Why do Americans think Putin is a stronger leader than Obama?
 

Putin signing treaty to annex Crimea

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Obama filling out his March Madness bracket

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People might think Putin is stronger because he just invaded another country and took control nearly instantly, and the US isn't about to stop this by force.

I think it's a crime but in the long run this will hurt Russia.

Because some people smile while giving orders that are carried out exactly while others beat their chest like apes.



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It's not like Russia was some bad ass that stopped America from doing the same in Iraq;
so this is just bullshit.

i dont know a single american that thinks putin is anything but a dipshit.

where do you come up with these ideas?

Top Notch Marketing!

Cue the shirtless Putin montage being all "like a man" n shit.

Obama is an idealist and a community organizer with no real ability to understand or deal with complex geo political issues and experienced leaders and their designs.

Because most Americans are idiots

Because ... he is :2 cents:

Vladimir Putin?s rating has risen 15 percent and stands at 75.7 percent ? the highest in the last five years.

LOL, don't you think choosing a photo of Putin looking all serious signing the treaty is cherry picking a bit? He of all leaders is the current king of retarded vanity photo ops, horseback riding shirtless with his flabby pecs hanging out & whatnot.

Obama's constant (and pathetic) attempts to do a deal, any deal, with an opposition who's only goal is to bury him politically can't help but to make to make him look weak.

And I say this having voted for the man twice :disgust

They should bang each other then id care.

Putin was not an affirmative action hire.

100% agree :thumbsup

This American along with all Americans thinks Putin is a D-Bag and who is playing chicken with his own economy.
Economic sanctions will devastate the ruble and Russia's economy and Obama isn't afraid to pull the trigger.

You're a dreamer. Russia will be just fine and so will Putin. He got what he wants and in a couple years Obama will be gone as will any European leaders and a new Russian president will be in power and the whole world will want to join hands, forgive and start over in the interest of peace and love and happiness and Russia will still own Crimea. It was over the moment Obama got elected. Russia is looking 50 years into the future, you and the west are looking months into the future. It's not even a fair fight.

People have been saying crap like that for 60 years and yet America is still the worlds #1 Super Power.

Russia wont be fine, the USSR fell and Russia is looking to repeat itself if it doesn't watch out. :winkwink:

Apparently, you have no idea what I was saying.

Further, Russia is not the Soviet Union, child. There is no comparison. And America is dying a slow death, regardless.

Let's play the game in reverse.

Putin kicking a ball with some soccer people.

http://xaxor.com/images/Vladimir-Put...d-sports14.jpg

Obama signing a justice bill into law.
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If someone admires Putin, then you know all you need to know about that person. You should probably stop knowing them to make your life better.

I got exactly what you were saying and my point is Putin and Russia is going down the same road as the former Soviet Union and its not going to take 50years for it to blow up in Putin's face.

Putin isn't looking 50yrs into the future he is too busy looking at himself in the mirror with no shirt on :laughing-

I would call him more "reckless" than "strong" or "great strategist"...

I think everyone is overstating how much of an awesome get Crimea is for Russia. It's a strategic location (that they already had a multi-decade lease on militarily) that's a total economic backwater and was completely dependent on mainland Ukraine for all the basic necessities of power, water, etc. It's extremely corrupt. There is no land connection to Russia and any bridge across the strait is years and billions of $$$ away. It will be a negative drag on their economy in the best case scenario, and let's not get carried away with portraying Russia's economy as rock-solid, because it's not whatsoever.

There is also a potentially radicalized population of Muslims there in the Crimean Tatars that want no part of annexation, especially after they've only recently returned to the region after being deported in the 1940s (half of those deported died with a few years).

There's a lot of nationalist pride going on in Russia right now that Putin is tapping into, but these things go in waves - people are fickle. As I keep saying, let's give this 2-5 years before it's claimed a victory.

Also, am I one of the only people who doesn't see East vs West as this zero-sum game? Lotta blind animosity being thrown around.

Obama orders asset freeze, visa bans against Russians
 

This is only the beginning :)

It's not whether it is a good grab or not by anyone else's definition. It's a security issue. It's a very important Black Sea naval base they could have lost access to at any moment. and it's about a massive chunk of property in the region which they can now freely militarize. It's about stopping the Ukraine from joining the EU. It's about stopping NATO from moving in.

These guys do not give a fuck about hollow and toothless threats. They don't care about Obama or the EUs threats. They don't care about the ultimately small price that must be paid. For very large political and strategic security gains.

Putins first job in office was to take back Chechnya by starting a second war. That was the very thing he ran on and got elected for. Russia completely leveled that country and the capital. Search google for pics of Grozny. Who stopped that? How did Russia suffer. They sent military into Georgia ... Who stopped that? What was the cost. This is not something new... He knows exactly how to play the Eu and US and it is weak leadership that creates these opportunities just as weak leadership will ultimately welcome Russia back into western arms in a year or two or three.

