The Ukraine - This Ain't No Board Game Of RISK...!

[Francisco Ferrer]

Francisco: I have the sneaky suspicion that fighting taxation won't get 'us' to freedom.

It's an effect not the cause.

Taxation won't be rolled up by fierce debate of the money blown overseas - to repeat my refrain, it will be on principles. (And individual rights is the one at the end of that line).

Ha, I'm imagining four guys fighting over the restaurant bill -

"I'm not paying!"

"Me neither!"

"Not me!"

...

"Um ... I'll pay?"

Taxation has a special place in American history for it was one of the key complaints that sparked our Revolution of 1776.

I do not dismiss the essential role of ideas in political change. However, direct action, i.e. the willingness of the average person to switch from his everyday labors to unlawful and dangerous measures is generally motivated by specific grievances.

By the way, America had a second rebellion in 1791 after the Constitution was adopted. It was, regrettably, suppressed by President Washington, but it too was over taxes.

Allow me enough gross over-simplification (btw I know quite a bit of US history, if not deeply) to say that in my experience people generally want to feel 'right'.

Heinlein had it there'd always be the makers, takers and fakers. Eventually, many can - and I believe will - want to be more aware of the ideas that shape them -the unknown philosophies which control them - and will coax themselves to the good ideas. Even those takers and fakers have a sense of the injustice of being on the receiving end, at others' expense. To say nothing of guilt. Or of pride.

Briefly, I'm not too sure about taxation as the traditional rallying cry for freedom, any longer.

I believe the more it is about money, the more it seems to confirm the worst impressions the left have of capitalists holding onto their misbegotten wealth. My way (obviously not alone here)would be to push the ideas of individualism, self-interest and personal liberty, uncompromisingly - without their attendant efficacy even, and outside of Party Politics, and with little mention of taxation - until those principles become part of the common discourse. A generation or two, and things can change drastically. If not in the USA, where else?

My perspective on the American home front is that the average American dislikes the income tax and hates the IRS. Attacking the tax thieves is good politics here.

[Selene]

John "I served in Vietnam and Lied Under Oath to Congress in the Winter Soldier Hearings" Kerry, one of the luckiest gigilo's in history, who never made a payroll, gave Putin an ultimatum!

The U.S. and Europe on Monday would then unite to impose sanctions on Russia, Kerry told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Thursday during a hearing on the State Department's budget.

“There will be a response of some kind to the referendum itself,” Kerry said. “If there is no sign [from Russia] of any capacity to respond to this issue ... there will be a very serious series of steps on Monday.”

“Our hope is to have Russia join in respecting international law. ... There is no justification, no legality to this referendum that is taking place,” he said. “The hope is that reason will prevail but there is no guarantee of that.”

This pompius buffoon is representing the US with Putin, Assad, Khomeni, Chung Fuc of China and other barbarous predators in the world.

He wouldn't put fear into a twelve (12) year old girl from Bushwick who would kick his ass.

Look at that quote! Can you imagine Condalessa Rice making that statement?

http://washingtonexaminer.com/john-kerry-russia-has-until-monday-to-reverse-course-in-ukraine/article/2545610

[anthony]

My perspective on the American home front is that the average American dislikes the income tax and hates the IRS. Attacking the tax thieves is good politics here.

More politics then? With the desired consequence of 'less' politics?

Dunno, but opposing politics with politics seems like fighting floodwaters with water.

It is too easy to say Oh, that bastard IRS. Easy target for everybody - even those not paying tax - but secretly the majority must think they profit, or there wouldn't be "tax thieves".

Freedom from your brother, first, is the priority. Rational principle is the right strategy.

[Francisco Ferrer]

My perspective on the American home front is that the average American dislikes the income tax and hates the IRS. Attacking the tax thieves is good politics here.

More politics then? With the desired consequence of 'less' politics?

Dunno, but opposing politics with politics seems like fighting floodwaters with water.

