[FreedomNotSafety]

“...brutality toward the ordinary Russian...”. I have met plenty of ordinary Russians and have yet to meet the first one who has been “brutalized” by Putin. 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.

[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....

[billakay]

“...brutality toward the ordinary Russian...”. I have met plenty of ordinary Russians and have yet to meet the first one who has been “brutalized” by Putin. 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.

I've been in Russia since May of last year, and as far as I can see, NO ONE is being "brutalized" by "Putin". On the other hand, the level of enthusiasm the people had towards the election was amazing (mostly for Putin, but it is worth noting that I know quote a few people who had no trouble sharing the other candidates they were supporting).

[PapaBear3625]

I have met plenty of ordinary Russians and have yet to meet the first one who has been “brutalized” by Putin.

I think most ordinary Russians fear chaos and economic collapse far more than they fear getting on Putin's bad side. That's why Putin is so popular.