and methods are not acceptable to me but his focus on doing what he believes is best for his country and putting his country first is admirable.

[K.Mooneyham]

I think this describes what Trump was getting at when he said Putin was a good leader. Good person and good leader are different things. Putin has done a lot to restore his country. His motivation and methods are not acceptable to me but his focus on doing what he believes is best for his country and putting his country first is admirable.