If God were human, Putin he would be.

I believe you're confusing me with Clarissa.

Haaaa ha ha! That the funniest thing I ever seen to write, Putin! +1

"You", not "to" write. Whooops.

You can detect the sarcasm on the Richter scale...

Oh, come now, Putin, I'd never confuse you for a preachy obnoxious blonde teenager...

Here--your very own theme music! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9gQD6i4htU

Wait...

The early 90's were a strange time...

Anyway, look lay off Putin. Everyone who frequently posts in the forums is super opinionated, the only reason Putin stands out is because he's further to the left than most.

Sigh, fine, there's an over generalization in there i need to correct, "most people who frequently post in the forums are super opinionated."

Yea. I'm pretty cool with anything. I always seem to agree with the last guy who posted. Maybe I'm just gullible.

brb, I just won a free ipod.

I have to say, I don't agree with much of what Putin says, but I'd *love* to sit down and have a beer with the guy. Unlike the majority of humanity, Putin actually uses his god-given brain (yes....that was a *poke* at Putin! lol). He has beliefs and he can explain why he believes them, which is more than I can say for most people. Yes....he cherrry-picks his facts and data (and who doesn't???) and, in my conservative opinion, he misinterprets data....but I love the guy for having a belief, and, contrary to Obi, I *RESPECT* Putin for having a solid opinion on everything. IF you are a principled person (as Putin is) then you can look at any situation, apply your strongly held principles to the situation, and come up with an answer. I Putin did NOT have a strong opinion on most topics, then I would, in fact, lose respect for him.

I love to hate Putin!!! :)

It's not the Leftist views I...sure, why not, I've already laid my cards down for all to see here, it's not his Leftist views I have trouble with or dislike, as I'm Left-of-Center myself, and I don't have a problem with him being opinionated.

(I, of all people, am in NO POSITION to call someone out JUST for being opinionated!) ;)



I take issue with the fact Putin treats every last debate as if he's 100% right on every issue--and to think otherwise, even a little, even if he doesn't qualify his terms ot give statistical support, even if YOU give statistical or logical support to your side...

It comes across to me that Putin always believes himself to be 100% correct and, if anyone disagrees, they are in turn 100% wrong--and that's NOT conducive to a good and productive debate, in my opinion...I've got some pretty strong opinions myself, and I have points where I, too, think I'm totally right on...

But, generally, I'll at least ALLOW FOR the possibility that I might be wrong, and I'll let you have your say and I'll consider it--and maybe even change my mind, happened the other day with the Casey Anthony discussion, a few folks made a better argument than I, and I conceded their position was correct and I had been in the wrong.

With Putin, it's just 200 posts of "I'm right" "Well, hang on--" "No, I'm right" "But, you see, maybe *I* can be right as well--" "Nuh-uh"...

And so on.

So wait, is Putin like the new me (except perhaps even more stubborn than I was)?

Obi....I disagree with Putin most of the time, and yet I respect the hell out of him for having conviction. He truly believes his views, and 100% supports them. I like him because I, as his opposition, am in 100% support of my own views, and you will need to give me some pretty God-damned good evidence to change my point of view. Our world needs MORE people like Putin, not less. We need MORE people that research issues and actually *think* them through and come to an opinion. I disagree with Putin....but I would feel a great loss if he disappeared.

And...Conservative Man...Putin is ***nothing*** like you. First and foremost because he would never be such an asshole to call a girl a bitch because she didn't respond to your creepy come-on over facebook and send you a text message of her tits like you hoped for. Putin is an intellectual. You are a moron.

A text message of tits? Like this?

(*)(*)

But seriously, Putin's got more substance than most, and we agree and disagree on some things, which makes it always interesting, but then we get stuck on something and then it's over. I've got no issue with him, certainly not a thread to sarcastically laud him.

Putin makes some pretty solid arguments. He might not always be right (from where I stand anyway) but at least he makes it clear what he thinks and why. And when he steps into more neural territory than communism versus capitalism I find his opinions generally very rational.

It saddens me to learn that Melissa Joan Hart is a Republican.

@Conservative Man:

No.

Putin is not "the new you."

If he were, I wouldn't waste my time even criticizing him.