What no one seems to get is that this is not "new" behavior. This is the same Russia fighting the Cold War as they always have.

It will be hard to accomplish all of that if your countries economy goes bankrupt and your Ruble becomes worthless when America and the EU has economic sanctions against you.
Ask Cuba how that's working out for them.

I believe the Russian people want to be more like America and the EU and I wouldn't be surprised to see a revolution someday.

I do agree with you 100% that the EU is soft, has bloated cumbersome governance, and somehow got blindsided by Putin even though the signs were right in their face. Any collection of countries like that who operate under consensus are typically going to get outmaneuvered by a single autocratic govt riding a wave of popular nationalism, unless their existence is directly threatened (as say in the Cold War). And the EU has a failure of will right now.

But despite Obama's many faults, no US president would have had more options in this timeframe. We're winding down multiple costly bullshit interventions & wars and are in an isolationist phase relatively speaking. What would you have us do instead?

Regardless now that everyone's cards are on the table it'll be interesting to see how things develop from here. I just think the media & population is so quick to pounce on anything and declare it failure or success instantly, when shit takes time to evolve.

Cuba is not Russia either. What are you, 14 yrs old? Russia is at the top of any list for any and all natural resource exports from diamonds to gold to oil to timber. The obvious point is that they can be squeezed but no one can stop them from exporting to partners. Cuba is irrelevant to everyone except sex tourists and Michael Moore

great, except pretty much 2/3rds of Russian economy is based on selling oil+gas to the west... if something were to fuck that trade up, Russia would probably be in trouble...

What are you 12?
Once again you fail to see my point.

The Cuba analogy is to show you that sanctions can devastate ones country.
If most of he free world wont or cant buy your precious commodities then you are shit up a creek without a paddle my friend.

They can just trade that oil, gold and diamonds amongst themselves and see how that works out for them.

What he is saying is that Cuba had no leverage, so yeah, sanctions crippled them. Russia has a ton of leverage because a goodly portion of Europe (especially it's arguably most powerful member Germany) is dependent on them for natural gas and other resources, and many many other interrelationships that are difficult to just break. It remains to be seen if Europe has the will to pivot away from that, but regardless it would take time.

But it is true that Russia's economy has a lot of the same vulnerabilities as your garden variety petro-state.

You are a typical Ugly American. Cuba is a failed state because it has been the victim of a failed revolution and failed dictator it has the GDP of a small town in Arkansas on its best year because they were ran by the typically corrupt government, aligning themselves with the worlds worst allies. The entire planet is free to do business with Cuba and always has been... just not the US. Not sure how you started believing you are that important.

Exactly... and that should have always been the first course of action. The mistake was allowing oil prices to shoot through the roof so many years ago. Up to that point, Russia was limping along and Putin was walking around Bush's ranch with a cowboy hat on because he really had no choice but to kiss ass and pretend at home that he wasn't (i.e. security council vetos, attacking Georgia etc). Today, we have a weak president and he has cash and experience and he plays the game much better. Spectacular timing of events allowed him to swiftly move in and do something they've wanted to do since 91.

What i am saying though is that no one is going to get tough on them. The world is too weak. We can do it to Iran because they are different. They aren't white. They are mostly Muslim and they hate the US. Once the nightly news starts showing hardships on common Russian people due to sanctions on Russia, suddenly the attitudes shift in a blink of the eye and Russia is the victim in everyone's eyes and it will all be undone.

The world is a different place than 20 years ago or 30 or 40. While the West is busy singing Kumbaya... other nations have no intention whatsoever of joining in and when opportunity presents itself.. they pounce.

I'm not saying Putin is a great person. He is however a great leader, a great tactician and great politician.

It didn't take you long to result to name calling and insults so I now see how weak really you are and where your breaking point is, just like Russia will be after sanctions are imposed and the Ruble falls.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Thanks, I needed a good laugh today :)

Name calling? If suggesting your are self important is "name calling"... ok. I've called you a name. That doesn't change the fact that anyone could do business with Cuba since Castro took over and they choose to then align themselves with every shit country on the planet and US Sanctions aren't why they are a failed nation. You thinking so is what makes you delusional and a typical self important american with no real understanding of the world beyond your front door.

they both support nuclear weapons :helpme both pieces of shit currently sober start drooling

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he cant stand his own smell :fart

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Correction: you called me an Ugly American
That my friend is an insult.

I'm delusional?
You think Putin is a great leader! :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Lets just face facts, you Hate Americans.
I on the other don't hate other nations and their people, I just have a problem with some of their ego maniac leaders.
I would never call you Ugly whatever nationality you are.