Voting and running for office are a legitimate means of self-defense. As Spooner wrote,

In truth, in the case of individuals, their actual voting is not to be taken as proof of consent, even for the time being. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, without his consent having even been asked a man finds himself environed by a government that he cannot resist; a government that forces him to pay money, render service, and forego the exercise of many of his natural rights, under peril of weighty punishments. He sees, too, that other men practice this tyranny over him by the use of the ballot. He sees further, that, if he will but use the ballot [*8] himself, he has some chance of relieving himself from this tyranny of others, by subjecting them to his own. In short, he finds himself, without his consent, so situated that, if he use the ballot, he may become a master; if he does not use it, he must become a slave. And he has no other alternative than these two. In self-defence, he attempts the former. His case is analogous to that of a man who has been forced into battle, where he must either kill others, or be killed himself. Because, to save his own life in battle, a man takes the lives of his opponents, it is not to be inferred that the battle is one of his own choosing. Neither in contests with the ballot — which is a mere substitute for a bullet — because, as his only chance of self- preservation, a man uses a ballot, is it to be inferred that the contest is one into which he voluntarily entered; that he voluntarily set up all his own natural rights, as a stake against those of others, to be lost or won by the mere power of numbers. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, in an exigency into which he had been forced by others, and in which no other means of self-defence offered, he, as a matter of necessity, used the only one that was left to him.

It is too easy to say Oh, that bastard IRS. Easy target for everybody - even those not paying tax - but secretly the majority must think they profit, or there wouldn't be "tax thieves".

Freedom from your brother, first, is the priority. Rational principle is the right strategy.

There is no doubt that statism has a considerable body of adherents. Obama didn't get elected twice simply because his Republican opponents were awful.

Understand also that the welfare state is kept in power by the fact that the majority of net tax recipients can outvote a minority of net taxpayers. The top 25% of income earners pay 87% of taxes.

Still, the undercurrent of tax opposition runs strong and those who advocate a free society should see that opposition as a natural constituency.

[Selene]

In Crimea, where the public will vote on Sunday whether to break away from Ukraine and become part of Russia, jittery residents lined up at their banks to withdraw cash from their accounts amid uncertainty over the future of the peninsula, which Russian troops now control. Violence engulfed the eastern Donetsk region, where violent clashes between pro-Russia demonstrators and supporters of the Ukrainian government left at least one person dead.

"These people are afraid their bank will collapse and no one wants to lose their money," said resident Tatiana Sivukhina. "Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow."

Russian Troops Engage in War Games Near Ukraine

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/03/14/russian-troops-engage-in-war-games-near-ukraine.html?ESRC=dod.nl

[Peter]

From The Times of Israel:

By Anya Zhuravel Segal March 14, 2014, 10:29 pm

Jews report tense calm in Crimea ahead of Sunday’s vote. Cautious when speaking with the media, peninsula’s Jewish minority expresses frustration at the upcoming referendum’s limited choices

Pavlyuk’s hometown of Yalta is a pretty seaside resort best known for the Yalta Conference of 1945, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin discussed the post-WWII future of Europe. According to Pavlyuk, Yalta has changed dramatically since the Russian incursion.

“Cossacks from Russia are patrolling the streets of the city, bragging that they came to beat up Ukrainians, Jews and Tatars. They say that when the Yids leave, they will take over their apartments,” she said.

“It is dangerous to speak Ukrainian on the street. The promenade is swamped with criminal lowlife, young men who were all moved into Yalta over the last two weeks. They speak with a Russian accent and must have come either from Russia proper or from [heavily Russian] eastern Ukraine. They look like skinheads, with shaven heads, heavy boots and camouflage. They promote the referendum during the day and drink heavily at night,” continued Pavlyuk.

Pavlyuk says her business — the sale of spa equipment — is on the brink of collapse, because all transportation of goods between mainland Ukraine and Crimea has been discontinued as of this week and because her bank has established stringent limits on transfers.

