GOP’s pathetic Putin debacle: How their foreign policy politicking backfired

[DonViejo]

From Sarah Palin to Lindsey Graham, the right's posture on Russia has revealed the movement's biggest flaws

BRIAN BEUTLER

I’d intended to let this go, because it’s so incredibly derpy and I don’t really want to jump waist-deep into derp, but now I see that jumping waist-deep into derp is the price of entry into any argument about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so here we go.

When I noticed yesterday that Sean Hannity had invited special guest Sarah Palin on to his show to sound off about developments in Ukraine, I offhandedly mocked both of them on Twitter. After all, what could be less informative than two lightweight reactionaries deceiving themselves and their viewers about why developments in a part of the world where U.S. interests are relatively minor has everything to do with Barack Obama’s failed presidency.

What I didn’t know was that, in anticipation of her appearance, right-wing twitter had already drenched itself in onanistic emissions, because Palin claimed to have predicted the invasion as a vice presidential candidate back in 2008.

“After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia,” Palin explained. “Senator Obama’s reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia’s Putin to invade Ukraine next.”

What happened next would vindicate Palin the same way a small spike in the price of gold six years from now will vindicate Glenn Beck. Obama beat John McCain in a landslide and Russia didn’t invade Ukraine. Russia continued to not invade Ukraine through Obama’s first term, during which it ratified a new bilateral treaty with the U.S. committing to a dramatic reduction in the size of its nuclear arsenal. After Obama’s re-election, Russia, again, didn’t invade Ukraine, and proceeded to not invade Ukraine for over a year, until internal developments Palin somehow omitted from her 2008 warning gave Putin a pretext and incentive to invade Ukraine, at which point he ordered troops into Crimea.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/05/gops_pathetic_putin_debacle_how_their_foreign_policy_politicking_backfired/

[tanyev]

1. There's got to be an ACME think tank where they are getting their ideas.