Putin Powering Non-Stop

It should come as no surprise that the Cantankerous Friend came riding to defense of Obama’s handling of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.  He has a hard time believing Obama is worthy of any criticism (at any time) despite yet another example of his disinterested, amateurish foreign policy which has led to another crisis.

Obama reacts instead of taking proactive steps ahead of a crisis.  He’s like one of those ineffective, “good time Charlies” who just hopes for the best and then wrings his hands in frustration when the rest of the world is not as nice as he is.  It seems that everyone in the world except the Obama administration knew Russia would invade Ukraine if the pro-Russian president was removed.  Putin had to wait while the world’s attention was focused on the Winter Olympics in Russia but it was clear there was some serious operational planning going on behind the scenes in Sochii.  The military moves that have manifested over the past week in the Crimea don’t happen (especially with the Russians) without significant advance planning.

Instead of backing the Russians down with strong diplomatic and/or economic moves ahead of time when the indications were there, Obama sat back.  To his credit he’s trying to do that now with Kerry in Kiev but Putin already has half of what he wants.  He’s staging forces in Crimea as well as along the Ukraine’s eastern border that could easily move to link up and sever another huge hunk of Ukrainian territory.  The Europeans who played a large part in fomenting the change in the Ukrainian government are now predictably silent, amid fears of losing Russian oil and gas. 

Russian Forces on the Move in Crimea

So my Cantankerous Friend, you simply can’t defend Obama in this case.  His latest moves may thwart Putin’s planned annexation of more of Ukraine but it’s historically tough to get Russian troops off your land once they arrive (see Eastern Europe 1945-1985).  The strategic diplomatic and economic threats should have been made back channel, ahead of time, to give Putin pause but he knows this president all to well.  Obama’s a good guy playing in a very tough school yard and getting his ass handed to him by a bully.   

The Bully

Back at home my cleaning exercise proceeds apace with only a few tasks remaining.  Mother Nature seems to have screwed up her calendar or someone forgot to mention that it’s March and time to turn up the heat a little.  While we dodge another major snow storm we did so at the expense of some bone deep cold (my wife spent one more day at the beach yesterday and reported Las Lajas is still world class paradise incarnate – a real morale boost).  It’s not fun sweeping out a garage with the wind chill at -19 degrees while she frolicked in the sand.

My Feelings, Exactly!

My Wife Yesterday with her Brother and Sister

Las Lajas

Brother in Law and His Wife Arriving at Las Lajas

In an effort to reduce my chaotic footprint on the cleaned areas of the house I snuck out and saw my last dateless movie – Non-Stop.  This is another action thriller with Liam Neeson as the hero.  He’s much more flawed in this incarnation as an alcoholic air marshal on his last flight being set up to look like a hijacker before the plane blows up.

Neeson is typically awesome but the plot is so uneven and totally unbelievable that even this jaded movie goer found it hard to suspend disbelief that rational people would make the decisions depicted here.  It was entirely too implausible to be enjoyable and ended up being trite.  Sometimes you can throw too many red herrings around and everything starts to smell fishy.  Well Liam’s had a good long run as a middle aged action hero but the bell may be tolling.

It'll Be Colder Here

She’s back tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!