Unresolved Unrest in the Ukraine

(Image by Michael Ramirez)

Over the weekend the President Yanukovych of the Ukraine became Former President Yanukovych and high-tailed it out of the country.  The Obama Administration supposedly warned Czar Putin to keep his military out of the Ukraine.

However, despite this apparent happy ending, the Ukrainian Crisis remains for a couple of reasons.  First, the US and EU appear weak in Russia's eyes.

One friend sparked a discussion with his Nightmare Scenario:

Russian military intervention in the Ukraine is not what I'd call a likely scenario.  Then again, it's also not beyond the realm of possibility.  At the end of the day, what would the U.S. and the EU do if they did?  Write angry letters telling them how angry we are?  We would not intervene and the EU can't intervene.  Russia certainly has a strong desire to maintain at least local hegemony over the former Soviet states, and Ukraine is not dancing to their tune (it's also the biggest prize of the lot).  I could see a Russian incursion to "protect" ethnic Russians being "mistreated" by a new regime.  If fracking can break Russia's stranglehold on Ukrainian energy needs, then this scenario becomes ever more plausible. 

I’m not sure what the Russian army can accomplish on its own, these days.  The 1968 days of “restoring brotherly fraternal socialism” or whatever are over.

 That said, you could easily see a devil’s bargain between forces in Eastern Ukraine and the Russians—but so far the Ukrainians don’t seem very keen on any Russian intervention.

 We’re pretty much out of it—but this is yet another example of the fruits of not really having a foreign policy that extends beyond incompetence and platitudes.

I agree there is a very real possibility of the Russians and pro-Russian Ukrainians “doing something.” 

Dudes! Chill! Uncle Joe has a reset button, remember? All they do is hit it, and the mainstream media, the lefty intelligentsia, the Euro trash Union, and a sizeable portion of the voting population of our troubled republic just blink a few times and go back to talking about climate change. 

We still have Hillary's old reset button as well.  Word on the street is that Russia, having lost Ukraine, will now understand that cooperating with the U.S. is better than confronting us, which makes this an ideal time to reset our relations with them.  It only didn't work before because the Russians didn't understand the benefits of the reset.  But, now that they do, it should actually work this time.  Same old, same old.

The second issue is that some of the Ukrainian Svoboda (Freedom) Party isn't so svoboda after all.  Neo-Nazis and Third Reich admirers make up an indeterminate number of the party's rank and file.  Two such members were just appointed to the Prosecutor General and Security Chief positions.

Regarding the Svoboda Party leader's anti-Semitic statements, one friend chimed-in with this comment:

On the plus side, there aren't many Jews left in that part of the world to torment.

 I'd rather have a sketchy, pro-Western government in Ukraine than a pro-Russian one.  Of course, once Russia annexes Crimea to protect its "citizens," said pro-Western government will be in big trouble because the EU and the US aren't going to do more than write angry letters saying how angry they are. 

(Image by Jerry Holbert) 

Gutting Our Military

(Image by Jerry Holbert)

Blogger and commentator In From the Cold discusses yesterday's announcement on how our military will be gutted.

Mark Steyn rolled-in with a discussion on shrinking horizons.

(Image by Bob Gorrell)

Monitoring Free Speech

(Image by Bob Gorrell)

As if the IRS and NSA aren't bad enough, Our Dear Leader tried sicking the FCC on news agencies in order to "...ascertain the process by which stories are selected..." blah-blah-blah.

Someone, or more likely a group of someones forgot that there's no place for the government in the newsroom. 

Apparently, the government decided there are Eight "Critical Information Needs" (CINs) subjects should know.

Mark Steyn pointed out that the THE one critical information need citizens should know is just how corrupt the US Government has become.

Team Obama counting on the same public complacency that has allowed Our Dear Leader to dodge all the "phony scandals," quickly found itself in the center of a fire storm.  As a result, they've suspended the newsroom questionnaire--for now. 

