[wolf78]

Remind me if Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Tojo or Mussolini gave a rat's rear-end about polls.

I think there are two sides to this coin. Is Putin's Russia dangerous? Absolutely.

But many here on FR make the mistake of interpreting Putin's actions as sign of strength (because it makes for a nice juxtapposition: Strong Putin, weak Obama). Yet I believe there is some truth to the TIME article. In many ways Russia is weak.

Putin was so very afraid of a simply trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine, so very afraid of western market economies that he is willing to kill and go to war over it.

If it wasn't blatantly obvious before, it should be now: Putinism is morally bankrupt. Who would want to ally oneself with such a pathetic system? Didn't someone say with regard to Ukraine: "I'd boycott Russian goods if I could think of a single thing they made besides the rest of the world depressed."?

I'm not saying that Russian military isn't to be feared. It is. But at the same time the ruble is going down the toilet. I'm just saying that one should probably see Russia as it really is: morally weak and technologically outdated.

P.S.: Even the Russian government prefers foreign cars over Ladas: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1977004-in-russia-earning-an-olympic-medal-at-sochi-means-a-mercedes-and-pile-of-cash

[2ndDivisionVet]

Here's what $100 bought ten years ago for me.

[gusopol3]

Russia under Putin:weak; Obama under America: weaker.

[TalBlack]

I don’t have the sense that many believe Putin is strong, rather that he is taking advantage of a world with a weak America. Putin is motivated and decisive in the face of a Coward president.

[EBH]

I would just caution, that in that 19th Century mindset of Putin, the answer to his country’s malaise is war.