Republican/Putin Love Affair

Click here for an article at Crooks & Liars by Steve M., entitled "RFK Jr.'s Disappointing Defection: Hide the Babies!" The article is about Kennedy being appointed by Trump to chair a new commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity. Unfortunately, Kennedy is an anti-vaxxer who believes vaccines (and I think specifically mercury contained therein) causes autism.

“They get the shot. That night they have a fever of 103. They go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone,” Kennedy said at the premiere of an anti-vaccination film screening in California in 2015. “This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country."

What's more, Kennedy has alleged "that government scientists, journalists and pharmaceutical companies have colluded to hide the truth from the public."

That's too bad. But the article goes on from there, and the part that really caught my interest was a survey on how Republicans feel about Putin:

Back in July 2014 just 10 percent of Republicans held a favorable view of Putin, according to a poll conducted by the Economist and YouGov. By September of 2016, that number rose to 24 percent. And it's even higher today: 37 percent of Republicans view Putin favorably, the poll found in December.

The religious right love the fact that Putin is strongly anti-abortion and anti-gay. But the Republican rank and file love him because they want a right-wing authoritarian to rule them, and Putin is effective: He gets things done. Never mind the fact that if you oppose him, he'll have you killed.