Simple little blog: Putin

On the eve of Y2k, a nation was looking for a leader that would replace a president that was portrayed as a drunk. Boris Yeltsin needed a replacement who could steer Russia into the next millennium. He chose Vladimir Putin.

Putin has been leading Russia in various capacity for 14 years, either as president or prime minister. Under Putin's leadership, the economy is booming and Russia is regaining its standing in the world.

Putin is a popular leader in Russia, being portrayed as a superhero in various media. The Russian media always show him bare-chested, hunting dangerous game, participating in martial arts, and being an all-around tough guy. The Russian people eat it up and give him high approval numbers.

Despite his vast approval, Putin is not perfect. His background as a KGB spy is very suspicious of his motives. He is a Russian patriot, which means that he will do push Russian interest no matter the cost. The Russian invasion of Crimea is an example of Putin expanding national influence and bullying Europe into paying more money for natural gas that comes from Russia.

The US media is portraying Putin as homophobic for signing anti-gay laws and that Russia is trampling on the LGBT rights. I have a slightly different take on the issue. Russia has been fighting a slow population decline that has seen their death rate overtake their birth rate after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia is slowly recovering but has not gotten to the point of the replacement rate. Putin sees the need to encourage people to have children and not be exposed to the homosexual culture. Putin needs more Russians and these laws are designed to do that.

When it comes to leadership, Putin is running rings over the current occupier of the White House. When it comes to moral authority, it's either the ex-KGB spy who is slightly anti-democratic v. the community organizer that enforces the laws he likes, spies on people via the NSA, and who acts more like a dictator every day he is in power.