September 19, 2012

Putin says: "That Mr. Romney considers us enemy number one and apparently has bad feelings about Russia is a minus..."

"... but, considering that he expresses himself bluntly, openly and clearly, means that he is an open and sincere man, which is a plus."
"We will be oriented toward pluses, not minuses... And I am actually very grateful to him for formulating his position in a straightforward manner."
Says a man who is not himself speaking in a straightforward manner, but who presumably perceives an advantage in portraying his opponent as straightforward.

Romney an open and sincere man?

41 comments:

vet66 said...

Putin is a good judge of character. He considers Romney a worthwhile adversary as opposed to POTUS who is unpredictable.

KCFleming said...

But but but.... Obama is clearly more flexible. You just wait, Mr. Putin, he'll show you how very very flexible he can be.

Watch how he can grab his ankles!

Darrell said...
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Darrell said...

More flexibility for all the socialist agenda after the election!

The Drill SGT said...

The Russians understood where Reagan was coming from. Didn't like him much, but they respect strength and consistency

The Drill SGT said...

Russian Foreign policy has a short term and a long term aspect. Short term, they prop up their egos by pretending to be a counterpoint to the US.

Long term, they have to be scared shitless of the Chinese. The Russian position geographically, demographically, and economically means that some day they are going to be in a surrender or shoot mode with a billion chinese coming North for "living Room" and resources.

Shades of Clancy...

shiloh said...

"Romney an open and sincere man?"

Or as "we" have seen this past year, especially lately, Willard is totally frickin' clueless.

Except he has one way to talk to millionaire/billionaires and another way to talk to lowly peons.

Also he won't release his tax returns, but asks Ryan for 10 years. And he won't give any policy specifics. Other than that he's quite open lol.

a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma ...

Apologies to Churchill as Willard is just an average, garden variety shyster/charlatan on a good day!

btw Althouse, did you read Peggy Noonan's recent article on your lover boy? Of course you did!

machine said...

"bluntly...open...clearly...sincere...straightforward..."

He really doesn't know Mitt Romney...at all.

LilyBart said...


Clearly Putin wants to see the more "flexible" Obama win the election. No surprise here.

BarrySanders20 said...

Mitt is all of those things, compared to Obama. That is the context of Putin's statement.

Scott said...

Putin is a he-man. So is Romney.

Dave D said...

I se no reason to think of Romney as anything other than open and sincere. I would add "reserved" and "not constantly trying to get us to buy into his wacky, destructive spending policies", but that's just me talking.....

Synova said...

So... Romney said "foe?" and Putin said "adversary?"

The article made a deal about how Putin didn't mean enemy, he meant competitor. I don't know that "foe" means any different, at least not much.

And then the article went on to explain how the Russian election was full of anti-US rhetoric and even demonstrations.

But Putin's bottom line seems rational... the US President will change anyway, so they can't give in on the missile thing, whatever it is.

Didn't we already dump Poland under the bus for that? And Obama is on record as telling Putin that he can do more when he doesn't need to be reelected.

Makes me think of how I react to people who admit to me that they lied to someone else... I don't trust them not to lie to me. Obama admitting that he's got one pre-election policy and a different post-election policy would send a similar message, I think.

sakredkow said...
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Seeing Red said...

The Chinese are already taking over Russia.

Too bad we're broke, I like the idea of buying Siberia.

Darrell said...

Obama should accept his loss and save his strength for when he is elected President of The New World Order.

Seeing Red said...

Our present course is AQ's flag over a Tunisian embassy and Ambassador & weapons cache finder dead.

Plus ignoring warnings & intel.

Don'tcha just love it when womyn rule the world?

Roger J. said...

I think Mr Putin's comments are interesting--he clearly has no respect for Mr Obama--and as drill sgt pointed out, the Russian Republic is in a world of hurt if only from a demographic standpoint.

What interests me is why Putin would weigh in on this issue. We already have Mr Obama on open mike with Medeyev asking M to tell P to give us more time so O can have "flexibility."

Interested that Valdimir would weigh in on this topic.

Darrell said...
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Darrell said...

The Europeans were always dreaming of the day when they would get a socialist of any flavor into the White House. Talking to them over the last three plus years, it also seems to be their worst nightmare.
They know he will kill the golden goose they were counting on for supper. They don't want us to be like them. They really don't.

The Drill SGT said...

Seeing Red said...
The Chinese are already taking over Russia.

Too bad we're broke, I like the idea of buying Siberia.


attractive except that:

1. they could outbid us
2. If we won, it would set US up to be the defenders in an eventual attack.

Might be a good Russian strategy though, hehe :)

Roger J. said...

Re some posts above: I suspect Mr Putin has a much clearer view of the two American candidates than do the American electorate; I mean he already has Obama asking for more time, which suggests to me he understands Obama is craven. Wonder what Dimitri told Vladimir about that conversation.

Putin has the advantage of removed from local tussles. He can stand aside. He already knows that Obama is feckless in foreign affairs and totally wrong. My only question is why would Putin want to appear to side with Romney over a known limpwrist like Obama. Simple: Putin is a black belt judo and understands how to use an opponents skills against him.

