Secret American Subculture of Putin-Worshippers

[Dusty]

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magaz...ppers-20130919

A monly mon.

Two years ago, Gayne C. Young, a Texas-based writer and blogger for Outdoor Life, scored the interview of a lifetime. As a beat writer, Young had enjoyed the outdoor exploits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been documented shooting a gray whale with a crossbow, tranquilizing a tiger attacking a news crew, hunting shirtless, fishing shirtless, and riding horseback shirtless. On a personal level, Young liked the rugged brand of masculinity that seemed a throwback to Teddy Roosevelt. "Although you have Clinton shooting ducks, you never see it. Although Rick Perry says he enjoys hunting, you don't see it. They say they do, but they don't. Obama says he shoots skeet, but they only released one picture," Young says. "Here's a guy out there fishing, with no qualms. He's like, 'You don't like it? Tough.' Then he'd escalate and do more."

His posts on Putin brought in great traffic, so his editor kept encouraging him to escalate. Soon, Young was declaring his "man crush" on the Russian president. ("I hate to use that word, especially on a hunting website," he admits.) He called the Russian consulate, flirted with the right secretary, and went through "hoop after hoop after hoop" until, one Friday, a press attaché called and told him the president wanted his questions in the next 20 minutes.

Young scrambled and sent something over. Six weeks later, Putin replied with an almost unbelievable 8,000-word missive—covering everything from tiger conservation to his favorite works of Hemingway to the innate frailty of human life. He lectured on the similarities between Russians and Americans, and demurred from answering Young's friendliest questions. ("Are you the coolest man in politics?") "People really liked him, at least on our comments section on Outdoor Life," Young says. "Given the demographics of the readership, most are die-hard Republicans," and when they saw Putin hunting, he says, "they were like, 'Obama wouldn't do that.' "

Putinphilia is not, of course, the predominant position of the conservative movement. But in certain corners of the Internet, adoration for the leader of America's No. 1 frenemy is unexceptional. They are not his countrymen, Russian expats, or any of the other regional allies you might expect to find allied with the Russian leader. Some, like Young and his readers, are earnest outdoorsy types who like Putin's Rough Rider sensibility. Others more cheekily admire Putin's cult of masculinity and claim relative indifference to the political stances—the anti-Americanism, the support for leaders like Bashar al-Assad, the oppression of minorities, gays, journalists, dissidents, independent-minded oligarchs—that drive most Americans mad. A few even arrive at their Putin admiration through a strange brew of antipathy to everything they think President Obama stands for, a reflexive distrust of what the government and media tells them, and political beliefs that go unrepresented by either of the main American political parties.

They utterly perplex many observers of the Russian-American relationship. "No clue as to what drives it, other than some form of illness," says Russian-born novelist Gary Shteyngart, author of Absurdistan.

There are many faux Putin fans in America—those who mock the hero worship ironically or half-ironically. But plenty of his fans are serious. Three months ago, Americans for Putin, a Facebook group, sprang up "for Americans who admire many of the policies and the leadership style of Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin" and think he "sounds better than the Republicrat establishment." The group has an eight-point policy platform calling for "a unified [American] national culture," a "firm stance against Israeli imperialism," and an opposition to the political correctness it says dominates Washington. Though that group is relatively small (167 likes as of Wednesday afternoon, ticking up every few hours), the Obama's-so-bad-Putin-almost-looks-good sentiment can be found on plenty of conservative message boards. Earlier this year, when Putin supposedly caught—and kissed—a 46-pound pike fish, posters on Free Republic, a major grassroots message board for the Right, were overwhelmingly pro-Putin:

"I wonder what photoup [sic] of his vacation will the Usurper show us? Maybe clipping his fingernails I suppose or maybe hanging some curtains. Yep manly. I can't believe I'm siding with Putin," one wrote. "I have President envy," another said. "Better than our metrosexual president," said a third. One riffed that a Putin-Sarah Palin ticket would lead to a more moral United States.

The cult of Putin in America probably has its strongest hold on the readers of ostensibly apolitical humor sites that target young men, such as Cracked and theChive. Cracked's post on why Putin is "The World's Craziest Badass" drew more than 1 million views. TheChive's slide show naming Putin "The Real Life Most Interesting Man in the World" inspired several hundred comments—only a few from Putin-haters distressed to see that he had such a following.

Putin is hardly the first—or the worst—antihero to enjoy the devotion of a small segment of Americans. Nor is he the first to benefit from a deep, reflexive distrust of public institutions like the government or media. The most recent and disconcerting example is the hero worship of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has a cult following online. Many doubt law enforcement's assertion of his guilt; others create Tumblr pages worshipping him like the latest teenage pop star.

As for Young, recent years have tested the man-crush. He still thinks the guy he interviewed would make a great fishing partner, but he dislikes the "saber rattling" he sees between Putin and Obama. "A lot of people in the outdoors world will say to me, 'Hey look what your boy Putin is doing now. I always respond: 'It's Vlad, and I'm not sure that's the real one,' " Young says. "It's really hard for me right now, with what all is going on, to say which Putin he really is. I would like to say he's the one who answered my questions."

Snip

[Pete]

Ha Ha, so having a soft spot for the Russian dude is "bad" now that it's some conservatives doing it.

