Emperor Alexander Channels His Inner Putin

He moaned recently that there has to be some way of "stopping journalism".

No doubt that he's kind of wistful that the NSA can't do an Anna Politkovskaya on Snowden and Greenwald.

The Emperor's whining about the damage done to the NSA is sort of like a criminal bemoaning getting caught. The NSA has done all sorts of damage to this country because they thought that they would never be found out. But secrets do have a way of escaping their confines, especially when someone is in the loop who thinks that the Constitution isn't just a "goddamned piece of paper" or "quaint and outdated".

I think it's worth restating this point: That the NSA's claims that its wiretapping and vacuuming up of our electronic communications have prevented terror attacks have proven to be a tissue of lies, a fantasy spun by delusional power-mad maniacs.

As much as I will be pleased to see Emperor Alexander joining the senior pundit circuit like his predecessor, I have no illusions that his successor will be any different from either Alexander or Hayden. Nowhere have I seen any evidence that, when presented with some shiny new surveillance tool, anyone at the NSA asks "should we be doing this."

About Time for a Little Levity Around Here

"Rabbit Hood".

Another Unabashedly Hypocritical Remark From Lurch

“It is not appropriate to invade a country and, at the end of a barrel of a gun, dictate what you are trying to achieve.”

Unless we do it, that is.

I understand that Kerry was a professional politician for decades before becoming a diplomat. But still, how can he say things like that without throwing up on the spot?

The other disquieting thing is that the who Ukrainian crisis has become a European endorsement of mob rule. At least if the mobs are outside of the EU, that is. They weren't so keen when it was the Greeks massing and protesting over the terms of the bailout dictated by Germany the EU Central Bank. But when the mob suits the purposes of the EU, they're fine with it.

Ukraine was, more or less, a functioning democracy. Viktor Yanukovych was the duly elected president. He was probably as corrupt as they come, but then again, so was his political adversary, Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukraine is a bit of a mess, anyway. Roughly equal numbers of people tilt towards Russia as do towards the EU. Like Russia, Ukraine is more or less a semi-functional kleptocracy that is really run by oligarchs. Their major exports are steel, Antonov aircraft, and surplus military hardware left over from the USSR.

But still, it was kind of a democracy. However, Yanukovych wasn't doing what the EU or the US wanted, so he had to go, now, rather than wait for elections.

Hypocrisy may be the lubrication of choice for diplomacy. But like all lubricants, sparing use should be called for. American and EU policy towards the Ukraine Crisis is just drenched in it.

UPDATE: What the Rude One said.

The Defining Difference Between Russia and the U.S.

Our respective borders.

We are reasonably invasion-proof. Racist-based paranoia aside, even in 1942, it was pretty clear to rational thinkers that Japan couldn't mount an invasion of the United States. Besides the oceans, there is a major desert in northern Mexico, and some not-insignificant mountainous terrain. Getting the Southwest and Texas out of Mexican hands pushed any invasion from the south back across that terrain. While the Canadian border is relatively open across much of its length, the Canadians don't have the resources to mount an invasion, so any allies would have to cross the oceans.

In short, geography has given us security.

That is not the case for Russia. There are no major geographic obstacles between Moscow and Paris, other than some rivers. Three times in the last three centuries, European armies have attempted to conquer Russia.* The only defense that geography offers Russia against invasion from the west is distance.

If you understand that, then you understand why the Russians were pleased when the Yanukovych government tilted away from the EU. If you understand that, you will understand why the Russians viewed the addition of Poland and the Baltic states to NATO as a threat to their own security.

Beyond that, as we have shown little hesitation to bring about regime change by using our own military when it suits our purposes, it gripes me to hear the whining from clowns ranging from John Kerry to John McCain when somebody else does it.
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* 18th Century- Sweden. 19th Century- France. 20th Century- Germany. I rather doubt that the Russians have forgotten that the Ukrainians sided with the Swedes.

Why Hasn't John Kerry's Head Exploded?

When he makes statements like this:

"You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext," [U.S. Secretary of State John] Kerry told the CBS program "Face the Nation."

Right. As a senator, Kerry voted to invade another country based on a completely trumped up pretext.

Let's admit the fact that Putin took a page out of our own playbook: Gin up a false rationale for military action, get legislative approval and then invade another country.

This is an example of the enduring legacy of the Bush Administration: When it comes to things such as being against wars of aggression and torturing people, we, as a nation, do not come to the table with clean hands.

I probably shouldn't be so hard on Kerry, for he is only playing the cards that he has. But if his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, asked him: "So, it's only not aggression when you Americans do it," it's hard to come up with a decent answer.

Time for Somebody to Slap the Crap Out of Miss Lindsey?

[Sen. Lindsey] Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there needs to be more than threats coming from the White House, and called President Barack Obama “weak and indecisive” on matters of foreign policy.

Right. As opposed to, say, George W. Bush, who was so strong and decisive on foreign policy matters that when the Russians invaded Georgia in 2008, he did what, exactly?

Bush sent some ships to the Black Sea to deliver "humanitarian aid" and urged the Russians to abide by the terms of the cease-fire. And that, pretty much, was it.

Of course, you wouldn't expect the stenographers in our national press corps to think of questions like that, let alone ask them of chickenhawks like Graham.

In Lieu of, Well, Something

It's hard to believe, now, that radio stations used to play this song, full length.

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

AV-8B Harrier:

The video does not do justice to the noise a Harrier makes when one is in a hover. It is L-O-U-D!

NSA Wonders: What, You Haven't Covered Up or Disabled Your WebCam By Now?

I wish that I could mock those who think that the NSA and the GCHQ are watching them through their webcams. But it seems that they are, to some extent.

Cut out a small square from an index card. Place it over the lens of the webcam on your laptop. Then use a strip of electrical tape to hold the piece of cardstock in place.

By the way, Stephen Colbert is at least partially right: This is our fault. We keep voting for the senators and congressmen who voted for the Patriot Act and who keep re-authorizing it.

Caturday, Chiaroscuro Edition

Jake warms two sides of himself on the heated cat bed.

There is only a short period of time when the sun is beaming on that heated pad. He generally makes the most of it.

Jake sometimes makes a cry that sounds as though he's in pain when he uses his litter box. I've come to realize that he is telling me that the litter level is either low or it needs changing altogether. He was doing it on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I dumped the litter, scrubbed out the box and put in fresh litter. Not a peep out of him since.