World Loves Putin

Barack Hussein Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize, and for good or ill, is living up to his promise to "transform" America. His backers were convinced Obama would be beloved by the world as he was replacing the widely reviled George W. Bush. Obama's supporters and the main stream media seemed certain that the world would love Obama as much as they did. In the event, Obama and, by extension, the United States are as despised as they were even under the last President. On the other hand, Vladimir Putin, who has engaged in several stunts to build a cult of personality following, repressed internal opposition within Russia, and been a bully to former Soviet republics that have broken away, is now, on the basis of Syria, revered by much of the world as a "peacemaker". The irony that a presumed champion of peace like Obama threatens bombing while a cold calculated thug like Putin is heralded as a dove is not lost on me.