@Fairlane67: This would explain it. Putin would not act like this unless he has the strong support of his people.www.theatlantic.com/ international/archiv e/2013/07/why-putin- is-still-so-pop

@cbp210: So Putin has the backing of his people does he? Let's examine that statement. Russia is not a free country like the United States. As such Putin did not have to worry about pundits and politicians stating publicly that they were committed to making him a one term president. Accordingly, he does not have to contemplate whose going to support his legislative or foreign policy agenda. When he went to his Parliament "requesting" to invade Crimea, was the vote in any doubt? You most likely will not see Russian opposition party politicians (if there is truly such a thing there) going on state run television calling Putin a weakling, or celebrity Russian citizens referring to him as a subhuman mongrel.Yes Putin might have the "backing of his people", but my question to you is do they have a choice?

@rocket: Russia has been that way for centuries and the people are inclined to follow in that direction. The point is he has the support and there is nothing any of us can do.

I notice that and he has the backing of his people along with half of Ukraine. Obama not so much. [quote-end-tag-mismatch]@cbp210: So Putin has the backing of his people does he? Let's examine that statement. Russia is not a free country like the United States. As such Putin did not have to worry about pundits and politicians stating publicly that they were committed to making him a one term president. Accordingly, he does not have to contemplate whose going to support his legislative or foreign policy agenda. When he went to his Parliament "requesting" to invade Crimea, was the vote in any doubt? You most likely will not see Russian opposition party politicians (if there is truly such a thing there) going on state run television calling Putin a weakling, or celebrity Russian citizens referring to him as a subhuman mongrel.Yes Putin might have the "backing of his people", but my question to you is do they have a choice?[quote-end-tag-mismatch]@rocket: Russia has been that way for centuries and the people are inclined to follow in that direction. The point is he has the support and there is nothing any of us can do. [quote-end-tag-mismatch]@cbp210: I'm sorry if I misunderstood the point you were trying to make. But the inference is seems to me that Putin has support from his people that Obama does not. I'm only reiterating Russians, due to lack of freedom of speech, do not really have a choice but to support him. To compare his situation to President Obama is not fair in my view. If some Russian politicians feel that Putin is over stepping his bounds, whose brave enough to come out and say so - and expect to not be imprisoned or worse?

@rocket: To go along with that here's an article about a pro-invasion march that was allowed in Russia while a nearby anti-invasion protest resulted in them getting arrested. Also claims that many of the pro-invasion group was bused in and forced to participate. Also in the article they mention a video of thousands of cars trying to flee Ukraine into Russia which actually was video of Ukraine people fleeing into Poland running from the Russians. Just more of the Russian propaganda machine.www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/03/02/3524886/thousands-march-in-pro-invasion.html

[quote-tag-mismatch]I notice that and he has the backing of his people along with half of Ukraine. Obama not so much. [quote-end-tag-mismatch]@cbp210: So Putin has the backing of his people does he? Let's examine that statement. Russia is not a free country like the United States. As such Putin did not have to worry about pundits and politicians stating publicly that they were committed to making him a one term president. Accordingly, he does not have to contemplate whose going to support his legislative or foreign policy agenda. When he went to his Parliament "requesting" to invade Crimea, was the vote in any doubt? You most likely will not see Russian opposition party politicians (if there is truly such a thing there) going on state run television calling Putin a weakling, or celebrity Russian citizens referring to him as a subhuman mongrel.Yes Putin might have the "backing of his people", but my question to you is do they have a choice?[quote-end-tag-mismatch]@rocket: Russia has been that way for centuries and the people are inclined to follow in that direction. The point is he has the support and there is nothing any of us can do. [quote-end-tag-mismatch]@cbp210: I'm sorry if I misunderstood the point you were trying to make. But the inference is seems to me that Putin has support from his people that Obama does not. I'm only reiterating Russians, due to lack of freedom of speech, do not really have a choice but to support him. To compare his situation to President Obama is not fair in my view. If some Russian politicians feel that Putin is over stepping his bounds, whose brave enough to come out and say so - and expect to not be imprisoned or worse?[quote-end-tag-mismatch]@rocket: Obama could easily win the hearts and mind of people if he stopped targeting half of the base. I would have more confidence in Obama if it wasn't for Fast and Furious, Obamacare, IRS targeting conservatives, etc.

I'd have to go with DRAGO:

@EddyFree: I am fan of Dolph

@cbp210: Maybe for a few of you this is true but the man was hated by many before he even took the oath, i.e. birth certificate conspiracy. Obama could personally cure cancer and all some people would see is him taking jobs away from morticians, grave diggers, and chemo manufactures.

@daddyo9:
but can you keep your doctor?

@traxla:

only if you voted Democrat. Otherwise the only doctor in your network is 100miles away unless you want to make a campaign contribution.

@daddyo9:
You don't know how true that statement is

@daddyo9:

What I also find ironic is the GOP criticism of the response by the President so far. As memories tend to be short, When Russia invaded the former soviet satellite country of Georgia, President Bush did not seek a military response, and rightly so in my opinion. He like Obama sought out allies for diplomatic solutions to the situation. However to let Republicans tell it, if they had a president in office the bombs would have dropped by now, yeah right.

For the Ukraine part of the discussion, just want to share this interesting map showing the divisions of the country as far as language and politics are concerned(very interesting):www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/02/world/ukraine-divided/