Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin of Russia has been a better leader than Barack Obama. People went crazy, and I wonder why. It certainly wasn't high praise; it was like saying someone's a better athlete than Woody Allen or smarter than Forrest Gump.
Obama's leadership hasn't been quite as bad as that of Maduro of Venezuela, or of Fernandez of Argentina. The only recent U.S. leader with less talent might be Jimmy Carter, and even that's questionable.
People are offended, I suppose, because Putin has not led Russia in actions the U.S. likes. From a Russian point of view, why would he?
How would doing so make him a better leader in Russian eyes? As Trump noted, polls show Putin more popular in his country than Obama is in this country, by a substantial margin.
Let's be clear. Someone can be an effective leader and yet be, from your outsider's point of view, a total pain in the tail, even a monster.
Putin has done a good job of playing the weak hand of cards he's been dealt. We wish Obama had done the same, instead of doing a botched job of playing our relatively strong hand.
