[Old Teufel Hunden]

"To the contrary most of them believe he is about as good as it gets for Russia and a farsight better than being ruled by the Communist."

The Soviet Union fell in 1991 which is 27 years ago. That means that Russians under the age of 35 either weren't alive or have no real memory of the Soviet Union. I suppose Putin is better than the Russia of the 1990's but he's great to them because he seems tough and talks tough to America. He's great to them because if they have been born and grown up in Russia they don't know the possibilities of living in a western style nation. If they were able to contrast Russia with that, Putin would fall way short in their eyes.

If you beat a dog all of your life and the next owner comes along and beats him a little less I guess the dog will like the new owner more, but he's still being beaten....

[FreedomNotSafety]

The young Russians know of the true brutalities suffered by their parents and grandparents under Communism. Russians know the possibilities of living in western style nation. They are free to travel and many of them do. The article stated “brutality” by Putin which is a big difference from “falling short” as you say.

What is it you think Putin is doing to ordinary Russians that qualifies as being “beaten”?