I wish this was funny....

....but it isn't.  It's scarily accurate.

President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in just a few days.  Putin is right now most likely huddled with his personality profile psychologists determining exactly what he can say to get Donald Trump to fetch, roll over, and sit up and beg.  Trump is right now most likely propped up in bed skypeing with his BFF Sean Hannity.

Trump is in no way intellectually or cunningly Putin's equal.  Putin has been laser focused on returning Russia to its former glory ever since the USSR was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991.  Trump was completely unprepared for his office, and was as shocked as anyone when he was elected on November 8, 2016.  Putin was trained as an intelligence officer in the KGB, eventually becoming a Lt. Colonel, and later heading the KGB's successor, the FSB.  Trump kept his dad's slick lawyer on retainer to keep him out of trouble.  Bone spurs *wink* kept him out of the military.  Putin has a honed, long-term strategy.  Trump just says and does whatever pops into his head.  Trump slanders and belittles his opponents.  Putin kills his.

Vladimir Putin will destroy Donald Trump, and we'll all be collateral damage.  No, this is not funny at all.

S

Сделаем Америку снова великой

I'll admit, I'm old school, and in most cases I don't apologize for it.  Especially when it comes to my intense wariness concerning all things Russia.  I'm not paranoid....I don't see a Rooskie behind every tree....but my memory is still vivid enough to remember stories of Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on a desk back in 1956 before a gathering of Western ambassadors and telling them "We will bury you!"

Back then Russia was the Soviet Union, and their enforcers were their KGB.  They were to the Soviet Union what the Gestapo was to Nazi Germany.  Think secret police.  Nasty, evil people they were.  When the Soviet Union disintegrated and collapsed in 1991, Vladimir Putin was a proud member of that nefarious group.  For nearly 20 years now he has been the supreme authority in Russia.  The name may have changed, the flag may have changed, but Russia is just as untrustworthy today as it was back in the old Soviet days.  There's no daylight between Putin the KGB agent and Putin, the President of Russia.

Vladimir Putin desperately wants to see his Russia back on par with the United States as a world superpower.  He knows that won't happen, though, as his Russia only has an economy roughly equal to California's.  They're living hand-to-mouth.  His only hope is to saw the legs out from under the US, and the European Union, and NATO.  If he can't stand 6'4 like us, he wants us to be 5'7 like him.

Vladimir Putin is a bully, he gets what he wants, and he will do whatever it takes, legal or not, to get it.   Many psychologists say that bad boy, gang leader image is how Donald Trump sees himself, too.  They say he feels a certain kinship with Putin.  Others say it's more complicated, and commercial, than that.  They say Trump has depended on Russian money for years to keep his Trump Organization afloat.

 Vladimir Putin has been patiently cultivating Donald Trump for years.

Regardless, I can't forgive Donald Trump for not standing up to Russian evil.  With this President, I'm a one-issue citizen.  My displeasure with him is not about his foreign policy, or his economic policy, or his cabinet choices, or even his private life.  Some I agree with, some I don't.  But overriding EVERYTHING is America's security, and on this, our Commander-In-Chief has failed us.  Unless he can somehow find the courage to step up and go toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin, I will continue to be critical of him.  Why any red-blooded American would cover for him baffles me.

S

Why have Republicans gone all weak-kneed?

Back in the bad old Cold War days the terms "Russia" and "Communist" and "Soviet Union" were commonly interchanged.  By the time the Soviet Union officially collapsed in 1991, communism as a social movement had long since died.  Even the Soviet leaders knew communism was a failed economic philosophy, even though they couldn't say it out loud.  At the end they were just trying desperately to hold on to power, and they couldn't.

Russia's current President, ex-KGB agent Vladimir Putin, has never forgotten the power the old Soviet Union once wielded, and is obsessed with seeing Russia regain its lost prestige in the world.  Today Russia is essentially a vast organized crime family.  Putin is the "Don", and he enables Russia's rich oligarchs, and they in turn support him. They're old school thugs.

Back in the Cold War days America's preeminent anti-communists were Republicans.  They were the hard-line hawks and the Democrats were considered the doves.  Any time "Russia" was uttered, Republicans sat up straight and clenched their fists.  They were itching for a fight, looking for an excuse to slap down the despised Russians.

So what happened?  Republicans have gone soft.  Today all our intelligence agencies, as well as foreign intelligence agencies, 100% agree the Russians are doing everything they can to weaken the cohesiveness and the will of the west.  They've pulled out all the stops in their effort to harm us, short of a hot war.  They use our social media to clandestinely foment social unrest here.  We've caught them red handed doing it.  

We know for a fact they have at least tried to reach out to candidate Donald Trump's campaign in 2016, hoping to influence our election.  Yet today's Republicans are showing no teeth, no backbone, no willingness to stand up to Russia.  Yes, Republicans voted for more sanctions against Russia, and President Trump signed it under protest....and then never implemented it.  They all just say, "Nope...nope...no Russians in here.  There's no story.  Everyone go home."  And if anyone calls them out, they threaten them with a lawsuit.  Republicans seem more concerned about punishing who said it than pursuing what they said.


Why are Republicans, our former hawks, our most vicious protectors of American democracy, now so willing to look the other way at Putin's shenanigans?  I don't get it.

S

Trust Putin at your own risk

I remember somewhere back during our recent presidential campaign when Donald Trump referred to Vladimir Putin as a "great leader", and his critics and political opponents went wild.  "How could he call Putin, a certified gangster if there ever was one, a 'great leader'" they asked.  How? Simple....because Putin IS a great leader.

When we think of a leader we think of someone good and virtuous and kind.  Webster stops short of that.  It defines "leader" as (1) :  a person who directs a military force or unit (2) :  a person who has commanding authority or influence.   It doesn't say anything about being good or virtuous or kind. 