Crimea’s largest bank, Privatbank, limited cash withdrawals to 300 Ukrainian hryvnia ($30) in Yalta and 1,500 hryvnia ($150) in other cities. Non-cash bank transfers for businesses are limited to 5,000 hryvnia ($500). All Crimean cities are seeing long lines at the tellers and the ATMs, with people waiting for hours to withdraw at least part of their savings.

Viktoria Plotkina, who runs a Simferopol Hesed — a JDC-supported welfare relief center for the Jewish elderly — is also battling major logistical problems caused by the conflict.

“Pharmacy chains in Crimea are not receiving supplies from mainland Ukraine that have already been paid for. Express delivery services TNT Express and FedEx do not operate in Crimea anymore. My clients are experiencing increased health difficulties related to stress,” said Plotkina. Hesed now operates a psychological support hotline for its clients.

It seems as if everyone is on the move. Research centers are packing up the equipment and moving to Kiev. Two supermarket chains are being evacuated as well. Branches of multiple Russian banks are being opened as the Ukrainian banks are at a standstill.

But leaving Crimea is easier said than done. One of the two major Crimean airports is only open to Russian military aircraft and the other no longer serves Kiev-bound flights. The one highway connecting the peninsula to mainland Ukraine is increasingly dangerous, with armed Russian-affiliated men manning the impromptu checkpoint at the entrance to the mainland.

[Jules Troy]

No one will do anything either. Sanctions via chamberlain pre WWII style sanctions and appeasement. Putin is laughing at Obama who is more concerned about screwing American freedoms. Putin is ruthless, Obama is a commie hearted useful idiot but is too much of a pussy to even pass approval for a stupid pipeline never mind do anything against Putin other than poo poo give me a tissue.

[Selene]

No one will do anything either. Sanctions via chamberlain pre WWII style sanctions and appeasement. Putin is laughing at Obama who is more concerned about screwing American freedoms. Putin is ruthless, Obama is a commie hearted useful idiot but is too much of a pussy to even pass approval for a stupid pipeline never mind do anything against Putin other than poo poo give me a tissue.

I am still dumbfounded that he does not even have the balls to be afraid!

I know many Ukrainians, Estonians, Latvians and Lithawainians and we are terrified for their relatives and friends who still live, or, do business there.

A...

[Darrell Hougen]

Robert Tracinski has written a good article entitled, "7 Things Anti-Interventionists Forgot to Tell Putin."

The conclusion is:

This is the fundamental naiveté of the anti-interventionists. They offer excellent advice, just not to the people who need it. You might call this the paradox of pacifism: the reasonable counsels of peace find their most eager audience among those who least need to hear them, while being ignored by the fanatics and strongmen who actually drive most of the world’s conflicts.

So all of this advice just ends up restraining the good guys and letting the bad guys run wild—until we are forced into a much bigger intervention in the future.

Darrell

Edited March 16, 2014 by Darrell Hougen

[Peter]

Darrell quoted Robert Tracinski:

So all of this advice just ends up restraining the good guys and letting the bad guys run wild—until we are forced into a much bigger intervention in the future.

end quote

The vote in The Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula is fifty percent counted as of 7pm EST and it appears ninety five percent of its citizens are voting to “join” Russia. Though not philosophical Pacifism, President Obama’s passive foreign policy is allowing the next Russian take over, after the Crimea. His passiveness is allowing the countries freed after the dissolution of the Soviet Empire to be reabsorbed. Obama is allowing all those treaties to be violated. He is enabling the reestablishment of totalitarianism.

I think we will be seeing a political map soon with all the “Red” countries just as occurred when the Soviet Union was at its largest expansion. The next invasion may be The Ukraine. And then? I doubt Putin will wait for a Hillary Clinton or a even the more isolationist Rand Paul to be elected. Putin will strike and strike again as long as Obama is in office.

