I'm not saying he's an angel, he's as corrupt as the next politician, maybe even worse than the average. But no other bent politicians seem to get as much bad press as Putin, given the fact that he's no more guilty of crimes than say, Hilary Clinton.

I've never understood why Putin is singled out by the media for such vicious treatment when, as you yourself pointed out, there is absolutely no shortage of political corruption stories they could run with.

Still, it's a lot easier for the American public to swallow that a man half a world away, from a traditional enemy figure, could be evil and corrupt, rather than examine the fact that some of their own representatives might be the same. No no, that would throw into question their belief that American is the worlds shining bastion of freedom and democracy, a notion that they've been spoon-fed since childhood.