Kerry's Main Concern

(Image by Michael Ramirez)

I ended yesterday's first post with this comment from Comrade Karla:

Meanwhile, Our Dear Leader bloviates about climate change while ignoring real crises.  

Obama isn't the only one bloviating.

Early last week, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed "...climate change can be considered the world's largest weapon of mass destruction..." 

In response to Kerry's comments, two "flat earthers," who just happen to be two atmospheric scientists who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, rolled-in and said Kerry is flat wrong on climate change.

I guess the science isn't so settled after all is it?

Obama's Foreign Policy Fiasco(s)



(Image by Nate Beeler)

Unfortunately, the Ukraine isn't the only fire burning in our nation's forest of foreign policy.  

Violence in Venezuela claimed the life of another beauty queen along with several other individuals amid anti-government protests.  The Diplomad refers to this situation as a slow motion coup.

Sometime yesterday, Venezuela's El Presidente called on Our Dear Leader to begin talks.  This, after initially blaming the US for instigating/supporting the anti-government protests.

Apparently, Maduro is the only world leader that takes Obama's "redlines" seriously.

Meanwhile, three other simmering pots are on the verge of boiling over:  Iran, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.  John Bolton predicts the effects of Obama's non-functioning foreign policy will end in disaster.  

(Image by Bob Gorrell)



Crisis in the Ukraine

(Image by Lisa Benson)

Earlier this week, riots erupted in the Ukraine after a truce between protesters and the government broke down about 24 hours later.  Another video shows protesters attempting to attempting to protect themselves by forming a shield wall (Warning:  Video contains images of protesters getting shot and possibly killed).

The gist of the dispute is the Ukrainian government wants to have closer ties to Russia--thanks to a hefty bribe aid package from Vladimir Putin--but some/most (?) of the populace want to align themselves with the EU.  

Russia, of course sees things differently.  Since Russia and the Ukraine share a common border, why wouldn't any self-respecting Ukrainian want to side with Russia?

To "prove" the point, the Russian TV station Rossiya 1, aired the program Biochemistry of Treason.

By the time another cease fire was brokered, 70 people have been killed and the Ukraine may be at a turning point.

We'll see.

Even if this deal holds, the fate of the Ukraine remains in doubt.

One online friend directed his comment towards our State Department:

How's that Reset working for ya? 

Followed by other comments:

Well, I think that, maybe, we might just be considering the possibility that the reset wasn't the most optimal strategy for the given set of circumstances. 

The original protests seemed pretty legit.  But over time some really weird people seem to have “become the voice” of the protests, making any sort of peaceful resolution unlikely.  But hey…it’s yet another manifestation of the sucking sound left in the aftermath of 70 years of a socially and economically destructive political system. 

There was an excellent discussion about the situation last week I heard on the radio (John Batchelor) discussing how the skinheads/crazies have taken over as “the opposition.”  These are apparently the people McCain and Co were hobnobbing with as “freedom fighters.”   The titular leader of them is pretty much a Jew-hating fascist from Western Ukraine—he would have been right at home in the 24^th Waffen SS Division “Galitzien.”  Not that we are hearing about any of this, nope.

Given the violent nature of those who have hijacked the protests, it’s hardly a surprise that you’ve had the military establishment on the other side urging swift and brutal action.

Meanwhile, our Dear Leader bloviates about climate change and ignores real life crises. 

According to Brietbart's live updates, it looks like the Ukrainian president has fled the country.   As of now the situation is still unraveling...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not Bothering With Redlines for Iran

(Image by Margulies) 

One of my friends unearthed an interesting article concluding Obama really has no intention of stopping Iran's nuclear program. 

(Image by Paresh)

To which Comrade Karla responded:  

Sounds about right.  Anything we get involved in will be by accident or because somebody else takes the initiative.  He’s far too busy destroying our economy to tend to silly trifles like foreign policy. 

