Poland’s Lech Walesa is broadcasting a highly visible lesson, to the world stage, on what it means tell people the “Great and Powerful Oz” is nothing but a ruse.

Serendipitous as it is on D-Day, Lech Walesa provides some details as to what he shared during his meeting with President Obama:

“I said that I wished the United States would lead,” Walesa told Polish television about the encounter, which he said was not so much an upbraiding of the U.S. president as an “interesting” encounter. (link)

Many will remember this is not the first time Walesa has pointed out the naked weakness of Dear Leader Obama.

Alas, against the backdrop of current world events…. (ie. Obama is an inept dolt when it comes to issues of significance – see Syria, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, Libya, Ukraine, Russia, and that whole swapping Gitmo terrorists thing, et al) …quickly the protectors of the regime spring into action:

Denis McDonough, Ben Rhodes and Tony Blinkin clear the hall.  Susan Rice slams the door, stands atop the marble steps and yells to the somewhat stunned Munchkins.  “He didn’t say that, what he really said was”:

Lech Walesa on POTUS: While I was rather his opponent before, now I am a supporter. He has a great mind, and he is really a great politician

— Susan Rice -Archived (@AmbRice44) June 6, 2014

Lech Walesa on President Obama: Previously, I had a different opinion about him. I regret that, because I should have supported him more

— Susan Rice -Archived (@AmbRice44) June 6, 2014

As the crowd disburses the Blinkin shouts back into a now empty cavern:  “OK Dude, it’s safe to come out now“… (more…)

“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period.   We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

Well, unless you’re talking about Iran (Green Revolution we let get wiped out), Egypt (where we hurried in the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood), Syria (and that whole “red line” thingy), Iran again (the sanctions lifted so they can have a nuke), Israel (the target of the Iranian nuke), Ukraine (they really didn’t need the whole Crimea thing), Canada (and that pesky on-again/off-again election year keystone issue), South Korea (as we watch N-Korea fire missiles at them).   Other than that, you can count on us.  Maybe…..

Hey now,… “if you like your country – you can keep your country”.  “Period”.

(Via The Hill) Vice President Biden on Tuesday sought to reassure Romania that the U.S. would defend its borders amid concerns that Russia’s incursion into Ukraine could spread into other parts of Eastern Europe.

“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period,” Biden said while touring a Romanian air base. “We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

The borders of Romania, which, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic, lie less than 250 miles from Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow earlier this year. (more…)

Someone, (probably a Russian infantry unit that had to scram because they are technically not supposed to be there), left a fully operational -albeit apparently stalled- BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicle in the middle of an intersection in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Abandoned.    Fully operational – but abandoned.

Apparently, curiosity got the best of the locals (who are probably sympathetic to the Russians who had to quickly disappear).   What happens next is not funny, but I’ll admit I just couldn’t stop laughing:

Watch the video.   With two precursor tips.  #1) Pay attention to the @50 sec. mark (duh, obviously).   But more importantly #2) listen to the person shout @1:05 (in English).

(more…)

Sevastopol, Crimea (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Friday to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol, in what is his first visit to the disputed territory since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.

The President arrived in the port of Sevastopol by sea, in an event televised by Russian state TV, and watched while flanked by senior officers as Russian warships took part in a naval display in the Black Sea.

The military parades, held each year to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, come amid soaring tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are planning a weekend referendum on autonomy.  (continue reading)

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia that the “window to change course is closing” in what appeared to be a final warning to Moscow that the U.S. was readying severe economic sanctions over the situation in Ukraine.
“Let me be clear,” Kerry said. “If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake.”
Speaking at the State Department one week after foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and European Union penned an agreement designed to de-escalate the crisis there, Kerry accused the Kremlin of “a full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic effort” in Ukraine. (more…)

Yes Alice, I’ll be right along !

Can you believe that our international diplomacy efforts are now being reduced to Twitter Hashtags ?

The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa_russia will live by the promise of hashtag

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) April 24, 2014

 
 

VP Biden leaves tonight for Ukraine and a day of talks in Kiev Tuesday with government leaders and non-govt activists.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 21, 2014

(more…)

UKRAINE – A  flyer ordering Jews in eastern Ukraine to register with pro-Russian forces or face deportation has been branded a fake by religious leaders, including the area’s rabbi.

Pamphlets circulating in Donetsk demanded ‘citizens of Jewish nationality’ over the age of 16 pay $50 to register and be issued special passports ‘marking the confession of faith’. But the flyer, described as ‘grotesque’ by US Secretary of State John Kerry, has now been classed by the leader of the city’s Jewish community as a hoax, aimed at stirring up trouble.
The handouts, a chilling echo of Nazi persecution, were given to Jews leaving a local synagogue by three men in ski masks holding the flag of the Russian Federation, Israeli media reports. (more…)

Earlier in the day today the State Department was questioned about sending U.S. support to Ukraine.    In response State Dept. Spokewoman said:  “we are not going to get into a proxy war with Russia” [ergo we are not going to send arms or weaponry to the Ukraine government]  Yet Russia is acting specifically and intentionally with a proxy war mentality toward us.
When CBS’s Major Garrett questions President Obama about the rising tensions yet again Obama reflects a limp-wristed and disconnected response:

Nothing the Obama administration has done in his entire presidency reflects an actual accomplishment, ever.
As an example -and to give you context for what Putin references- here’s just a brief un-updated rundown of prior Obama statements on Iran. You decide for yourself: (more…)

A very similar historical pattern is evolving.   First, Vladimir Putin used the concern for Russian nationalists in Ukraine as justification for military incursion into Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.   This is the same justification Adolf Hitler used to move troops into Poland.

Now, just like before, Jews in Eastern Ukraine are told they need to register their personage or their property will be confiscated.  “Register or be Deported”.

UKRAINE – A leaflet distributed in Donetsk, Ukraine calling for all Jews over 16 years old to register as Jews marred the Jewish community’s Passover festivities Monday (Passover eve), replacing them with feelings of concern.

The leaflet demanded the city’s Jews supply a detailed list of all the property they own, or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated.
Donetsk, a Ukraine province with 4.3 million people – 10 percent of Ukraine’s population – and 17,000 Jews, is home to much of the country’s heavy industry, and is thus the biggest prize of the eastern regions where pro-Russian separatists have captured government buildings in the past week.
The leaflet, signed by Chairman of Donetsk’s temporary government Denis Pushilin, was distrbiuted to Jews near the Donetsk synagogue and later in other areas of the city where pro-Russians activists have declared Donetsk as an independent “people’s republic”, defying an ultimatum from Kiev to surrender. (more…)