The left wing has been sucking the Obama dick for years now. I personally care less what Putin does. He's not half the threat to this country as Obama and his liberal minions are.
I am beginning to wonder. Continuing to build settlements in an area that you are ready to give up is counter-intuitive. They know that the Palestinians swill never make concessions as long as the settlements keep expanding. I think the Israelis really have no intention of trading the West bank for anything. It's their business, except that we get drawn into Middle Eastern wars because of our support for Israel. The Monroe Doctrine has been invoked as recently as the Reagan administration during the Iran/Contra scandal. Only in this century have we backed off of it in an effort to become more involved in the Organization of American States with partnerships rather than policies of taking unilateral intervention. We did have a Civil War over this issue, you might remember. The annexation of the Canal Zone happened after Hawaii but we later ceded it back to Panama. That did not stop us from invading and occupying it when our perceived interests were threatened. See any parallels to be drawn with Crimea and the Ukraine there? Equivalency, no. Parallels to be drawn, absolutely.
NC that is a valid question. There is little question we should start a war. If you have tracked my comments I haven't hit the president very hard this time and it seems that the gathering resistance by Europe and the US is encouraging. My quarrel has been with Red's assurance that the President has acted perfectly and has foiled Putin though he (Putin) just doesn't know it. The fact is Putin is a wild card and very dangerous because of that. He believes Russia is ascendant and the west in decline. He means to take all the advantage he can. He doesn't respond to public pressure as we do in the west but by crushing opposition. He sees weakness in the leadership of the US (both W & Obama) and will push to the limit. The comparison of relative military & economic strength has only limited weight. We both can't and don't have the will to project power into Ukraine. Sanctions (which I am all for) will work to stop Putin but are long term levers as you said. I don't know who but HWR that has said anything positive about Putin. There have been comments about how Putin has played the last TWO presidents and I think that is fair. I also think it is valid to question the direction of US foreign policy as has been done historically at least going back to the Mexican war. NC are you sure you didn't criticize W for Iraq a little (LOL). I certainly heard more than enough criticism opposition and mocking of W by the left and Ds (Harry Reid among others) during W's term in office. That may not make it right but to be shocked by what is happening now is hypocritical.
Twisting words here Red. I was speaking of possessions, territories and dependencies...Puerto Rico is free to become a state or independent country....American Samoa and other islands we acquired responsibility for after WWI are free to leave anytime. Cuba was taken from Spain and given independence in 1898...Same for the Philippines. We did not annex the canal zone. We leased it for 99 years sport. Carter did not renew the lease. Again no parallel or equivalency in action. The Monroe Doctrine was put in place as an effort to reduce European interference with independence efforts in the America's. It was only effective because Great Britain supported it with their fleet for the first 75 or so years. It WAS NOT put in place to enforce US doctrine anywhere. That is the reason it was invoked during Iran/Contra. Reagan believed a European power (the Soviet Union) was interfering in the Americas. Again anyone can make a false argument but they can also be called BS on it. I would call any claim of equivalency or parallel BS.
You know we have been fighting over who is responsible and seem to have forgotten....IT'S LES MILES' FAULT...HE CAN'T CONTROL HIS FOOTBALL TEAM WORLD FIRE LES MILES!
There can be no equivalency in these matters but the parallels are obvious. Nonsense. The Monroe Doctrine is itself a doctrine that was enforced militarily dozens of times in Latin America. Then stop making false arguments and I will stop calling you on it. That is only because you equate the terms. But they are not synonymous. If you can't see the parallel of a Great Power invading a portion of a sovereign nation in order to protect a strategic naval asset, then you aren't being serious.
You know Putin & Saban are about the same size with the same egos and pleasant demeanor. Are they evil twins????
