Sarah Palin: “I Can See Kiev From My House”
I wasn't planning to write a post about Russia/Ukraine/Crimea; at least not any time soon. There are too many sides to this, too much going on, for most Americans (most Westerners for that matter) to have an informed opinion.
In other words, it's the perfect time for America's mouthbreathing chickenhawks to come storming in and slander President Obama because _____________________ (he didn't send U.S. troops into Crimea, he's indecisive, he took a vacation last Christmas, you name it).
Take Sarah Palin: “Back in 2008, I accurately
predicted the possibility of Putin feeling emboldened to invade Ukraine
because I could see what kind of leader Barack Obama would be. The bullies of the world are always emboldened by indecision and
moral equivalence. We can expect more of this sort of thing in a world
where America is gutting its military and 'leading from behind.'”
Oh shut up Asshole. Ditto for all the other keyboard warriors, including Mitt Romney, who spent the 2012 election blubbering that the Soviet Union was America's biggest threat. Not that the Soviet Union has even existed for the past twenty-three years...
The general consensus (excluding the mouth-foamingest chickenhawks) is that military action against Putin is not an option, and that international condemnation and economic sanctions probably won't have much effect.
Besides this thankless position, the situation is a lot more complicated than good and bad, black and white. Ukrainians are sharply divided in their loyalties. Basically the eastern half of the country wants to maintain close ties to Russia; the western half wants to strengthen ties with Western Europe. And the population of Crimea is mostly made up of ethnic Russians.
Putin's official reason for invading Crimea is to protect the Russians who live there. That was also Putin's reason for invading Georgia in 2008: Georgia has two provinces where the people are mostly Russian, and they were being attacked by the Georgian government.
Maybe these were Putin's real motives, or maybe not. For that matter, a lot of the former Soviet republics have a large ethnic Russian population. Is Putin planning to invade Moldova or Latvia in order to “protect” those countries' Russian populations?
I don't have any solutions or simple answers. And neither do the loudmouth chickenhawks for whom Ukraine is the new Benghazi.
Labels: Crimea, Putin, Sarah Palin, Ukraine
posted by Tom Harper @ 5:01 PM
5 Comments:
I wish one of these wingnuts would tell us what they would do (in concrete terms). Would they launch an all-out nuclear war that would send the world economy back a cup of centuries to keep the Russians out of a small Russian enclave that houses its Black Sea fleet? The hypocrisy in all this is stunning.
Tom
I invite you to repost your post on "Game Change" so we can all remember Ms Palins expertise on foreign affairs.
Excuse me while I snicker
Erik
See! See! See! This is proof the Lamestream Media had it out for Sarah! She knows Geopolitics!
As Karlo noted the Republicans are getting away with calling President Obama a wimp without being asked 'Okay what would you do?' as they all run around reinforcing the BS right-wing mantra that only Republicans are He-men America defenders.
If asked I'm certain the Republican response is Putin wouldn't be trying this if VP Palin or President Rmoney were in office because their mere presence in the Oval Office would make him cower.
Man, I get so tired of conservatives making vague statements about what we should do. Good piece, Tom.
Karlo: "Wingnuts" and "concrete terms" in the same sentence? They don't have any incentive for concrete suggestions. All they have to do is spew out their clueless talking points, and millions of Fox and talk radio listeners will lap it up.
Erik: Game Change -- is that the Sarah Palin movie? (I had to google it.) I never saw it. If I decided to view it, I'd have to make sure there's enough vodka to get me all the way through it.
But thanks for the invite :)
Grung: Ah yes, the good old Lamestream Media. Yup, Republicans love to pretend Putin would be paralyzed with fear if there was a Republican in the White House, even though Putin invaded Georgia when Dumbya was president.
Jim: Thanks. Yes, these meaningless soundbites from conservatives are indeed tiring.
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