President Obama’s chaotic and disinterested foreign policy
faces another challenge in Ukraine. President Yanukovych abandoned his capitol to
the protesters who have been courageously standing up to Putin’s puppet while
the Russians have been distracted by the Olympics. This will be a real test because as the world
departs Russia Putin will most certainly train his attention on a nation he
regards as a vassal state.
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| Enjoy Your Victory but Vladimir Leaves Sochii After Today - Get Ready |
Putin is a cold warrior and will not hesitate to impose a
new solution on the situation that the Ukrainians will not enjoy. The Europeans have engineered this situation
but Putin knows they lack the backbone for any real confrontation. Security concerns are bone deep in the
Russian psyche given their repeated victimization throughout history by
invaders - Vikings, Mongols, Napoleon, and Hitler to name a few. While it’s easy to understand the Russian
need to have friendly buffer states along its border Putin will also view this
as a challenge to his emergence as the new Russian Czar. He will garner a huge amount of popular
Russian support by taking a decisive step to punish a next door neighbor that
is choosing to defy him. If I had to
guess I’d say we’ve sent the last of a unified Ukraine. Obama is not up to this type situation as
Putin has shown he will run circles around him.
Back home the thaw continued apace yesterday as the roads
shed their icy mantle (at least for a couple days) and we are now driving on
pavement again. I chose to hang around
the house and knock out a few of the minor projects any home owner is blessed
(cursed) with as Buddy appointed himself bird herder. He took serious offense that birds would
choose to land in “his” back yard. It
was still incredibly lonely and continued me down the path convincing me this
house is way too big for just two people.
I finished up the latest 1000 piece puzzle – so you get an idea how
exciting the day was in Charlton.
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| Puzzle Completed |
Luckily I have a slightly older (certainly not elder) sister
who sensed the rampant isolation and provided a respite. When my brother in law returned from work
they both jumped n the car and took me out to dinner. We went back to Chuck’s Steak house which has
become something of a hit with us after being ignored for almost a decade. It was a late dinner but so much fun hanging
out with these remarkable people. You
can never be truly isolated with people like this in your life.
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| Great Companionship |
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