Stupidest Blog Post Ever?

TAPPED vies for the title with this doozy:

BUSH: LESS POPULAR THAN STALIN. Whenever I see approval ratings for President Bush, I always think of a Harper's Index stat printed in January of 2006 that compared Bush's popularity among Americans to Stalin's popularity among Russians. Of course, that statistic was printed 18 months ago, when the two ratings were neck-in-neck at 37%.

So a new poll from Strategic Vision (via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) finding Bush's latest rating at a dismal 19% puts our president a far cry below the iconic leader of an oppressive communist regime who systematically murdered millions through forced famines, labor camps, and political purges. Enough said.

Now, I know there's a bunch of snark here. But to even make this post -- with one eye cocked, I'm sure -- is idiotic for a few reasons.

1. One poll is about a sitting president in one country. The other is about a dead person in another country. Apples and Oranges. But the lack of scientific rigor isn't the main point.

2. Many people in Russia still long for the "good old days" of the Soviet Union. And the Soviet Union was (arguably) at the height of its power during Stalin's reign. It's like Americans being nostalgic for the Greatest Generation and WWII despite the lack of civil rights. The Russian experience over the last decade-and-a-half has not been great, so longing for past glories makes sense. I imagine there are some in Iraq who hated Saddam but would bring him back if they could.

3. Many Russians are probably deluded as to the evils of Stalin. After all, for much of their lives, the education system and media were state-institutions. I know that "de-Stalinization" rectified some of that, but maybe not all of it. Think of how easily we forgive our past presidents for slavery, genocide, and war-mongering.

I could go on, but frankly I'm too flabbergasted.