@krellin and spyman:

It's not the conviction or opinionated nature of Putin's views that bother me, it's that:

1. There's conviction, and then there's just being stubbornly ignorant--if Putin said 2+2=5, and I corrected him and said it was 4, he'd defend that it was 5 no matter WHAT...part of conviction is the willingness to test adn possibly adapt or accept new ideas, to be open, as I try to be (I may not always be successful, but hey, I do try, and I HAVE changed my position in the face of logic before--Putin, I can't remember him ever doing so, and that bothers me, you MUST at least acknowledge you might possibly be partially incorrect if the evidence warrants it, and Putin doesn't make that acknowledgement, so, again, unless he's 100% right all the time always forevermore...)

2. I think Invictus nailed it on the head when he said Putin is a contrarian; at least sometimes it really does come across to me as if he's picking the other side just to pick the other side, which I don't see many here doing, at least not all that often.

3. His lack of logical backing really gets irritating sometimes for his assertions; again, it's not his ideas so much I dislike--well, I do, but those are fair game and his opinion and a different matter altogether, each to their own--as the fact that he frequently makes huge leaps in logic and uneasy assertions and doesn't take adequate time for such big-time, often wild claims or ideas, doesn't nail them down and try and make them stick (hence why so many of my posts, especially those in response to a challenge or point, can be so long, I try and adress in bullets or numbers every counterpoint I make and try and make it stick logically.)



I'm not saying I'm a better poster than he, or that I'm error-free--I'm NOT, as anyone who's had even one debate with me here will be quick to point out--but these three things really get grating, when he acts like he knows it all, will never change his mind about anything, even if logic demands at least consideration of the other view, and when he doesn't qualify his terms or give a proper 1-2-3 logical progression to his bigger ideas, which really do require them.

And of course joan Hart is a Republican, Putin--

She IS a Witch... ;)

@obi: You make it seem like you would prefer debating Putin to debating me, even though you make it seem that Putin is eons more stubborn than I am. Why? Do you just not like me? Or did I just completely misunderstand your above statement?

Oh, and Putin: Just to put you at ease around me, please note that my screen name does not reflect my political views; I am actually left-of-center.

I'm a Witch, and pretty leftist. Most of us are.

Sorry I don't buy this whole meme being offered by you that you are ever so open minded and qualified in your opinions. If you could point to where you've had some conversion on some issue of significance then I'll eat crow on that, but I've admitted I was wrong, on for example the issue of Quebec with MafiaAlligator, and I have acknowledged people when they make what I consider to be fair or good points. Whether you paid attention to those or not, I don't really care. I think you have some visceral reaction to anyone who criticizes sports and that's why you're posting this 2 Minute Hate (sorry for the odious Orwell reference).

If I'm making some logical leap then point it out and I'll clarify the point. I've done this many times in our 5,000 marathon commie threads. I've numerically outlined my thoughts on many occasions as you demand. I've put more thought in these posts than any person should.

As to the contrarian charge, I resent that charge. I stand by everything I say here. I do not "troll". I also do not disagree with certain people just because we've disagreed elsewhere. If I believe you're right, Obi, I argue on your side. Ditto Invictus, Santa, Fasces, and everyone else.

That's all I'll say on this. If you don't like my posts then mute me. Simple solution.

"I'm a Witch, and pretty leftist. Most of us are."

Indeed. Ever read Wicked? Great story.

obi + 1 for starting this thread.

obi - 1 for starting this thread.

All I see in this thread is a personal attack on Putin. If I were him I'd be quite offended....or not. I think I just wouldn't give a damn.

Obi is not open in his opinions and his "logic" is based on a teenage white suburban world view. Nothing wrong with that indeed I'm the same in many ways, but stop pretending you're the paragon of logic in a biased world, everyone is biased to some extent its stupid to think otherwise. Though i do believe Putin is a contrarian.

@Obi - Who is "joan Hart"? Do you mean *Melissa* Joan Hart? Joan is her middle name, Obiwhenobiwhy. :-) (Had to bust your chops for that, dude)

@CM - Nothing against you, but you are a high schooler, correct? Putin is a Grad student at OSU and Obi is in college as well. I think Obi prefers debating him because it makes Obi feel superior that he is debating a fellow academian (Is that a word?) I couldn't care either way.

Oh, and SantaClausowitz +1 for hitting the nail on the head with regard to Obi *and* Putin.