Dissing Putin

A bishop friend always reminds me to be respectful when disagreeing, a reminder I confess I often fail to honor. But, President Obama's decision to diss Vladimir Putin, canceling a planned meeting next month, is entirely appropriate. Putin has a tough job, but the toughness of the job does not require the toughness of his anti-democratic policies. The fact that he is harboring Edward Snowden is not beside the point, although it is of a piece with Putin's anti-democratic tendencies, a fact that does not reflect well on either Snowden or Putin.