That’s right Georgia. Not the state of Georgia, the country of Georgia.
In 2008 Russia invaded Georgia, a former part of the old United Soviet Socialist Republic, as is the Ukraine. George W. Bush did nothing. After all he had looked into the eyes of Putin and saw a nice guy. Lindsay Graham, R-SC, said nothing. The Republicans did nothing. Ten thousand Russian troops still occupy the Georgia Provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Now, Putin sends what appear to be unarmed military personnel into Crimea, a part of the Ukraine which is inhabited in large part by Russian nationalist, and Lindsay Graham and the Republicans go berserk. It’s all Obama’s fault.
Today the Republicans are saying Obama’s too weak. Last week they said
he was too powerful. Actually the invasion, if you can call it that, is Putin’s fault, isn’t it? The Ukraine must share some of the blame. Are they powerless?They overthrew the government, can’t they throw a few Russians out of Crimea?
The Ukraine has an Army, why haven’t they done anything? Why is it the rest of the worlds problem? The U.S. and the rest of the world have overreacted. Crimea will probably vote to become a part of Russia before this column goes to print. Should we care? We can’t police the whole world.
Truth is the Republicans would not have done anything differently. None of them, except McCain, is saying what they would do. They never have a plan of their own. Ask them. Really, ask them. Ask Ted Cruz, R-Texas, what he would do? Two bits all he would say is, “I would get tougher.” Do they want to nuke Moscow? Ask them. Do they want to send our troops to the Ukraine? Ask them. Maybe they would have us bomb the Olympic village to pieces. Ask them. What the heck are they talking about? Get more tough means nothing. Make those loudmouths tells us exactly what they would do.
Should Obama grow a beard and look menacingly into Putin’s eyes? That didn’t work for Bush. Obama is imposing economic sanctions and acting to isolate Russia from the rest of the world. Outside of going to war, that’s as tough as it gets. Sanctions will have a terrible impact on Russia. Take this to the bank; the Republicans would not have done anything else regarding the Ukraine. They sure as heck didn’t in Georgia in 2008, did they? They did nothing! Hypocrites.
The Republicans say our perceived weakness under Obama some how led Putin to think he could do this and we would not do anything. They don’t cite an example. I will. Just maybe, just maybe, the Republican’s inaction when the Russians invaded Georgia in 2008 gave Putin the idea we would do nothing. Don’t you reckon? In that case, the invasion of the Ukraine is former President George W. Bush and the Republican’s fault.
McCain went on a rant against Obama for not being tough enough and therefore leading Putin to believe we are weak. Would he bomb,bomb,bomb like he wanted to do to Iran? Would he nuke Moscow? Would he invade Ukraine with our troops? Actually, no. He said he would impose economic sanctions. After all his tough talk he would do exactly as Obama. That’s enough to keep faith with the Budapest Memorandum in which we agreed to come to the aid of the Ukraine in such an event as this.
The Republicans insist it’s Obama’s fault. They say that about everything. If it rains, it’s Obama’s fault. If it doesn’t rain, it’s Obama’s fault. The poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer is Obama’s fault. Any and everything is Obama’s fault. The Republicans, led by the Tea Party have done absolutely nothing to solve a single serious problem. Nothing. Still it’s all Obama’s fault.
The Republicans sneer at the poor and cut taxes for their rich friends. Paul Ryan R-Wis., told a story, he reportedly plagiarized, suggesting that poor children get free lunches at school because their mothers don’t care. He said the kids want paper sack lunches from home like the other kids, but their mothers won’t fix them. That, he said, is Obama’s fault. I kid you not. Can you buy bologna and bread with food stamps? Ryan voted to cut that program and wants to end it altogether.
The only thing the Tea Party Republicans understand about getting tough is how to get tough on the poor and women.
Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.