Crisis in the Ukraine

So you have no suggestions.
That's what I thought.
Good evening.

 

I'd do pretty much the same thing that Crash McCain, Dog Strap Mitt, Chuckles Cheney, Roughneck Rumsfeld and all the other armchair badasses would do, which is the same thing that Obama is doing: make a series of kvetching disapproving statements, impose some economic sanctions, and ... uhmmm .... that's it.

 

And Putin's response to American aggression the past decade and a half has been . . .

. . . what exactly?

 

To even be annoying, sanctions against Russia have to include the EU. Read an article in this week's Economist on how German businesses are lobbying, quite successfully for their leader Angela Merkel to do sweet fuck-all about the Crimea. If the EU isn't going to do anything, our country just ought to drop the subject.

 

Just gives the screech machine more to screech about.

 

A few thousand people in Kiev overthrow the government? FREEDOM!

A few thousand people in Crimea vote to secede? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!

Either we're for self-determination or we're not.

 

It is in the best interests of the planet for there to be a reasonably strong America, with robust leadership.
The only thing somebody like Putin understands is strength.

 

1.23 million, actually.

Reinforcing your point.

 

And still nobody from the scream machine has suggested anything they'd do differently to "project strength," except maybe wear Rob Halford's "Another Thing Comin' " outfit rather than mom jeans.

 

I think you'd likely see a different reaction if it was a Scotland style vote. You know, where the status quo was an option in the vote, where there wasn't a mobilized unit of the russian army watching the vote, where the opposition was actually allowed to debate the issue and have their voice heard. This was more a highjacking than self-determination (and maybe they'd have a scottish style vote and the same outcome would have occurred. but if that happened I think the reaction would be different. I could be wrong).

 

Because at this point there's nothing you can do to project strength. We're not going to war. EU isn't going to support tough sanctions. There's nothing anyone will do and Russia knows that.

The mistakes were likely made up in the lead-up to this thing. Not now. During the uprising people should have been behind the scenes and publicly assuring Russia that no matter what happened they'd work diplomatically to ensure that Russia's interests in the Black Sea were going to be preserved.

 

BTW, I seem to recall all the fuckwits that voted for this asshole saying the world was going to like us once he was elected.