[BaalChatzaf]

No one will do anything either. Sanctions via chamberlain pre WWII style sanctions and appeasement. Putin is laughing at Obama who is more concerned about screwing American freedoms. Putin is ruthless, Obama is a commie hearted useful idiot but is too much of a pussy to even pass approval for a stupid pipeline never mind do anything against Putin other than poo poo give me a tissue.

I am still dumbfounded that he does not even have the balls to be afraid!

I know many Ukrainians, Estonians, Latvians and Lithawainians and we are terrified for their relatives and friends who still live, or, do business there.

A...

You you think the U.S. should risk war in the Crimea just to save the Ukraine? We can barely fight 1.5 limited wars now.

And please keep in mind Russia still has nukes.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Jules Troy]

Just the opposite actually. America is currently weakened greatly due partly because of the long strewn out useless "trying to install democracy" policy in foriegn nations. America needs to recreate itself as it was by drastically reducing government and embracing a truly free market economy. It needs to become strong and adopt a "don't tread on me policy". Screw the rest of the world's problems. It's allies should only be its trading partners.

Make America America again. The envy of the entire world because of the freedoms it's people have and the prosperity that is rightfully theirs.

I do not have the answers for what to do about Russia other than currently America is not in any position to be the worlds policeman. It is damn near bankrupt.

[Peter]

We will see if our newly minted sanctions policy against the Russian oligarchy will have any teeth. CBS said the EU is also initiating sanctions.

Jules Troy wrote:

America needs to recreate itself as it was by drastically reducing government and embracing a truly free market economy. It needs to become strong and adopt a "don't tread on me policy". Screw the rest of the world's problems. Its allies should only be its trading partners.

end quote

Jules’ policy leaves little “wiggle room.” President Rand Paul could coexist with a Secretary of State, Troy. I wonder if a President Paul would “carry a big stick” to back up his “don’t tread on me,” foreign policy?

We don’t have a lot of trade with little Lichtenstein but more with little Israel. Yet I would have the same policy for both of these philosophical neighbors. Strangely an American citizen stepping onto both little countries would experience a sense of, “It sure is different here, Toto,” though both are republican, constitutional democracies.

Of course immigration, business, news, and entertainment should flow freely between the lands of the free.

Peter

From: BBfromM@aol.com

To: atlantis@wetheliving.com

Subject: Re: ATL: Immigration in the eyes of a Russian immigrant

Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 03:21:33 EST

Of course she believed in free immigration and ending the welfare state. Her point here -- in a question period -- was that in a welfare state, totally free immigration was not reasonable. She also would have said, for instance, that there should be no Social Security -- but that in a welfare state, it cannot be ended all at once because people have counted on it, with good reason, and have not been able to prepare financially for their old age; Social Security would have to be ended in stages and with plenty of warning given. But this, like the immigration issue, has nothing to do with choosing the lesser of two evils.

Barbara

[Peter]

I may be answering Bob's question about why should we help the Ukraine?

Once again, I will mention that this is the biggest international crisis since the end of the cold war. Multiple treaties are being trashed by the Russian take over of the Crimean Peninsula. It opens the door for more Russian encroachment into Europe and it fires up the imaginations of China and Iran. Our puny sanctions highlight the weakness of an isolationist America. Per Fox Business, Russian moved one hundred and five billion dollars out of the US last week, to PRIVATE BANKS and “third party facilities” whatever that is. So, last week, the totalitarian thug-ocracy of Russia, knew of their plan, and America's most likely response.

We should invite American producers with tax breaks to send natural gas to Europe to counteract its very strong need for Russian resources. Our NATO allies Latvia and Estonia for instance, get 100% of their natural gas from Russia. What other sanctions could we impose? I wonder, in the modern era, if there is an “international union” of allied, free nations any more? And is this the beginning of a modern “Axis” that would include Iran, Syria, and Russia’s client states? China would gloat on the sidelines.

