Putin as a master manipulator

[Proto]

Remember how Trump sided with Putin against American intelligence agences, claiming "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be"?  He also denounced "foolishness and stupidity" of the U.S. for worsening the relations with Russia.
Remember president Bush's opinion about Putin: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him very straightforward and trustworthy – I was able to get a sense of his soul"?
Note that both American presidents praised Putin during press conferences after they had met with him privately. And both times their statements came unexpectedly sparking outrage across the political spectrum.
I am sure unusual behavior of both presidents can be accounted for by manipulative techniques used by Putin. He was trained as a KGB foreing intelligence officer in 1970s and even at that time his training included a special course on techniques of influencing people and recruiting agents. When he became FSB director in 1998, and a year later Prime Minister, and then President, his training continued but at much higher level. Currently Putin has a team of psychologists, para psychologists, and psychics and is very well prepared to implant his ideas into listener's  head. He has command of the whole range of psyco techniques including hypnosis in its various forms. The implantation is successful on condition that
1. There is direct and close eye contact. "I looked the man in the eye"
2. There is direct physical contact. Shaking and touching hands, tapping on shoulders, etc.
3. Personal verbal contact without any interferece. During both summits Putin spoke with his counterparts tête-à-tête, without anyone else present. Interpretors were present but they cannot interfere in the conversation.

These three requirements were met during summits in Finland and Slovenia. Obviously, the ideas about Russian non-interference in American election and US fault were implanted into Trump by Putin. And what else?
I am suprised that American intelligence services failed to protect Trump.

[Proto]

The idea that Putin uses, on purpose and with planning, "mind games" on people to get them to do what he want's shouldn't be shocking at all. 

I was shocked by the summit aftermath. Everyone blamed Trump though he was just a victim. No one mentioned the responsibility of US intelligence services that failed to thwart Russian psycho attack on the President. Some reasonable people called for questioning the interpreters but that has never been done.

[Proto]

When your attempt to describe someone as a "master manipulator" becomes indistinguishable from an account of literal magic, it's probably time to step away from the keyboard and take some deep breaths.

Also, please either (1) learn to write or (2) refrain from making posts that exceed 200 words. This reads like an unexpurgated letter to the editor from a half-in-the-bag Vietnam vet.

I see there are Putin admirers on the forum and you reference to Vietnam seems racist.

[Proto]

Also, please either (1) learn to write or (2) refrain from making posts that exceed 200 words.

Dear Forumers,
I would certainly advise you to consult Averroës about lengths of your posts and some other things. Averroës is smart to know all about lengths and sizes.

[Proto]

I decided to launch this topic because public opinion in the US and other countries has been focused on Russian cyber attacks. Actually, Russian perform all sorts of other attacks, viz. political, economic, military, physical, cultural, and psycho attacks that are largely ignored by the general public.

[Proto]

Today in Paris Putin gave Trump the thumbs up and patted on the shoulder. He seems to be satisfied with his agent's work. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7712419/world-war-one-armistice-trump-putin/

[Proto]

I detest Putin, but I understand why Russia clings to him after barely surviving Yeltsin.

Putin was appointed by Yeltsin.

[Proto]

I detest Putin, but I understand why Russia clings to him after barely surviving Yeltsin.

Putin was appointed by Yeltsin.

I'm aware of that. That doesn't negate the fact that the average Russian life is much better under Putin than Yeltsin.

"much better" is too strong a term. A little bit better for ordinary people. And much better for magnates, Putin accomplices, and a number of government officials. Living standards in Russia are lower than in Baltic states. Under Putin social inequality has been increasing tremendously, currently being one of the highest in the world.

[Proto]

Actually, the GINI coefficient has not been rising, it has been steady since 1999.

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/russia/indicator/SI.POV.GINI

Also, the average wage boomed ever since he took over (a lot to do with gas and other fuels they export)


Since 2013, the wage has fallen and risen back to about $670 (it rose in rubbles), due to the rubble crash that happened because of sanctions.


Fun fact:

The USA has a larger Gini index than Russia, meaning that the society is more unequal.

