Would you buy a used car from this man?

His official title might read, "Vladimir Putin, President of Russia", but his job description is much less grandiose.  He's a thug, the most powerful thug in a country run by thugs.  And he's a liar, someone utterly without morals.  

Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted, ever.  Whatever words come out of his mouth are uttered only to serve his interests, period.  He will die with an unrepentant Communist-era KGB mind set. 

If you'll look back at my blog post of February 20th I predicted that the unrest in Ukraine would not end well.  Putin absolutely will NOT let the Ukraine slip from his virtual control, and let's not kid ourselves, that's exactly what he had before former Ukrainian President Yanukovych was ousted.  Putin sneezed, "Yank-man" caught the cold.

Now Putin has flat-out invaded the Crimean peninsula, a region of southern Ukraine where Russia still maintains a naval base.  Russian forces quietly strolled out of that base and took over the region's airports, then began airlifting in an estimated 6,000 additional troops. And if he wants to take a bigger bite out of Ukraine, there's nothing stopping him.

This from a "world leader" who not long ago warned the West that they must, MUST respect the sovereignty of sleaze-states such as Iran and Syria, regardless of how evil they might be.  No exceptions!  ROFLMAO!

And there isn't a damn thing we....the US, the EU, or NATO....can do about it.  The West no longer has any real deterrent options left open to them. 

"But....but....we have all these planes and tanks and ships and NUCLEAR WEAPONS for God's sake!"  Yes, but those are no longer deterrents.

To "deter" someone from doing something you must have THE MEANS to stop them and THE WILL to use it.  As mentioned, we have the means, but we will absolutely NOT use it.  

And Vladimir Putin knows it.  No modern democracy can will compete toe-to-toe with a dictator on ruthlessness.  It's just no longer part of our national DNA.

"There will be consequences for Russia's invasion," Washington says.  How so?  American businesses are conducting lucrative trade with Russia and aren't going to give it up.  (Money talks, and all that, you know.)  

Meaningful economic sanctions are out of the question.  A pin prick here and there maybe, but Putin will just laugh those off.  We have our hands full militarily just trying to smoke out a few nasty heathens in Afghanistan.  

And to make matters worse, energy-poor Europe needs Russian natural gas. A simple twist of a few pipeline valves and Europe will be freezing before nightfall.  Europe is in no position to do anything punitive.

Europe and America might bluster, but that's all for domestic consumption.  Practically speaking, Putin knows we're toothless. 

"Then that august body, The United Nations, will step up and exert world pressure on Russia, right?" Once again, ROFLMAO! 

You are witnessing the opening salvo of Cold War 2.0, and so far the home team isn't doing so good.

S

PS:  And please don't point fingers at one political party or another or any single president and say "it's all their fault."  This situation has been festering for decades.