Is Russia a partner or an opponent? With baby steps America seems to be putting Russia on the enemies list. OUR and NATO’s conventional forces could use retaliatory force to drive Russian back inside its borders, if we ignored Russian client states like Belarus. (My tax preparer was from Belarus, and deliberately had nothing to say about her native country.) We are closer to an “accidental” nuclear war. I have read articles that speculate the Russian nuclear arsenal is rusting away. The United State’s nuclear arsenal is smaller than in previous years, but still corrosion free.

Jules Troy wrote, “America is currently weakened greatly due partly because of the long strewn out useless "trying to install democracy" policy in foreign nations.”

Just as Americans are washing there hands of war in Afghanistan, we are back on the tightrope. A lot of us would be relieved to wash our hands of a needy world, but is that similar to doing nothing if we see a toddler walking along the freeway?

[anthony]

Pragmatic actions in pragmatic times. "Sanctions" which are so symbolic as to be next to toothless. A majority decide on secession. The flaws in the concept "Democracy" are revealed. Borders are fluid and arbitrary, as they were and are in Africa - where tribalism sometimes trumps sovereignty. Russia, as usual lacking any principle, cynically plays the gaps.

Pragmatically, I believe the policy of the West should have been to have gone along with the Crimea's Referendum:

You want it, you got it, boys. It would have meant ignoring Putin's disingenuous and opportunist "protection of the people" with his troops.

BUT, a clear "red line": Buddy, if you think this gives you carte blanche to move next on East Ukraine, or anywhere - think again! We promise complete trade and finance embargo - restriction of movement by all Russians. And backed up by total NATO force moved closer, to Poland say.

Drawing "red lines" one after the other is like a weak poker player frittering his chips away in hand after hand. A good player hits once, and hard, with all his chips.

Random notions. Thanks for these analyses Peter.

[BaalChatzaf]

Pragmatic actions in pragmatic times. "Sanctions" which are so symbolic as to be next to toothless. A majority decide on secession. The flaws in the concept "Democracy" are revealed. Borders are fluid and arbitrary, as they were and are in Africa - where tribalism sometimes trumps sovereignty. Russia, as usual lacking any principle, cynically plays the gaps.

Pragmatically, I believe the policy of the West should have been to have gone along with the Crimea's Referendum:

You want it, you got it, boys. It would have meant ignoring Putin's disingenuous and opportunist "support of the people" with his troops.

BUT, a clear "red line": Buddy, if you think this gives you carte blanche to move next on East Ukraine, or anywhere - think again! We promise complete trade and finance embargo - restriction of movement by all Russians. And backed up by total NATO force moved closer, to Poland say.

Drawing "red lines" one after the other is like a weak poker player frittering his chips away in hand after hand. A good player hits once, and hard, with all his chips.

Random notions. Thanks for these analyses Peter.

The Europeans live on sucking oil and gas from the Russian Teat. The Europeans will do nothing militarily.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Darrell Hougen]

No one will do anything either. Sanctions via chamberlain pre WWII style sanctions and appeasement. Putin is laughing at Obama who is more concerned about screwing American freedoms. Putin is ruthless, Obama is a commie hearted useful idiot but is too much of a pussy to even pass approval for a stupid pipeline never mind do anything against Putin other than poo poo give me a tissue.

I am still dumbfounded that he does not even have the balls to be afraid!

I know many Ukrainians, Estonians, Latvians and Lithawainians and we are terrified for their relatives and friends who still live, or, do business there.

A...

You you think the U.S. should risk war in the Crimea just to save the Ukraine? We can barely fight 1.5 limited wars now.

And please keep in mind Russia still has nukes.

Ba'al Chatzaf

The U.S. should arm Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States and whoever else wants to remain free from Russian domination. Stinger missiles, laser guided anti-tank weapons, and anything else an insurgency would need to defeat an occupying power. The U.S. can make it too painful for Russia to contemplate attack, but only if we hurry.

