I guess that's the root of our disagreement then. I don't see him as a run-of-the-mill asshole. I see him as one of the most dangerous people in the entire worl

I guess that's the root of our disagreement then. I don't see him as a run-of-the-mill asshole. I see him as one of the most dangerous people in the entire world. I could point to some other national leaders who on the surface seem way worse than Putin, but those people aren't smart enough or powerful enough to have the kind of impact on the world that he does. I think Putin is way more intelligent, capable, and ambitious than Duterte for example, and Duterte certainly fits into the "psychopathic authoritarian monster" stereotype far more obviously than Putin does. But Putin in the long term can do far more damage to the world at large. Duterte is a cartoon, and as awful as he is, I don't think he has ambitions beyond his own borders. Putin most definitely has such ambitions, and the ability to achieve them. And of course, in a selfish sense I'm extra worried about him because he's clearly hostile to my country, and the values and ideals that I hold, as well as the values and ideals that my country holds (at least on paper, even if it doesn't always do a great job of representing them).