President Barack Obama has declared any secession vote in Crimea illegitimate, and warned: “We are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.”
President Barack Obama has declared any secession vote in Crimea illegitimate, and warned: “We are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.”
11 comments:
I honestly wonder if he thinks Tzar Putin is impressed by or concerned about his statement. Because I can pretty much guarantee that Putin is not. Our response, and that of the Europeans has been feckless and half-hearted at best. Putin knows we will take no serious action over this, and as I've said before, if this whole thing pans out and there is still an independent nation of Ukraine, then that's the best we could hope for. At this point? I'm betting Eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula will end up as Russian provinces. Whether the Western Ukraine does as well is still uncertain.
Our deployment of forces to Poland essentially conveys that Putin can do whatever he wants with the Ukraine (a name which means "borderlands," i.e., even the name of the country is defined by Russia).
Well, of course that's how Putin is going to read it. But Grim, I think the absolute travesty of this situation is that I honestly believe that our President thinks he's deterring Putin. He and his advisers keep talking about giving Putin an "offramp". Like he's desperately looking for a way out of the Ukraine! They are literally clueless as to what is going on! At least, that's how I see it.
I can pretty much guarantee that Putin is not [taking Obama's statement(s) seriously].
I'm not sure anyone who still lives in this universe takes anything the Great Chit-Chatter says seriously.
And there's this.
It's going to be a long, destructive two-plus years. And much of the damage will take decades to recover.
Eric Hines
Putin has got to be laughing in his vodka when he hears that.
Completely off-topic comment:
I have read here more than one post about the Norsemen and their epic poetry. I wonder if you have seen a book called "Song of the Vikings". The author is one Nancy Marie Brown and she has written the biography of the author of the Edda, one Snorri Sturlson. She covers his rather fascinating life - he was a chieftian several times over, father of numerous children by 4 different women (some simultaneously) and at one point the most powerful man in Iceland, who ended up murdered on his knees in his own basement. It is her contention that he was the most influential writer in the Middle Ages, more than Chaucer or Malory.
"Don't call my bluff." Also, "Visualize World Peace."
...she has written the biography of the author of the Edda, one Snorri Sturlson.
That is somewhat like writing, "The New Testament treats the life of a prophet, one Jesus Christ." :)
I am well familiar with Snorri Sturlson! I don't know that particular treatment, but I think I have read every word he ever wrote -- at least, in English translation.
Well, I had to condense it! But note that except for some examples, this is not the Edda itself - it's about the life of the man who wrote it - and how and why, and how it has influenced literature ever since. I thought that you might enjoy it.
I'm not persuaded that the US should 'rescue' Ukraine from Putin.
Having said that, the PajamaBoy President would be the LAST C-in-C I'd want to serve as a grunt.
I'm not persuaded that the US should 'rescue' Ukraine from Putin.
What's your limiting principle? When does such a thing become our fight?
Eric Hines
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