Vladimir Putin (Kremlin)

I just finished reading “Red War,” a book in the Mitch Rapp spy thriller series. In this book, Rapp travels to Russia and gets entangled in a plot to assassinate the Russian president, who’s organized attacks on former Soviet republics. The Russian president is obviously based on Vladimir Putin. In “Red War,” Maxim Krupin, the fictional Russian president, laughs at the idea that some Americans have a more favorable view of him than the current American president.

This is based on fact. In 2016, a Yougov poll showed that only 9 percent of Republicans had a positive view of President Barack Obama. On the other hand, 35 percent of GOPers had a positive view of Putin.

“Putin is a complete criminal,” said Browder in a USA TODAY interview. “Everyone who is at odds with him is at risk.” Browder, who is still on the run from the Russian government, also compared Putin to Pablo Escobar.

This kind of insanity is the reason why we’re in the place we are today. Anyone who fanboys Putin clearly doesn’t have an accurate view of who he really is. But let’s look at a few points:

Putin is rumored to be the world’s wealthiest man. His fortune is estimated to be around $200 billion, according to Fortune. Putin has amassed this fortune because of the kind of outright graft you usually see in Third World countries. Russia is a kleptocracy where Putin and his cronies all have their fingers in the till. And a lot of that money ends up in America or Europe. Even Putin’s friends have amassed fortunes. The Pentagon Papers revealed Sergei Roldugin, a cellist who’s friend with Putin, has received payments of up to $2 billion. He claimed they were donations.

His fortune is estimated to be around $200 billion, according to Fortune. Putin has amassed this fortune because of the kind of outright graft you usually see in Third World countries. Russia is a kleptocracy where Putin and his cronies all have their fingers in the till. And a lot of that money ends up in America or Europe. Even Putin’s friends have amassed fortunes. The Pentagon Papers revealed Sergei Roldugin, a cellist who’s friend with Putin, has received payments of up to $2 billion. He claimed they were donations. He regularly kills opponents. Opposing Putin is a dangerous business, several journalists have been killed because they wrote stories the Russian government didn’t like. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and Putin critic, has been poisoned twice! But Russian journalists are hardcore. Even though their lives are threatened, they expect their colleagues to pick up the cause if they’re killed.

Opposing Putin is a dangerous business, several journalists have been killed because they wrote stories the Russian government didn’t like. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and Putin critic, has been poisoned twice! But Russian journalists are hardcore. Even though their lives are threatened, they expect their colleagues to pick up the cause if they’re killed. He has used weapons of mass destruction in NATO countries. Former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a Putin critic, moved to London. In 2006, he died of Polonium 510 poisoning after meeting with two Russian intelligence operatives. His death was slow and painful as his organs shut down one-by-one. Sergei Skripal, another Russian emigre, and his daughter almost died after being poisoned by Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent. That attack also killed a British citizen. Both of these terrorist attacks were linked to Putin.

Ben Browder, an American-born businessman fled Russia when his life was threatened after his accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, discovered $230 million missing from Russian government coffers. (Magnitsky was later tortured to death in jail.) Congress later passed the Magnitsky Act that imposed travel bans, sanctions and froze Russian money held in American accounts.

He offered a blunt assessment of Putin.

“Putin is a complete criminal,” said Browder in an USA TODAY interview. “Everyone who is at odds with him is at risk.” Browder, who’s still on the run from the Russian government, also compared Putin to Pablo Escobar.

In spite of Putin’s gruesome record, President Donald Trump offered to help return Browder and former Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul in exchange for help in the hacking investigation. (The hacking was carried out by Russia!) Both McFaul and Browder would have most likely been killed in jail.

But Trump isn’t the only dupe. Putin is also popular with American Evangelicals, who admire his pro-family, anti-Islam and anti-gay stances. Evangelist Franklin Graham has a picture of him shaking hands with Putin in his office. Graham also questioned if Russia had a higher level of morality than America.

Other Republicans still admire Putin because of his strongman tactics, even though they are incompatible with a modern democracy. Last year, attendees of a Trump rally were pictured wearing shirts saying “I’d Rather Be Russian Than Democrat.”

If Americans can’t figure out that a murderous dictator, who tampered with the American elections and declared he’d like to weaken the U.S.’s global power is our enemy, we’re in bigger trouble than I thought.