Now, about this Crimea thing: What I figure is, the top part of the Feddle Gummint got dropped on its head when it was little, and the rest is just asleep, or might as well be. We look to be ruled by a bus-station of dumb-ass rich brats in a constant state of martial priapism. I can’t understand it. Out of three hundred million Americans, and lots of them went to school and can pretty much read, we get a slick minor pol out of Chicago for President and Pickle-Boy Kerry for Secretary of State, God knows why. Before that, we had Hillary, former First Housewife. Even god couldn’t explain that. And they throw their weight around just like they had some.Read the rest here.
Now Obama’s threatening Russia about the Crimea. He may know where it is. I admit the possibility. We live in a strange world, and unexpected things can happen. What I can’t see is, why he thinks the Ukraine is Washington’s business. Last I heard, the Crimea was hung off into the Black Sea by the Isthmus of Perekop, like a hornet’s nest from a peach tree.
Why do we care about it? I guess if it gets to be part of Russia, Arkansas is next to go.
Usual caveat: Approach at your own risk. Brother Fred does not mince words or particularly care who he offends.
That's so awesome. (c;
ReplyDeletePresident Obama has been far from perfect on foreign policy, but this kind of "aw shucks, he's such a fool" stuff drives me crazy.
ReplyDelete"What I can’t see is, why he thinks the Ukraine is Washington’s business."
Yeah, why is the the whole world any worse off if a nuclear power gets into the habit of sending troops into its neighbors' territory for the purpose of annexation?
This is a very complex and dangerous situation, and if lil ole us jes can't see what all the fuss is about, a little review of the last 2500 years of history might come in handy.
Personally, I'm glad we've got sober, cautious men like Obama and Kerry at the helm. You may recall that the last guy got us suckered into two costly, useless wars, and my main criticism of Obama has been that he took so long to get us out of them.
The United States will not go to war over the Crimea, at least under this administration. Everyone understands, I think, the interests that Russia never really gave up in its naval base. But of course we should protest, and of course we should impose sanctions, not because that will send the Russians running, but because it will impose some small cost that will at least make a rational leader think twice about going further, and without the risks that saber-rattling raises, of a stupid, macho escalation into armed conflict.
The problem with sanctions is that 1) they usually don't work and 2) their "failure" is often used as a reason for military action.
ReplyDeleteThe imposition of sanctions in this case won't do much to move the needle on Putin's cost/benefit analysis because we don't have anything that he values nearly as much as he values Crimea.
I don't think there's anything short of a shooting war with NATO that will stop him, and that is (or should be) out of the question. As hard as it may be to swallow, there is nothing we can realistically do about Putin's actions.