The U.S. should also ask the western and central European countries to rearm. It's time for Germany to pay for its own defense.

Darrell

[Peter]

Tony wrote:

Pragmatically, I believe the policy of the West should have been to have gone along with the Crimea's Referendum . . . .

end quote

Thought Doppelganger? It amazes me how often Tony, Michael, and others mirror my own thinking. Rand MUST have something to do with it.

The vote was 97 percent to join Russia though there may have been pre-marked ballots sent with a yea vote marked for Mother Russia. And as reported there were gangs of young men, obviously saboteurs from Russian looking like skinheads, who were intimidating voters and anyone who spoke Ukrainian in public. Many political analysts predicted a large majority for Russia anyway, with some Tatars, Ukrainian speakers, and Jews voting to stay with Ukraine. If we are determined to let the Crimean, Ukrainian people decide as President Obama said, we should have gone along with a freely cast vote.

We did not. There is the moral dilemma of “allowing” a majority to vote a minority into servitude. It would be necessary to prove that a Russian linked Crimea is less free than a Ukrainian linked Crimea, but would that in any way mean something will be done about it? Sort of, maybe, bluster about it, No. I will be interested to see if our lying, spinning the truth, government actually imposes sanctions with teeth, and then the Russians use their clout to destabilize the dollar and lower our Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street. Oddly, a lower Dow might mean America and the EU actually did something.

In Moscow there were some protesters against Russian intervention. Pussy Riot was there, and I take those kittens very seriously.

[Peter]

Darrell wrote:

The U.S. should arm Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States and whoever else wants to remain free from Russian domination . . . The U.S. should also ask the western and central European countries to rearm. It's time for Germany to pay for its own defense.

end quote

Great link to Obama golfing Darrell. Now Your way is a way to pull a silk handkerchief out of a sow’s ear. If the rest of Russia’s neighbors begin to get very angry and fearful, and then form a vocal anti Russian coalition with Germany, France, and the rest of NATO our feeble strategy may have brilliantly worked. The smaller Balkan countries are very worried.

As Darrell and Robert Tracinski suggest put Ukraine and other countries on the fast track to join NATO, AND put troops into current NATO countries. Robert reminded us that Russia “is only about 2% of the global economy. They need us a whole lot more than we need them. Moreover, Putin is weak at home. His rule depends on shutting up his critics,” so is playing the hand we have, enough?

I think a general, global attitude should be Russia is nobody’s friend. We may need the bastards for natural gas now, but let us wean ourselves from that dependency or we risk totalitarian rule. Put on your best Clint Eastwood face as he prepared to go for his gun.

[Darrell Hougen]

As Darrell and Robert Tracinski suggest put Ukraine and other countries on the fast track to join NATO, AND put troops into current NATO countries. Robert reminded us that Russia “is only about 2% of the global economy. They need us a whole lot more than we need them. Moreover, Putin is weak at home. His rule depends on shutting up his critics,” so is playing the hand we have, enough?

If we would actually play our hand, I believe it would be enough. The problem is that we're playing with our hand tied behind our back. How is that for a horribly mixed metaphor?

Reagan knew how to defeat the former U.S.S.R. People on the left only look at our weaknesses and never look at the enemy's weaknesses. Reagan understood the Soviet Union's hand. We need to understand Russia's hand.

We should not do anything that would threaten Russian sovereignty --- we don't want to engage them in a nuclear war --- but we should make the price of Russian aggression unacceptably high. If the Russians knew that they would likely lose any tanks or airplanes that were sent to war against their former possessions, I think they'd be much less likely to attack. Of course, the Russians could always send in the infantry, but then there are things like machine guns and rocket propelled grenades to even things up.

One thing the Russians like to use is rocket launchers. They could stand off and shell cities into submission. But, there are probably tactics for dealing with those things too; perhaps artillery or black ops behind enemy lines with bazookas and LAWs, etc. I don't think we want to be providing air support over Ukraine, but that is another option.