(Image by Michael Ramirez) 

Hitting the Grid

Apparently last April, someone, or more likely a group of someones, conducted an attack on a CA power substation.

Lawmakers called for more regulations, while speculation is high that this was a rehearsal for a larger attack.

One friend made the following thought-provoking comments:

Test run?  Maybe a check to see if they could do it without getting caught and how long it would take the transformers to blow when they overheated?  Maybe not even al Qaeda types, but Iranian, Russian or Chinese dudes.

 

The great unanswerable in terrorism, to my mind, is the utter lack of a major attack in the U.S. in so long.  Boston Marathon and some of the other ones were signficant, but they were no 9/11 or Mumbai attacks.  Indeed, most of the stuff since 2001 have been chumps on their own or with limited support.

What will happen if support to said chumps becomes more than "limited?"

A Reason to Celebrate!

Time to take a brief departure from posting about the sad state of affairs that plague our nation and the world at large.

Five days ago, the Seattle Seahawks made sports history and won their first Superbowl, which probably is cause enough for you readers outside the Pacific Northwest to say "WTFO?"  

I don't follow sports, but ever since I was first stationed here in Washington State at the beginning of my military career, I've considered myself a fan of all of Seattle's teams.  I'm just not that into it like these guys...

Yesterday, Seattle held a victory parade for the Seahawks and just as importantly, for the "12th Man" fans.  

Initially the city elders were expecting 200--300,000 fans.  Instead, over 700,000 showed up.  

While the equivalent of 10% of Washington State's population, braved the cold, lined the streets and filled both of Seattle's stadiums; half a world away, visitors to Sochi, Russia are contending with deplorable living conditions.  

The security concerns about the upcoming Winter Olympics held in a region infested with islamist terrorist hopefully, will not be the subject of any future blogpost.  I pray the games go off without a hitch.

In the meantime:

GO HAWKS!

Swelling the Ranks of Democrat Voters

(Image by Glenn McCoy)

Last week, Republican leaders rolled-out their immigration reform blueprint.  What said blueprint entails is the legalization of "some" illegal immigrants. 

News of this was greeted with "much rejoicing" among conservatives.

Ann Coulter warns this "cunning plan" will wreck the country and cost the GOP voters. 

And The Diplomad predicts this will foster voter fraud and make citizenship meaningless. 

Meanwhile, Comrade Karla was more to the point:

WTF are they thinking?  The timing is terrible, the Dems are in full demagogue mode (enabled by the press) and there are much more pressing issues that won't splinter the party.  These people are so out of touch it's making my head hurt.

Mine too Comrade, mine too. 

So much so, that I haven't renewed my GOP membership.  I keep meaning to formally renounce my affiliation, I just haven't gotten around to it. 

A State of Ruin

(Image by Jerry Holbert)

Our Dear Leader's SOTUS was aired four days ago now and while I hate to beat a dead horse, or more appropriately a dead donkey, Mark Steyn unearthed some interesting tidbits our Non-FOX News media refuses to cover.

I guess they're too obsessed with Bridgegate.  For the record, if Governor Christie did know about the lane closures, not to mention authorized it, then he should be duly disciplined.  However, when compared to the "phony scandals" committed by the Oval Office, inconveniencing commuters during rush hour pales in comparison with:  Deaths in Libya & Mexico, conservative groups (for now) being targeted by the IRS and the NSA's wholesale spying on American citizens.

Meanwhile, Our Dear Leader presses-on proclaiming he has a pen & isn't afraid to use it.  And we all know in what manner the Executive Pen will be used for...

(Image by Glenn McCoy)

Which nearly half the voting population will be okay with, since they continue to ignore some stubborn facts...

(Image by Glenn McCoy)

But with the Ministry of Truth (formerly known as the free press) to spin the narrative, those stubborn facts John Adams spoke of, will get a "King's New Clothes" makeover...

(Image by Glenn Foden)