Have you ever seen people say Vladimir Putin is a good leader?

[popeyespappy]

I hear he assassinates his political opposition, he bans people from making memes about him, plus the "no gay propaganda" law. I watched a documentary about being gay in Russia, it's a fucking war zone. It's a completely homophobic country, people get outed by groups of homophobic gangs, they get beaten up, anyone who tries to speak out against it gets arrested. 

So how much more do I need to know to believe Putin is an absolute Tyrant? My younger brother is very informed, he reads a ton of news, he could argue about foreign politics and tell you about his favorite economist. He fucking says Putin is a good leader, I see people on facebook saying Putin has done great things for Russia. What the fuck? I guess that's not enough dirt on a guy to make him an awful person.

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I've heard him called a thug and a gangster from a few people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ_aSl3ktjg

Whether or not your brother is correct could depend on what he means by good leader. When he says good does he mean effective? Few would argue that Qin Shi Huang or Genghis Khan weren't effective leaders, but I doubt many would argue they would meet today's standard for a moral person. The same type of case could be made for Putin. Morality aside one could argue that he has been an effective leader. Someone could counter that argument with decisions made by Putin have influenced the current shitty state of the Russian economy.