Anonymous said...

Do you really want to go there when your hero said about Putin: "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul."

No wonder the Republicans don't want to talk about Bush in this election.

Darrell said...

No wonder the Republicans don't want to talk about Bush in this election.

Because he's not running and can't?

Anonymous said...

They don't want us to be like them. They really don't.

What the hell do you know about the Europeans?

edutcher said...

Putin may have learned the lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Better to have an strong adversary who can't be pushed much than a weak one who will put himself, and you, in an untenable position from which irresponsible measures will extricate him.

shiloh said...

Or as "we" have seen this past year, especially lately, Willard is totally frickin' clueless.

Projection.

"Egypt is not an ally"

Apologies to Churchill as Willard is just an average, garden variety shyster/charlatan on a good day!

Projection again.

If Bell&Howell had shilol around, they'd be in better shape today

btw Althouse, did you read Peggy Noonan's recent article on your lover boy? Of course you did!

No, nobody's read Peggy Noonan since 9/11.

The first one, not the one where Zero got caught with his pants down.

Twice.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

THE U.S. LAGS BEHIND THE ANGLOSPHERE TO THE POINT THAT IT’S BECOMING EMBARRASSING: Canada rises to Top Five in world economic freedom ranking as U.S. plummets to 18th. “Canada has taken its place among the Top 5 countries with the most economic freedom, according to a new Fraser Institute report — now leaps and bounds ahead of the United States thanks to the gradual shrinking of the Canadian government since the mid-1990s as America’s just got bigger. . . . Meanwhile, the United States, once a ‘standard bearer’ of economic liberty among industrial nations, spiralled 10 spots from the 2011 rankings to 18th place — its lowest position ever, and a huge drop from its second place spot in 2000.”

Seeing Red said...

--They don't want us to be like them. They really don't.

What the hell do you know about the Europeans?--

Well, for starters, let's start with something small, the last 1000 years of recorded human history?


Darrell said...

What the hell do you know about the Europeans?

More than you I suspect.




Seeing Red said...

Just because I'm a knuckle-dragging sloped-brow doesn't mean I haven't traveled.

Anonymous said...

More than you I suspect.

Oh really, where have you lived in Europe and for how long?

Roger J. said...

Freder: as others have pointed out Bush is not running in this election.

Putin's remarks are quite clear to me--he would have Mr Obama as president rather than Mr Romney--He knows nothing about Romney--He no that Obama is a spineless appeaser and he can run all over Obama's helpless ass.

By praising Romney he hope to mobilize a vote for Obama--thats the judo (and realpolitik) in Mr Putin.

A question for the lefties: Just what type of flexibility is jugears going to offer Putin should jugears win this one. Thoughts?

Darrell said...

So you know nothing of Americans. It shows.

Anonymous said...

So you know nothing of Americans. It shows.

I have lived most of my life in the U.S., in six different states, and have dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship. So I know at least as much about the U.S. as you do and almost certainly a lot more about Europe.

traditionalguy said...

Putin is as sick of Obama lies and charades as we are.

Every person can deal with the truthful adversary's positions. No one can deal with a deceivers mirages.

Roger J. said...
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Darrell said...

Sorry. You have certainly not established that. England is certainly not all of Europe. And Europeans certainly travel as well. They also emigrate.

Has Glenda Jackson peed in front of you? I thought not. I'll put my list of Oxford librarians up against yours any time.

If you spent years sitting in an outdoor cafe smoking cigarettes, drinking wine, and contemplating suicide, who hasn't? I'll cut my meat with my right hand and eat with the same keeping my fork in the upright position, thank you! No one will steal your knife if you put it down and your reflexes are fast enough.

furious_a said...

TDS: Long term, they have to be scared shitless of the Chinese.

...and the former Soviet majority-Muslim republics on their borders, whose birthrates exceed those of ethnic Russians. The Russians remember Tamerlane as well as Genghis Khan.

Roger J. said...

Putin is no fool--I suspect he has sized up Obama by mr obama' feckless foreign relations policies--Now Putin does not know much about Romney--I suspect his position might be we can steamroller Obama who has nothing to show in terms of actual foreign policy. Endorse (in some fashion) Romney and in doing that try to support Obama's feckless foreign policy. Putin is no fool.

Eric said...

No wonder the Republicans don't want to talk about Bush in this election.

Might be a telling blow if not for the fact Democrats don't want to talk about Obama.

Eric said...

Putin is an odd bird in Russian diplomacy. Years ago, when he first came to power the US diplomatic corps was very frustrated because he was so much different than what they were used to.

The Soviets (and even Yeltsin) would always say "NO!" to your first proposition, and work towards the middle. You want the Russians to deal away 1000 missiles? "NO! No missiles. None." But you could eventually work them into a deal with 700 provided they thought it was favorable to their interests.

But Putin comes from the opposite direction. You want him to deal away 1000 missiles. "Sure, we can probably do that. But..." and the "but" would always be something you couldn't live with. You might end up with the same 700 missile deal, but it would never be as good as the one you thought you would get in the beginning.