[ETL]

It’s bad manners not to copy someone when you speak of him. Nope, Kronos77 isn’t a relation except in the origin of the tagname

And it's "bad manners" for that SOB to continually attempt to sway naive/uninformed Freepers into believing Putin is a cool guy to be admired.

[Cronos]

Putin is hardly a "cool guy". He's a dictator, a Tsar-wannabe.

Is he "good for Russia" though?

right now, NO. But in the years from 1999-2004, probably yes.

There are many Russians who oppose him, but many who see the agony of the Yeltsin years and do not want to return to that (note also that there is no credible, viable alternative to Putin).

is Putin good for the US? No.

Is the alternative to Putin (a Russia in disarray) good for the US? Mostly, no.