Vladimir Putin is a lovable palooka?

Wow! If sophistry were an Olympic sport, columnist Adam Sullivan just executed a bold and graceful triple-Salchow ('Like Trump, Iowa icon was thought to be a Kremlin pawn,” Jan. 18). Russia means us no harm, he asserts. Seemingly, people like me who sincerely fear for the future of our republic are naive nitwits who see a KGB agent behind every voting booth.

According to Sullivan, President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort are on a par with native Iowan, agrarian innovator and U.S. vice president, Henry Wallace. All of these perceptive Americans merely tried to open doors and bring reason to a nation overcome with 'Russophobia,” Sullivan's term. We Russophobes need to understand that Putin is just a lovable palooka, Nathan Detroit with his shirt off.

Relax, dudes. You've got a case of the vapors. What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, I can't wait to see the YouTube video of Sullivan singing 'Luck Be a Lady Tonight” with a chorus of lovably harmless oligarchs.

Tim Boyle

Cedar Rapids