The reactions to the Putin Op-ed sure are enlightening, huh?

[Flaxbee]

46. you making fun of short people? You think the leader of a country necessarily believes all of its

laws are good? The Russian Orthodox Church has a lot more power in Russia than most people know, and the ROC is very, very conservative. No one can stay in office without the ROC's good graces. And the ROC, just like damn near every religious organization in the US and worldwide, does not support gay rights.

Obama apparently has no influence over this country's morbid gun laws. Maybe we should dismiss everything he says, because he apparently supports gun violence.

I think all this anti-gay bullshit was started by a legislator in St. Petersburg after he spent "quality time" with evangelicals in the United States.

Russia has some reprehensible statues. So does our country. It is childish and ridiculous to dismiss what Putin has done or is trying to do, or some of the valid points in his OpEd, just because you don't like some of Russia's laws.

Maybe no one should talk to the US or take Obama seriously because we still practice capital punishment.

The United States has just, within the last few years, made real strides for the LGBT community.

We haven't signed the land mine ban, we have a huge arms trade, we bomb damn near anyone who disagrees with us - well, really, only those who can't bomb back - and have a horrendous gun violence problem.

Every country has its serious problems. That doesn't mean we should dismiss every overture toward peaceful, diplomatic solutions.

Unless you're so firmly rooted in a cold war mindset you can't see beyond that, in which case, humanity truly is doomed. All people seem to do is sit around pointing fingers, flinging sh*t and crying about why someone else's idea is bad because their country has bad laws on the books. Or maybe because their leader is short and has a Napoleon complex.