The Sochi Games End and the Ukrainian War Game Begins

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul. He's a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank dialogue and that's the beginning of a very constructive relationship," In 2001, President Bush saw a kindred spirit in Vladimir Putin.

Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively annexed the Crimea and prepares to reclaim the Eastern Ukraine after the Russian Parliament Authorized the Use of Military Force, the right-wing crafted lie that Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union and won World War III becomes more and more ludicrous.

On Saturday afternoon, 10 troop carriers, accompanied by armored jeeps, arrived at the Ukrainian coast guard base in the resort town of Balaklava and took up positions inside and outside the installation. 

Russian Orthodox priests stood among the troops and sang hymns. Large crowds gathered to wave Russian flags wherever the troops appeared.

The Crimea regional government, dominated by pro-Russia deputies, announced it would hold a referendum March 30 to decide among three choices: “to retain its current status as an autonomous republic within Ukraine, to become an independent state, or to become part of Russia.” according to the Russian news agencies.

There's been much speculation that pro-EU and very hard right Fascist factions which began protesting the Russia supporting former Government of the Ukraine of plotting a Coup d'Etat. If true, the plotters made a major miscalculation. From Edward Luttwak's, Coup d'Etat: A Practical Handbook, 

A coup is not worth attempting if a Great Power has significant military forces in the country concerned.

The Ukraine and Crimea have been soldily in the Russian Sphere of Influence since Peter the Great and have had a "Russian" influence going back 1200 years when the Kiev Rus sent Traders, Raiders and the Varangian Guard down the Black Sea to Byzantium.

The Acting Ukrainian Government is mobilizing forces, but the amount of Russian troops, Armor and Naval assets in and around the Crimea would make actual fighting an overwhelming Russian Victory while it's clear the people of Sevastopol and the region consider themselves to be Russian.

Of course, it's most likely that Putin will be able to pull this off and the Crimea will be become Russian territory and that's what is so attractive to the American Right.

This is, of course, because Conservatives love a strong-man dictator. They crave when a powerful man tells them what to do. Vladimir Putin, just like Dick Cheney, is going to exert his will upon the world and they swoon over him.

Over the last few months leading up to and during the Sochi Games we had the privilege of hearing conservatives gush about Putin's masculinity and his leadership skills, as evidenced by his bare-breasted horse riding, vicious anti-gay campaign and for having musicians who criticize him beaten and arrested.

It's why conservatives react so virulently against President Obama. They have cultivated an image of President Obama as an effete snob, a bike-riding, mom-jeans wearing, cerebral egg-head, a squish whose non-swagger invites the Putin's and Cheney's of the world to disrespect America. Oddly, they believe this while simultaneously ascribing to him the powers of a tyrannical, vicious Nation of Islam Black Panther Chicago-Style Politics Thug who terrorizes those who oppose him.

Russian Military Expert Sarah Palin declared the Russian annexation of Crimea and President Obama non-Bushian response a vindication of her 2008 observations that she could see Russia from her house.

"President Obama needs to do something." Senator Lindsey Graham said on CBS Sunday Morning. While Senator John McCain declared "We are all Ukrainians now."

So, what "something" would you recommend Senator? What do Senators McCain and Graham and conservatives want in response? Military Action?

Force Projection into Crimea is a simple matter for the Russians. Currently, the Crimea holds the Russian Black Sea fleet. Russia landed their military cargo planes at the behest of the regional government and now have enough forces and armour in and around Simferopol and Sevastopol to seize both cities and enough military power mobilizing on the border to seize the peninsula.

A military response by the U.S. is not only unwarranted it would be incredibly foolish. Unlike Senator Graham's experiences during the Patriotic Iraq War, the Russian Military can respond to US military action. Unlike, Iraq or Afghanistan, Russia has a trained, battle-hardened military with modern weaponry.

And while conservatives might be prepared to lose the 101st Airborne, the 10th Mountain and whatever MEU that gets sent to Crimea I am not. Nor do most Americans care to see American soldiers bombarded by thousands of "Katyusha" rockets from Russian mobile rocket arty while Russian paratroopers, marines and tanks encircle and obliterate them.

But, as with Iraq what Putin's invasion of the Crimea provides conservatives is another avenue of attack on the Homefront. Because that's the only "battleground" right-wingers ever set foot upon.

This invasion affords conservatives and Republicans the chance to engage in the only fighting they ever see; Political Gamesmanship. The Right-Wing Internet Fart Bubble bloggers who write about this don't know any more about real battle than they do about fornicating.

Whatever happens rest assured that Faux News and the Right-Wing Internet Fart Bubble will proclaim President Obama to blame.