The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Crimea Votes to Secede from Ukraine, Join Russia; U.S. Lamely Objects

Posted on | March 17, 2014 | 32 Comments

How’s that “smart diplomacy” workin’ out for ya?

Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession
— Associated Press

Ukraine crisis: Early results show
Crimea votes to join Russia
— CNN

Crimeans Choose to Join Russia
in Vote, Exit Poll Shows
— Bloomberg

Five years into his term, President Obama has succeeded in diminishing U.S. prestige and influence around the world. We have fewer allies, who have been weakened and undermined, and we have more enemies, who have become bolder and more powerful.

The worthless administration’s worthless spokesmen speak:

“This referendum is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution, and the international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney. “No decisions should be made about the future of Ukraine without the Ukrainian government.” . . .
“We are putting as much pressure on the Russians that we can to do the right thing,” White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We have given them the opportunity to deescalate and get this in the right place, because they know there are costs to their action here. The costs are economic. The Russian economy, the Russian stock market and ruble are at five-year lows,” he said. . . .
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Sunday to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Secretary Kerry reaffirmed that the United States considers the ongoing referendum illegal under Ukrainian law and restated that the United States will not recognize the outcome,” a senior State Department official said.

The empty prattle of weaklings will not deter Putin, and talk of “the international community” is just that — talk.

 


Category: Russia, Ukraine

Comments

32 Responses to “Crimea Votes to Secede from Ukraine, Join Russia; U.S. Lamely Objects”

  1. Grandma Patriot
    March 17th, 2014 @ 7:17 am

    The administration that ignores the Constitution of the United States…is using the constitution of the Ukraine as a reason Crimea should do what the administration wants? Oh, that IS rich…

  2. NeoWayland
    March 17th, 2014 @ 7:34 am

    Seems like the Imperious Leader’s foreign policy is about as real and solid as those Grecian columns…

  3. texlovera
    March 17th, 2014 @ 7:38 am

    Hey, they still have their trump card to play:

    BLAME BOOOOOSH!!!!!

  4. M. Thompson
    March 17th, 2014 @ 7:50 am

    “It’s springtime for Putin and Russia,
    Rodina is happy and gay.
    We’re marching to a faster pace…”

  5. William_Teach
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:13 am

    I love how Team Obama constantly says they speak for the “international community”. Other than the US and a few other countries, mostly European ones, does anyone care? Obama might try speaking for the U.S. now and then.

  6. Shawny
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:14 am

    Oh Crimea….river. The overthrowing of sovereign nations by this administration is working better for the Neo Nazis they’re supporting in Ukraine than it did for the Muslim Brotherhood they supported in Egypt and a whole lot better than they did supporting the Al Qaida connected terrorists in Syria. The destabilizing and chaos part of the plan is working just fine. The pissing off of everyone on the planet and all the folks at home is going well too. If he pulls this crap here, just think how many states would vote to annex?…….oh wait!

  7. Shawny
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:18 am

    It’s almost like he cares about the law…..any time it doesn’t interfere with what he wants to do. At least he’s consistent.

  8. Shawny
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:23 am

    For our sakes, it might be better if he just sat down and shut up.

  9. Dana
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:41 am

    Even then, he doesn’t speak for most of us.

  10. Dana
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:42 am

    Dear President Obama: please remember that there’s no threat quite like an empty one.

  11. Quartermaster
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:44 am

    Alas, the GOPe has the same attitude.

  12. joethefatman
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:44 am

    Almost

  13. joethefatman
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:47 am

    Obama plays at being schoolyard tough guy while Putin does what he does without playing anything but Obama for a fool. It helps that Obama seems to want to reduce the US to third world status and Putin is willing to oblige.

  14. Charles
    March 17th, 2014 @ 8:56 am

    The Other McCain is against the right of secession? Say it isn’t so!

    I do agree that the vote to secede is not valid unless Ukraine gives its consent. But let’s be honest about what is going on here. This is about the European Union advancing into the former Russian territory of Ukraine. That’s an augmentation not a diminishment.

  15. RS
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:07 am

    And so, we see again the results of a foreign policy which is predicated upon the belief that the world behaves like all those kids in the Coke commercial “teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony.”

    Nonetheless, we’re not going to war over Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The best thing we can do is reestablish missile defense in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Of course, the current Administration is long on strong words and short on actual action.

  16. darthlevin
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:16 am

    C’mon people, we need to focus on what’s truly important here. Obama is revealing his NCAA bracket on Wednesday night!

  17. DaTechGuy on DaRadio
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:26 am

    Bug or Feature?

  18. Dana
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:27 am

    Why would the rest of Ukraine have to consent?

  19. Shawny
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:29 am

    This is about E.U. advancing into the former Russian territory of Ukraine……while trying to make it look like Putin started this.

  20. Shawny
    March 17th, 2014 @ 9:33 am

    True. Besides, I’m pretty sure having their government overthrown wasn’t by consent or constitutional. Wonder if the Ukraine’s will toss the Neo Nazi’s out like the Egyptians did the Muslim Brotherhood.

  21. Adjoran
    March 17th, 2014 @ 3:10 pm

    If you believe that Russian-speaking people in Crimea actually prefer to return to Putin’s oligarchy instead of the new democracy in Ukraine and closer ties to the West and Europe, you are simply either an idiot or a tool of Putin.

  22. Adjoran
    March 17th, 2014 @ 3:11 pm

    Because secession and partition are specifically prohibited by their Constitution.

  23. Adjoran
    March 17th, 2014 @ 3:11 pm

    Another Punk for Putin!

  24. Adjoran
    March 17th, 2014 @ 3:13 pm

    The Russians have already transferred over $100 billion out of US banks in the last two months. There is nothing left to sanction or freeze.

    If we really want to penalize Putin, just package up all these “libertarian” pussies proclaiming Russia’s “right” to Ukraine and send them to him.

  25. Quartermaster
    March 17th, 2014 @ 5:58 pm

    It would be good for Pooti Poot if there really were NeoNazis involved. Other than him, of course.

  26. Bob Belvedere
    March 17th, 2014 @ 6:18 pm

    TWANLOC – to quote my friend, Adobe Walls.

  27. Bob Belvedere
    March 17th, 2014 @ 6:24 pm

    Sadly, you are probably right.

    All is over. Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. She has suffered in every respect by her association with the Western democracies and with the League of Nations, of which she has always been an obedient servant….

  28. Bob Belvedere
    March 17th, 2014 @ 6:26 pm

    You’ve got to include those ‘conservatives’ who think we can form a pro-Christian alliance with Putin or the package will be incomplete.

  29. Charles
    March 18th, 2014 @ 7:10 pm

    And yet it is a fact.

  30. Adjoran
    March 19th, 2014 @ 2:05 am

    Idiot, then.

  31. Charles
    March 20th, 2014 @ 1:48 pm

    They may be idiots, I am not saying anything to the intelligence of the choice.

    The may not see a new democracy and coming prosperity. They may see an Occupy-style movement coming to power in a distant capital. They may see a more important role as a Russian salient than a European backwater.

  32. Adjoran
    March 22nd, 2014 @ 12:47 am

    No, you are the idiot for believing it was an honest election.
    The choices were to secede and join Russia or secede and become independent.