And the MSM coin flips again.

[tonyz]

Gotta love some of the comments to the article...

"It's macho communist (Putin) vs. metrosexual communist (Obama)."

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by tonyz

Gotta love some of the comments to the article...

"It's macho communist (Putin) vs. metrosexual communist (Obama)."

Putin's communist?

[tonyz]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Putin's communist?

Lol...there is less doubt about his komrade zero, no?

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by tonyz

Gotta love some of the comments to the article...

"It's macho communist (Putin) vs. metrosexual communist (Obama)."

lol. I'm seeing an old Foghorn Leghorn sequence:
"No, no, no boy - you're doin' it all wrong! Listen to me when I'm talkin' to ya son."

[akv]

Vlad is a villain from an evil empire of wolves.

[mojaveman]

Originally Posted by akv

Vlad is a villain from an evil empire of wolves.

No fan of his either. I see ice in those eyes. While he was director of the KGB in Dresden he was hated by the East Germans. Got that sentiment from the people themselves while I was working there.

[Peregrino]

Everyone here has hit on salient points. Personally, I respect Putin the same way I would any other powerful adversary. What I acknowledge about him is his nationalism. He is an unabashed Russian and his worldview is based on Russian exceptionalism/ascendancy (in spite of realities I'm sure he is well aware of). Would that our own President had even a fraction of Putin's nationalism (or at least didn't denigrate everything I was raised to believe this country stood for). Putin has much in common with the Russian Bear (or Siberian Wolf for those less charitable ). Bottom line - one doesn't bitch slap a bear without consequence. Unlike "the One". I think the rest of the world is queuing up to bugger his metrosexual ass.

[98G]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

What I acknowledge about him is his nationalism. He is an unabashed Russian and his worldview is based on Russian exceptionalism/ascendancy (in spite of realities I'm sure he is well aware of). .

I'm not so sure about his nationalism. I think he serves self interest.

Russia is the ideal breeding ground for a cynic. Everyone expects it. Putin complies with Russian flair.... a little of the "Uncle Joe." He has passed on countless chances to improve Russia's economic base and he diverts the money to his cronies and takes the natural resources route instead -- every time. He is not doing much to build up a democratic nation and strong middle class as much as he is building a carefully constructed dictatorship combined with loosely defined capitalist ideas from the early 1900's. Well behaved Oligarchs get richer. Those who step out of line... 9-10 years in jail to reconsider their behavior.

I agree that I can be impressed with him as an adversary, but not as a nationalist. Maybe I just liked the Russian people too much to like him.

[tonyz]

Very interesting observations - thank you.

The subculture referred to in the OP might admire Putin's ability to promote Russian interests in contrast to Obama's ability to promote American interests.

The middle class and oligarchs in Russia have enjoyed a flat 13% income tax rate since about 2001.

I have a difficult time saying much nice about a former KGB officer - but Putin has proven to be a formidable adversary.

[The Reaper]

He supports his allies and works against his enemies.

I wish our leader did likewise.

TR

[GratefulCitizen]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

He supports his allies and works against his enemies.

I wish our leader did likewise.

TR

Actions (and inaction) define who is considered an ally or an enemy.
How does the president act towards opposition within this nation?

[98G]

Originally Posted by tonyz

Very interesting observations - thank you.

The subculture referred to in the OP might admire Putin's ability to promote Russian interests in contrast to Obama's ability to promote American interests.

The middle class and oligarchs in Russia have enjoyed a flat 13% income tax rate since about 2001.

I have a difficult time saying much nice about a former KGB officer - but Putin has proven to be a formidable adversary.

Tell that to former oligarch Khodorkovsky. He is one month away from serving 10 years of 11 from a 9 year sentence for taxes. Re-assessing taxable assets is an easy work around for that flat tax -- anytime, for anyone or any business. I won't be admiring that set up any time soon. Biased of course, but a good site to check out:
http://decadeofinjustice.com

Also, a flat tax doesn't mean much when you make less that $1000 a month (the going salary for a full professor). Russian citizens accept bribery (police, doctors, nurses, government officials) as a way to offset low salaries and therefore keep taxes down. The devil, as always, is in the details. I would compare take home pay and standard of living. Percent taxation doesn't really reflect much of an accurate picture. And check out state owned businesses while you are comparing systems. Gazprom versus Yukos?

We can elect a president every 4 years -- one person a maximum of 8. The rules really don't change. So whoever is in office, is on borrowed time here. Not so much there. Personally, I do not need to compare Putin to any president of ours to like or dislike him more. Too tempting to obfuscate the issues he has in Russia. And he has issues. I'd rather have our issues and handle them on on turf, not Russian.

[tonyz]

Originally Posted by GratefulCitizen

Actions (and inaction) define who is considered an ally or an enemy.
How does the president act towards opposition within this nation?

Interesting observation - I read Reaper's comments as suggesting that Putin supports Russia's allies and actively works against Russia's enemies.

It could reasonably be said that every politician supports their personal political allies and vigorously work against their political opposition.

Both politicians appear to oppress domestic political opposition with a certain fervor - nature of the beast and all.

Thankfully, we have the Constitution and despite best efforts neither politician has overridden it - IMO - not for lack of effort.