Your information is misleading because you ignore rise in prices and inflation rate. A liter of gas cost 6 roubles in 2002, and now it costs about 45-50 roubles, almost  8 times as much, and so on. In 2009 according to your data increase in salaries was about 3%, while inflation was about 11%  https://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/russia/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-russia.aspx i. e. Real income was negative.
I should never have thought there are many Putin backers on the forum.

[Proto]

I'm not a Putin backer, that's why I said the economic growth is mainly due to the gas and fuel exports, not specifically him.

It still is true that he is the best leader they had in a long time, and people are on average better off than they were pre 1999.

It is true that for some people Putin is the best leader. Some people are better off.
You making unsubstantiated generalizations in Putin's favor and state your are not Putin's backer. Putin's approval ratings have plunged of late. Many people support his foreign policy and disapprove of his domestic policy. During recent regional elections some candidates directly endorsed by Putin were defeated.

[Proto]

As far as I can see, a Gallup poll from '17 shows him around 80% approval.

This information is completely incorrect. His current (October 2018) rating is 45%. This is common knowledge in Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-45741068
Another piece of pro Putin' s propaganda, fake high ratings.

[Proto]

As far as I can see, a Gallup poll from '17 shows him around 80% approval.

This information is completely incorrect. His current (October 2018) rating is 45%. This is common knowledge in Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-45741068
Another piece of pro Putin' s propaganda, fake high ratings.

Dude, I don't know if you have any issues, but calm down.

Gallup is an American consulting agency that publishes in-depth polls on a lot of issues.

In 2017 they published a huge poll on a lot of different topics (http://www.gallup-international.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017_Global-Leaders.pdf), and Putin's approval rating was almost 80%.

I don't know what it is in 2018, but the poll I cited is not "fake ratings".

Dude, I would strongly advice to read Russian polls. According to ВЦИОМ (fully controlled by federal government) Putin's rating was about 85%  in 2014, when he occupied Crimea https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2014/05/15/vciom-rejting-doveriya-putina-dostig-859. Since 2016 it has been steadily dropping to reach 45% in 2018. More indipendent Levada Center gives 37%.  https://www.levada.ru/2018/10/08/doverie-pyatoj-chasti-rossiyan-poteryal-vladimir-putin-za-proshedshij-god  
In December 2017 according to ВЦИОМ his rating was 74% https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-42892410
I don't know why Gallup provides fake ratings. Perhaps it was infiltrated by Putin's agents. Even Russian agencies   give a more truthful picture.

[Proto]

You do realize those polls asked different questions? Gallup measured approval/disapproval rating which is different from asking the respondents to name four or five most trustworthy politicians or asking about voting intentions.

The polls I referred to, analyze approval/disapproval ratio. As for trustworthiness, Putin ratings was 39% in September according to Levada. https://snob.ru/news/166674 Now it is apparently smaller. ВЦИОМ gives 37% in October https://wciom.ru/news/ratings/doverie_politikam/
If you don't have command of Russian, use Google translator.

[Proto]

Dude, I would strongly advice to read Russian polls. According to ВЦИОМ (fully controlled by federal government) Putin's rating was about 85%  in 2014, when he occupied Crimea https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2014/05/15/vciom-rejting-doveriya-putina-dostig-859. Since 2016 it has been steadily dropping to reach 45% in 2018. More indipendent Levada Center gives 37%.  https://www.levada.ru/2018/10/08/doverie-pyatoj-chasti-rossiyan-poteryal-vladimir-putin-za-proshedshij-god  
In December 2017 according to ВЦИОМ his rating was 74% https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-42892410
I don't know why Gallup provides fake ratings. Perhaps it was infiltrated by Putin's agents. Even Russian agencies   give a more truthful picture.

Yeah man, just stop with the conspiracy theories, it is not good for your health.

Yeah, there are spies in a lot of places but thinking that Russians are massively infiltrating American companies and that Putin has used a Russian version of MK Ultra to turn Trump into a pawn is kinda crazy.

OK, man, and how would you account for the fact that Gallup gives Putin higher ratings than Putin's controlled ВЦИОМ?