Sheep Herder

What lack of western media reporting? I can still almost daily get information on Ukraine from mainstream media.

The election is a popularity contest, so skill has almost nothing to do with it.

To be fair. Respected and loved are two different things. I don’t think the rest of the world respects the US more than 1 year ago, just saying.

They’ll find a way to blame someone or something else. Cognitive dissonance and all.

I don’t think he is a puppet of Putin. I think he really, really likes money and power, that’s it. He does things to further his own grip of the country, thus increasing his power. Or, he does things to increase his wealth. Nothing more. He likes authoritarian leaders because they have more of a hold on their respective countries (a weird form of respect), or because they give him money (or expensive planes).