Darrell

[Peter]

Darrell wrote:

I don't think we want to be providing air support over Ukraine, but that is another option.

end quote

We are considering air support over Poland, Latvia, and every NATO ally. We should be thinking about allowing Ukraine to join us in that grand bargain, but in the mean time we could be giving their armed forces real time intelligence supplied by satellites and drones. And we should get some ordinance to them. We may be doing both things. As you mentioned, the Russians have had some good mobile rocket launchers dating back to Stalin’s era. Their major deficit is their largely conscripted Army. I think everyone from 18 to 29 must serve one year in purgatory, and none of them want to be where they are.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Ukraine was the third largest nuclear power on earth. The treaty to recognize their government as legitimate included the stipulation that the Ukraine give up those weapons. Does the Ukraine still have some stashed away, ready to turn them on an invading Russian army? Would Putin be stupid enough to find out, or to retaliate with nuclear weapons?

Does the Ukraine have a decent plan to fight the Russians conventionally? No one will know until Russia attacks with a major force. Putin is calmly saying he won’t invade the Ukraine, which means Russia WILL ATTACK THE UKRAINE by military or other economic means.

I have never seen a country belittle an American President as Putin and his cohorts are doing other than North Korea, which shares a small section of border with Russia. The port of Vladivostok is close to North Korea. I imagine Putin could induce North Korea to rattle its chains at South Korea if things get dicey.

[Selene]

Can the Nobel prize committee revoke O'biwan's peace prize?

Is this the President who couldn't?

[BaalChatzaf]

Can the Nobel prize committee revoke O'biwan's peace prize?

Is this the President who couldn't?

Yes, we Can't!!!

[Peter]

Quoted from “The Road from Etchasketchistan,” March 20, 2014 Part 1: “Sitting Out the Last War,” by Robert Tracinski

. . . . But first, there is a big obstacle to get out of the way. A new consensus is trying to establish itself on the right, one that is reflexively anti-war and anti-intervention. Ayn Rand once argued against the use of the term "isolationist" as a smear—but boy is it tempting to use it against some on the right who it seem like they have never found a vigorous foreign policy action they could support . . .

Partly, this is a consequence of the rising influence of the libertarian wing of the right, which has a long history of borrowing its foreign policy from the blame-America-first anti-war left. The situation in Ukraine has served as a reminder of the bizarre and destructive stance of the Ron Paul libertarians. This is a guy who quit the Republican Party partly in protest over Reagan’s opposition to the Soviets, and who is backing Vladimir Putin in the current conflict. Does anyone else find it strange to find a libertarian who is so comfortable with dictatorships? . . . .

We'll have to examine what went wrong with the Bush administration's interventionist policies, too. But the Obama administration can be taken as a pretty good test for what it looks like when an administration seeks to reduce and avoid American intervention in the world. We can see the results, and they are far from reassuring . . . So what is the alternative we should embrace? I don't necessarily expect to find a bipartisan foreign policy consensus. That is unrealistic, certainly in the short term. After all, the political parties exist to offer ideological alternatives on the big issues of the day. But it would be helpful if we could reach some degree of agreement on the right—and do it, say, sometime before the Republican National Convention in 2016. On the road from Etchasketchistan, it would be helpful if we could get Rand Paul and Marco Rubio riding on the same camel.

end quote

I suggest everyone subscribe to Roberts site. Will “Dallas’s” John Ross be the same as his daddy J.R. Ewing? Will a President Rand Paul continue the anti interventionist policies of Ron Paul, and Obama? If so, would the results be the same?

[Selene]

"Moscow (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said Ukraine was on the verge of civil war as Kiev authorities launched a military operation against pro-Kremlin militants in the separatist east.

'I will be brief: Ukraine is on the brink of civil war, it's frightening,' the country's former president was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies."