Friday, March 21, 2014

So I haven't been back for a while, but lately my mind has turned toward 2016.  Yes, the next election.  I don't think James Madison or George Washington or Abraham Lincoln will be on the ballot, and probably not John Quincy Adams or FDR.  We just don't have those types of leaders any more, or for that matter those kinds of brilliant political thinkers.  So, what will we get?  Or better yet, what do we need?  It came to mind that what we need is Vladimir Putin!!!  What?  Yep, Mr. KGB himself.  The Crimea land grabber. No, I'm not kidding.  I was having a discussion with my neighbor the other day and we hit on one important aspect of the Crimea showdown.  Well, not exactly a showdown or a standoff.  More like what a real leader does, not what we presently have in the White House.  I don't mean we need a Russian agent, but what we do need is strong leadership.  Let's remember, Putin came to power in a Russia that was down on it's knees. He knew that the only way to bring it back was to act without fear.  He could care less what the rest of the world thinks.  He has done what he thinks, and knows, his people want.  The Crimea's population is vastly of Russian ancestry, they think Russian, call themselves Russian.  They were in no mood for Western democracy.  The "revolution" in the Ukraine was not to their liking.  Putin merely took advantage of the situation, "protecting" the pro-Russian population.  Now, let's go back in history a bit.  You may claim that Hitler entered Austria under the same disguise of protecting the German heritage of the population.  Okay, fair enough.  Back further.  Texas.  Do you know why I mention Texas?  We, that is the US, land grabbed Texas from Mexico to protect the so called Americans.  Andrew Jackson disregarded orders and land grabbed Florida from Spain.    Ancient history.  Hey some might say that Lincoln land grabbed the Confederacy, but that's another story all together.  But you have to give props to Putin since his land grab was done without a single dead body, or at least as far as we know.

Now, what might we do to punish the Russians?  Hey, I have an idea!  Let's go to Alaska and grab it from...oh, never mind.

It's just plain silly to think that Putin cares one iota what sanctions are leveled against him and his country. He knows that Europe depends on Russia for raw materials.  He was smart enough to land grab to the west.
Don't go east Vlad, that's China over there and among other things you don't want to steal from the Chinese.

So, except for the need for new maps, does it make much of a difference that Crimea is now part of Russia? He faced down the rest of the world and it looks like he's won.

We used to have that kind of strong presence in the White House.  I don't think Putin would have messed with Reagan.  And remember that Kennedy faced down Nakita over Cuba.  Nobody messed with Ike or Truman.  And we didn't need weapons to show our strength.  We needed strong leadership.  We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

The downfall of our nation is the lack of spirit.  The lack of leadership.  The lack of will.  It comes from the top down.  Weakness at the top, like a roof full of holes, causes the house  to crumble.