On Saturday Vladimir Putin turned 65. His entire life is true service to Russia. The president preferred to work even on the day of his jubilee. He held a meeting of the Security Council, and then a whole series of pre-planned calls. Formally he accepted congratulations, but, understandably, this is just a pretext for in-depth conversations and negotiations.
As usual, the West is ambivalent about Putin. People outside the sphere of professionally malevolent politics and beyond obviously aculeate media are very friendly.
For example, graffiti in Barcelona, Berlin, Paris. With congratulations. It's a motorcycle jacket "Putin", presented by British designers by the event. On the jerkin's sleeve, there are figures that appear magical for the West: 6-5-9-5. These are miles. As explained, this is the length of Russia from the West to the East in miles. By January Putin parkas and coats will also be presented.
Clearly, there are usual piles of mud, which some are trying to fling at Putin, seizing the date. The main characters here are alleged experts from all sorts of American funds from the Carnegie Endowment and the Heritage to the Brooklyn Institute and the Atlantic Council.
Their motivation isn't just simple, it's simpler than simple. Russia has a strong leader. Weakening him, they weaken Russia. During the Cold War, they managed to disintegrate the Soviet Union due to incompetence and undetermined leadership. Now it's different. And that's why Putin is the target. The presidential election is looming. They started to work in advance, and will later intensify. Meanwhile, it's birthday, a good reason.
So the press is slinging mud at the Kremlin. Putin is blamed for various things. Here's what Washington Post writes about Putin: "He relishes infiltrating chaos and mischief into open societies". And here is Bloomberg, USA, on the birthday: "He reaches this milestone in a surprisingly vulnerable position. Putin's vulnerability would be hard to pinpoint if officials weren't pointing to it with their clumsy actions".
Frankly, it's some chaotic gibberish. What vulnerable position? What unskillful actions? As of early October, Putin is a global champion of approval numbers. 81% of Russians trust him. And they don't give a hoot about some Bloomberg!
And here's what a respectable US magazine Foreign Policy writes: It's Tuesday's issue, just to entertain you. Just look how they pervert Putin's strong leadership: "And with this strong leadership and return to traditional roles, the misogyny that was already there before only exacerbated". Misogyny is synonymous to hatred toward women. And this is about Russia, where March 8 is almost the main holiday of the year.
Or the American newspaper Politico: "Putin is working to undermine Western institutions and sow dissent in Western societies. Those efforts are aimed at making the West look weak and dysfunctional". Well, it was you who said "dysfunctional", what does Putin have to do with it?
CNN's attack was colossal. They say, Putin does a terrible crime, sitting with his legs spread. In American, it means manspreading. This Putin's manly manner especially depressed Hillary Clinton. The ex-Secretary of State interpreted this posture as if he was saying: "I will take what I want". Speaking of this, cherishing her complexes, Hillary Clinton even tried to copy Putin's posture. If I were the host next to her, I would definitely shout: "For God's sake, Hillary, just don't spread your legs!".
In general, there is a lot of nonsense about Putin in the West. Inside, they just don't cope with Putin, his intellect, his fitness, his sense of humor, his speed and ability to master new things, be it new sports or new melodies for piano, which he has only recently started to play, but continues to learn.
