let's pretend.

let's pretend for a moment that the citizens of the US get tired of the corrupt and incompetent government and a group of people led by a coalition of the tea party, the KKK, and the ACLU get together and overthrow by force the constitutionally elected but repressive government and then new england decides that it is totally NOT COOL to fall back on forcible overthrow of the government we hate and then canada "protects" us while we hold a hasty referendum on whether or not we should join canada.

we don't particularly feel canadian, even though we didn't care for the corrupt and incompetent government.

we'd really prefer to be left alone and maybe not be ruled by the old corrupt government but also maybe not have to become canadian.

up here in new england we don't care for the KKK. we are divided on the matter of the ACLU and the tea party.

basically, ukraine.

if you need an explainer about that, john green does a pretty good job here:




but the thing about the united states getting all bunched up about putin's russia sticking themselves into it is that if any country has a right to be indignant about invading another country on some false pretext and setting up garrisons, it is not the united states.

that referendum is constitutionally invalid.

yep. so was the overthrow of yanukovich.

it is against international law to invade another country to "protect" it.

*coughcoughafghanistancoughiraqcoughyemencoughgrenadacoughsomaliacoughcough*

i heard a commentator on the radio last week (i wish i could remember who) saying that there's a price for the US and EU supporting an unconstitutional and violent revolt against the corrupt but constitutional government, and that price is crimea.

and of course if the big colonial powers hadn't been so busy colonizing all those countries and messing in the affairs of other people for national profit on someone else's backs, we wouldn't have this mess to be outraged  over in the first place.

i also heard on the radio last week some whackaloon trying to explain that since sevastopol is largely settled by retired russian naval personnel, they should have the right to decide to be russian and claim that land for themselves and russia, just like US retired military have the right to do in the US.

orly?

only the retired US navy guys haven't settled toronto.

onna other hand, sevastopol is a place where a lot of russian blood has been spilled in a lot of wars.