Ukraine Crisis

[Storebought]

One mistake Bush seemed to do was think that Putin was a great guy. As low as an opinion of Bush I had, I assumed he would have realized that Putin was a worse guy than himself. Of course, Republicans are conveniently forgetting that when they attack Obama now. Maybe Bush liked the flat tax Putin had just implemented.

The admiration on the part of the GOP was then, and is now, genuine.

[Storebought]

This discussion reflects what Merkel meant when she said that Putin was speaking from a different perception of the world. A delusional one...

[Storebought]

Given the reaction of Germany and the UK against even temporary economic sanctions against Russia, and US reluctance to follow anything Obama says, there is nothing the west will do to stop Russia from a permanent occupation of Crimea, or even a full takeover of the country.

The Obama administration should simply drop the issue. The US -- Obama and Republicans both -- are clearly not the match for Putin. Even Russia's propaganda machine is better.