So Kati, what do you think
about Russia reclaiming the Crimean Peninsula? What? You ask if it will keep
you from eating, sleeping, and playing outside. No, I don’t think so. Does it
really make any difference to us if Crimea is part of Russia or the Ukraine?
No, I don’t think so. So what is all the fuss about? Well, Kati, it’s sort of
like this. When the U.S. was trying to get Russia to agree to the
reconciliation of West and East Germany, when George Bush senior was President,
we promised Putin that we would not expand NATO to the borders of Russia. Of
course we quickly broke that promise and proceeded to surround Russia with NATO
affiliated nations. Ukraine was not yet one of them although it was being
courted to that end. So…when the EU and the US staged a coup to get rid of the
democratically elected President of the Ukraine, and installed a bunch of neo-Nazis
and anti-Semites who had participated in the coup as leaders, who also had
obvious anti-Russian sentiments, Putin, quite understandably, acted to protect
the Russian interests in the Crimea, particularly their large warm water naval
base. And, as Crimea had been generously awarded to the Ukraine by Khrushchev
(reportedly after a drunken party), although it had been part of Russia for a
very long time, Putin saw an opportunity to get it back.
The West, that is the EU and the US, are outraged and threatening sanctions against Russia for violations of the Ukrainian constitution and international law, conveniently ignoring the fact that we have done the same thing repeatedly. Our Secretary of State, John Kerry, apparently with the intellectual capacity of a baboon, hypocritically, said Russia could not do such a thing, as it was wrong to invade another country without provocation, completely ignoring our own unjustified invasion of Iraq and our meddling in the affairs of other countries all over the world. Kati, it is such fun. Putin is basically thumbing his nose at us, unconcerned about sanctions, and holding all the Daddy and Mommy cards. Whether Crimea becomes part of Russia or simply an independent entity doesn’t matter as it will now be in the hands of Russia rather than Ukraine. Is this really going to affect our relations with Russia in the long run (or even the shorter run), probably not. So who cares? Ah, only those whose goal is to attain hegemony over the entire world, those huge international corporations who, by using the U.S. military, believe they can accomplish an empire the likes of which has never been seen.
But Kati, do you want a world controlled by a few huge international corporations rather than the people who live and work in it, a world in which the citizens are reduced to the status of worker ants toiling for little reward while the 1% live in untold luxury? I don’t, and I am absolutely opposed to an American empire which is merely a front for such plan. Hopefully, we are just beginning to see the American empire fail with other nations now beginning to say “no” to our demands. Putin is a great example, but South America is also rebelling, as are other countries like Afghanistan, Syria, and so on. The sanctions so far proposed against Russia are laughable, and in spite of our threats will probably not get much more serious. Putin will ultimately win, as he should. Germany, the strongest nation in Europe, will have too much to lose by sanctioning Russia. They do too much business there, and besides, German know-how, in conjunction with Russia’s resources, will inevitably become too powerful a combination for anyone to challenge.
Kati, sometimes I wish you could talk, but sometimes I’m glad you don’t. I am worrying about you of late as you seem to have an eating disorder, wanting to eat whenever I enter the kitchen no matter how recently you have been fed. But more importantly, your periodic psychotic breaks seem to be getting weirder, now taking place in the bathtub. Kati, there is nothing in the bathtub, nothing, no mice, no bugs, no nothing, no place to hide, nothing to do but chase your tail. Perhaps it is symbolic of American foreign policy. I wonder if we will ever understand that you cannot expect successful diplomacy and compromise if you consistently start by demanding your opponents agree to all of your demands before you will even talk with them. This hasn’t worked with Iran, won’t work with Russia, won’t work with the Palestinians, Venezuela, and is now becoming laughable because everyone knows our obnoxious threats of force (“all options are on the table”) are increasingly useless.
Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force.
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