If Vladimir Putin were a throwback to the "good ol' days" (i.e. Marx, Lenin, Kruschev, Brezhnvev, etc) you wouldn't hear a peep out of the liberals.

Putin paid off Russia's Soviet debt. I's total national debt is half that of the Province of Ontario. It is effectively debt free. 

As far as the neocons are concerned, Putin was a stand-up guy until he nationalized Russia's privately-owned central bank. That flipped the switch overnight.