Hardly stupid but actually quite able.

Hardly.

Damn smart, damn tough, and damn nasty in the clinches.

I neither like nor trust what I see, but stupid he ain't.

(and that's probably unfortunate)

Far from it.  He's probably the brightest current head-of-state of any major country-Putin didn't go to Yale or Harvard, but he graduated from Russia's school of hard knocks (the KGB) with a PhD in political hardball.

SUBJECT: Political Science 301 (Seminar)

Course Description: As Chirac, Blair and Bush see the lowest ratings of their long political careers and face the harshest criticism ever in the twilight years of their political service, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin stands in stark contrast, with over a 70% approval rating. Yes, Pootie-Poot is still the undisputed political hero of Russia. Bush should stop looking into his soul, and instead look into his political playbook. You know what he'd find? That he doesn't understand a single f***ing word. Indeed, Putin's high ratings seem to rise with the level of criticism he gets from the West for being undemocratic.

Schooling Grade: A+. This is one lesson the West can't possibly learn. It's called "giving the people what they want. No matter how savage."

-Exile Magazine

Well if he ordered the killing of that spy guy. That was not done very well at all...

The New England Patriots owner is probably still saying, " that idiot stole my super bowl ring!"

No, Mr. Putin is hardly stupid. Actually, despite some of his anti-democratic tendencies, Putin has made relatively few mistakes during his tenure. In fact, I think he's probably been more of a stabilizing influence on the country. On the downside, that vibrant democracy which Russia had during the 1990's has all but been subdued under Putin, who controls the media and regional governments fairly tightly.

He is more probably shrewd rather than stupid.

. . .might be as bad as any Communist-era Russian leader. . .how dumb could he be if he stays entrenched in power? Despite Dubya kissing Putin's ass, Putin should not be trusted.

VLadimir Putin is cute, a stylish dresser and kindly and Hollywood-looking. He also wears pointy shoes.

He's not that bad. He's not a communist, so...