‘Playing marbles’

[ProSense]

‘Playing marbles’

By Steve Benen

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” yesterday, raising a compelling suggestion...“We’re 48 hours from an international crisis, I would hope Americans would focus on condemning the actions of Putin rather than in a knee-jerk way, again, criticizing the president of the United States,” the congressman said.

What a nice, wholly unrealistic attitude.

Americans have seen our share of international crises involving Russia. What’s unusual about this one, at least from a domestic political perspective, is that we now see prominent Republican officials publicly expressing admiration for Russian leadership.

The Ukraine crisis is just the latest example of President Barack Obama being outmaneuvered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Sunday.

“Putin is playing chess and I think we are playing marbles, and I don’t think it’s even close” the Michigan Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” ”They’ve been running circles around us.” <…>

“And, by the way, the big one that started this was the absolute retreat on our missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia.”

First, Czechoslovakia hasn’t actually been a country for the last couple of decades. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee should probably know that.

Second, remember all the prominent Democrats praising Putin’s strategic acumen over the Bush/Cheney administration when Russia went to war with Georgia in 2008? All the Dems who hit the Sunday shows to say Putin is “running circles around us”? No? That’s probably because it never happened. Indeed, if it had, the praise likely would have become a controversy...And third, Rogers is impressed with Putin for reasons that don’t make any sense.

Kevin Drum characterized the Michigan Republican’s comments as “nuts.”

*Has Rogers even been following events in Ukraine lately? The reason Putin has sent troops into Crimea is because everything he’s done over the past year has blown up in his face. This was a last-ditch effort to avoid a fool’s mate, not some deeply-calculated bit of geopolitical strategery. <…>

(H)aving failed utterly thanks to ham-handed tactics on his part, he’s finally decided on one last desperation move. Not because the West is helpless to retaliate, but because he’s simply decided he’s willing to bear the cost. It’s a sign of weakness, not a show of strength. It’s the price he’s paying for his inability to control events.

- more -

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/playing-marbles

Republicans are playing like high school bullies, believing that taunting is the way to force the President to get their war on.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Rogers was lamenting that it was too late to

move ships into the Black Sea to confront Russia. Now, he knows that no sane President would have done that, so he can safely use it for his "Obama weakness" theme knowing full well it would always remain theoretical. Dishonest assclown, like all R's in Congress.

[ProSense]

4. That's what

"Rogers was lamenting that it was too late to move ships into the Black Sea to confront Russia. Now, he knows that no sane President would have done that, so he can safely use it for his "Obama weakness" theme knowing full well it would always remain theoretical. Dishonest assclown, like all R's in Congress."

....they do: Make outlandish suggestions and equate them to strength.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Czechoslovakia

And this maroon is head of House Intelligence. Wtfu, people.

Never mind...

[ProSense]

5. It must be a Republican thing. n/t

[randome]

3. "...his inability to control events."

That's spot on. A true leader would never have allowed the situation to reach this point on Russia's very doorstep.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[ProSense]

6. Putin has issues. n/t