Vladimir Putin is Ronald Reagan

[friendly_iconoclast]

ADDED ON EDIT: DUer bemildred came up with the idea first, and I'm just
running with it

I had called him "a better-armed, European version of Robert Mugabe"
in the following thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5459673

...whereupon the OP reminded me that Putin "...was elected in a free and fair vote".
The OP (among others) have repeatedly remarked upon Putin's public favorability
ratings. These reminded me of somebody- but who?

Then DUer bemildred gave the answer, here in the thread

Someone needs to explain the right’s adoration for Vladimir Putin because it’s creeping me out.

www.democraticunderground.com/10025470070

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025470070#post10

Do you remember when we all went bananas here over Raygun?

"The shining city on the hill" and all that right-wing jingo nationalist crap? Well, that's Putin in Russia. And right-wingers everywhere lap that stuff up.

The parallels are there:

*Enthusiastic Cold Warriors

*High levels of public approval, while those in opposition loathe them

*A predilection for unilateraism and armed intervention in nearby countries

*Nostalgia for "the good old days"

*Blatant, showy appeals to patriotism

*Most of the rest of the world despise them, while certain authoritarians
just luurve them. (Reagan had his non-USAian fans, most notably
Margaret Thatcher)