Monday, March 3, 2014

Obama Gives Putin "Time Out"

                                                           

Russian troops goose-stepped into the Ukraine last week, tanks roaring and rifles pointed at the face of freedom loving people.  And, God help us, the "man-child" in the White House trotted out to the Rose Garden and gave Putin a "time-out".  Alas, Putin laughed at America and doubled down on his invasion.

This reminds one of the Jimmy Carter years when he flitted about the world whispering "kumbaya" and kissing the asses of our enemies.  The same Jimmy Carter who wrung his hands and whined and moaned and did nothing as Iranian militants held 300 plus Americans hostage.  America, tired of weak-kneed leadership, elected Ronald Reagan who vowed to bomb Iran into the stone age if the hostages weren't released by the time he took office.  And forty-five minutes after Reagan took the oath of office the hostages were airborne and on the way home.

Now we have a President even weaker than Jimmy Carter, something I never thought I'd ever see again in my lifetime.  Obama has just ordered his Secretary of the Defense to cut the American military to a level so small that we haven't seen numbers like it since the pre-World War II era.  So, maybe Obama is right in pussy-footing with Putin.  We certainly no longer have the military forces to oppose a nation that has more than two million military in uniform.

And Syria continues to stone wall the removal of chemical weapons long after the agreed upon deadline to do so.  And why not?  When Obama drew a line in the sand, then backed away from it, Syria knew they were dealing with a wimp.

However, Obama could do far more than issuing a "time out" to spoiled child Putin.  He could expel Russian diplomats, he could impose economic sanctions, he could dispatch Secretary of State Kerry to Kiev to serve as cannon fodder and he could announce his support to admit Georgia to Nato, something that should have been done years ago.

Instead, on the heels of Putin's invasion, we had Obama and VP Biden trotting around the White House in shirt and tie, and telling kids they need to "move".  Ironic, because that's exactly what Obama should have been doing last week.  But we saw Obama skipping off to make a speech about throwing more money at minority thugs in the hopes that they'll stop killing each other in urban ghettos while his security team was meeting in emergency session.

Alas, we have a President that talks of gay rights while squashing the liberties of the religious.  We have a President who worries more about sodas and fritos in schools than driving a vibrant economy. We have a President who loves his golf more than reducing the deficit.  We have a President who wants to give away American jobs to illegals in lieu of hiring our veterans....and we have a President who just told freedom loving people around the world that America no longer has their back.

Sad.  Damned Sad.



12 comments:

Craig said...

It is sad to say, but his wife is way scarier/intimidating than little barry bong boy.When the dog needs to bark all that comes out is a squeak from a mouse.

A Modest Scribler said...

Craig, I wouldn't be surprised if Michelle is pulling many of his chains. But he has far too big an ego to allow her to control the whole shebang....his socialist ways are true to him.

Jerry Carlin said...

I am happily reading the book you recommended! thanks! On today's topic, could I talk you into reading an article in Atlantic (March 3rd), by Peter Beinart, "No American Weakness Didn't Encourage Putin to Invade Ukraine"?
Personally I think everything is far more complicated than sound bites that may occur before a barroom fight.

A Modest Scribler said...

I'll check it out Jerry...but that doesn't explain the Middle East mess and the massive failure of Obama's "arab spring".

Jerry Carlin said...

I am not sure it was Obama's Arab Spring but failure it was. I have no delusions that they were fighting for Jeffersonian Democracy though, more like their piece of the pie. They too want flat screen televisions!
As long as Europe gets its gas and oil through the Ukraine nothing much will happen anyway. It is always about the oil.

A Modest Scribler said...

Jerry, from Obama to the state department to the media, everyone was hailing the spring of democracy breaking out in the middle east. Do a search on my blog ("arab spring") and see what I said about it at the time. Having worked and lived in the Middle East for ten years I was amazed how naive these folks were.

Jerry Carlin said...

Yep, naive. I agree 100%!!!

Brian Kalifornia said...

Hopefully we can endure the next 2.5 years of oturdo. This turd is is a paper tiger and a empty suit. Putin is going to do what he wants and oturdo is not going to do anything about it. Europe is not going to want to have their oil disrupted so they're not going to be an hurry to jump on board. It's to see Scrib and Jerry interacting again, sometimes entertaining. Scrib I hope you don't stop writing because the first thing I do every morning during the week is read your blog.

Revolt, Revolt, Revolt. Waiting for the first shot!

Mark said...

Anybody remember the Iran Contra affair? I'm just sayin. I voted for Reagan but his hands weren't clean when it came to getting the hostages released. Since then the republicans have gone crazy the democrats are idiots and the tea party is off the scale. I think the man of steel needs to save us.

A Modest Scribler said...

Mark, I guess you can assume Reagan knew about Iran Contra..or not. But in extensive hearings the two key players both said they operated on their own; Admiral Poindexter and Colonel Oliver North.

Personally, I had no problem with it because Congressional Democrats would simply not allow us to ship guns to support those trying to overthrow an oppressive communist government in our hemisphere and Poindexter saw a way to do it. Probably not right but war is hell.

Don't agree with you on the Tea Party...they just want to restore what used to be a grand country.

Mark said...

Here is one for you, we won the cold war with fantasy weapons which was amazing. Since puton was placed in power Russia has invested heavily in new technologies. At this point in time we don't have but a hand full of fighters that would have a chance against the Russian T-50 or the Chinese duplicate of the F-35 which the Chinese stole the plans for and have produced them in significant numbers to be more than just a minor threat to the U.S. and it's allies. We are lagging behind and at this rate our troops on the ground won't have the luxury of the Air Force owning the skies. None of the jets in our arsenal have a chance in an air war.
One of the problems is the F-35 is 160 billion dollars over budget and several years behind in production and is wrought with issues that keep the planes on the ground.
The military is planning to buy 3 different models one for the Marines one for the Air Force and one for the Navy for a total of 2200 planes thus replacing all the fighters in service today. If the F-35 gets all the kinks worked out the F-35 has capabilities 10 times greater than our competitors have so I think we have to have them in order to keep things in balance.
Oh well it all makes sense to me.

Mark said...

It was clear that the government acquired a large amount of cash that they weren't accountable for. As far as Admiral Poindexter and Colonel Oliver North go they had plausible deniability. They looked at it as a win win situation for the Reagan administration. Return of the hostages and provide weapons in South America.
I have a very hard time believing anything any of the political parties have to say. We are in a quandary here and I'm afraid to say we are just along for the ride. I can't see anyone in the predictable future that is qualified to be president.