Just like Adolf Hitler was obsessed with restoring Germany to its place at the pinnacle of the World Order (as he saw it at least) after WWI, Vladimir Putin is today obsessed with restoring Russia to the superpower status it enjoyed during the heyday of the Soviet Union.  He famously once called the breakup of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th Century."

Everything I've read about Putin suggests this is all he thinks about.  If he makes a deal to sell oil or natural gas, for example, he sees it only as a means to an end, that being to return Russia to its glory days. He tolerates his oligarchs because he sees them as influential political allies.  He can count on them to stamp out dissent, thereby keeping their fortunes intact, and keeping his dreams of national glory alive.

There is no appealing to Putin's "good side" because he doesn't have one.  Dubya Bush said he looked into Putin's eyes and "saw his soul", and felt he was a man he could trust.   Barack Obama had his "Russian reset" back in 2010 where he hoped to reestablish good relations with Russia.  Both failed miserably.  Putin can't be trusted, and he doesn't care about being liked.

Putin's modus operandi is to nibble away at his neighbors by annexing area where he can (like Crimea), just like Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia, and stirring up trouble in other areas like Ossetia (part of Georgia) and Transdniestria (part of Moldova).  Many believe he has the Baltics in his sights again, too.  He is slowly-but-surely trying to reassemble the old Soviet Union, and he's using his feared KGB persona to "command authority"....Webster's definition of a "leader". 

My fear now is that President-elect Trump will try to make Vladimir Putin a partner, like he makes influential foreigners partners in his property deals.  He'll expect his Sec of State Rex Tillerson to smooth talk Putin into a win-win "deal".  I don't think that's a concept Vladimir Putin can grasp.  

The smart money says we would be wise to NOT turn our back on him.

S

It's like losing a bet all over again watching the instant replay. DUH!

Every night the news is filled with the latest efforts of US SecState Kerry and other world diplomats as they try to start talks with Vladimir "Pootie Pooh" Putin on securing the return of Crimea back to Ukraine.

 

Look...a booger!

These people must be a very special variety of stupid!  Russia now "owns" Crimea, its troops are dug in, and it isn't going anywhere.  And we can't make it.  We need to quit beating our heads against the wall and face it.

Trouble is, this is the first....the second actually after Russia's little foray into Georgia back in '08....of many upcoming moves by Putin to reconstitute Russia's old empire. He telegraphed it back in 2012 upon his return to power as President.

At that time he told Russian industry / banking leaders (the oligarchs) "Owning assets outside Russia makes you too vulnerable to moves by foreign governments.  It's time to bring your wealth home."  Hello!  He wanted to make Russia "sanction proof".  This whole Crimean crisis, and the ones soon to come, are all premeditated.

Pootie Pooh is an unreconstructed KGBer.  All he knows how to do is step on people's throat to get them to do what he wants.  He once declared the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geo-political catastrophy of the 20th Century.  He wants Russia's empire back.  

All the former USSR republics are now on notice....close ranks with Russia and you'll be left alone.  Step out of line and there can always be excuses found to invade "for the good of the people."  *Ha!  He cracks me up some times!*

We really should make a game of this.  "Who will be he next two-bit Russian neighbor to feel Putin's wrath?"  There's money to be made here Vegas!

S

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.

This isn't going to end well

For those of you who have been napping for the past month, let me update you on world events:

The folks in Ukraine (formerly one of the Soviet Socialist Republics before the USSR went belly-up) are in full-fledge revolt.  They want to align themselves with the European Union as they see that as the surest way for them to grow and prosper.  As it is now they're a sneeze away from bankruptcy.  Russia doesn't want to let go of their influence there, and is pulling the strings of the current Ukraine leader.

Vladimir Putin (aka Pootie-Pooh), the Russian President, is about to blow a gasket thinking about one of "his" neighbors rejecting him and taking up with their neighbors on the other side. He's very possessive, a man scorned, and he's an old school KGB'er at heart....not a good combination.  

Meanwhile back in Sochi, the showcase Olympics that Pootie has spent the equivalent of $50B on is turning out to be a laughable mess.  These Olympics are to Russia today what the 1936 Berlin Olympics were to Nazi Germany; a way to show the world how advanced, modern, and powerful they are.  

So far that isn't working out well.  Their facilities are woefully crude and crumbling and many of the venues themselves are simply inferior.  The Russians are hockey obsessed and care about little else but their team winning the hockey Gold Medal.  Yesterday they were knocked out....humiliated even....in a quarterfinal round.  

Home-grown terrorists are somewhere in the Sochi shadows right now, hoping to cause mayhem.  They have so far been kept at bay only because Russia has stationed a not-so-small army there (for now) to step on them.  All this is taking its toll.  The Russian (read: Vladimir Putin's) psyche has been severely wounded.  

Remember the old joke...."What's worse than shooting at a charging bear and missing?  Shooting at a charging bear and only wounding him."

If the protesters in Ukraine succeed in putting in place a new government that turns it's back on Russia, don't be surprised if Putin does something violent in response.  Or maybe he'll even devise an excuse to physically go into Ukraine before it gets to that to "restore calm".   

Of course the west will respond with a meaningless statement of condemnation, the Russians will curtail natural gas deliveries to Europe (they provide the majority of Europe's natural gas) as pipelines go down for "routine maintenance", and from there....?

Most catastrophes don't start out with one gigantic "boom".  They're usually the result of a number of small things that go wrong and build on each other, culminating in one gigantic boom.  Nobody, least of all little 'ol me, knows yet what's going to happen.  But considering the crude, violent nature of politics in that part of the world, I'm guessing things aren't going to end well.

S