Putin Consolidates Gains

(Note: The publisher of Despot in Waiting in no way endorses Russian aggression; nor does he believe that the Ukrainian freedom movement is led or even largely populated by neo-Nazis, who comprise a small self-serving fringe of those in the Ukraine resisting Russia. That being said, those neo-Nazis and others sharing their thinking across Europe including the Golden Dawn Party in Greece are a real and growing menace to Jews in their countries. A synagogue was defaced in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia and a rabbi wounded by stabbing in Kiev in recent days, and as a Jew who had family members slaughtered in Eastern Europe, the publisher is keenly aware of the perilous position a minority is in during times of flux.) Vladimir Putin has declared victory in Crimea, and there is little the rest of the world is able to do in protest, and nothing that the Ukraine and the West will be able to do to reverse Russia's unlawful occupation. If America was at the apex of our national strength, Putin would not have dared go on the march, but the power behind Reagan's "Tear down this wall" ethos is gone. Obama did not say "rebuild this wall", but he did not have to because he projects weakness and weakness tempts a bully like Putin in the same way blood in the water draws sharks. If Putin wants more of the Ukraine or a piece pf Estonia, these smaller nations can not prevent Russian might from taking them, and Barack Hussein Obama and Western leaders have shown they will not spill blood in service to the liberty of humanity. You can not rely on Russia's good will to curb Russian expansionism, and the rest of the world lacks the backbone to stop Putin.