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Health & Fitness

Whose Standing?

According to President Obama, Russia's "standing" in the "international community" will be hurt if that country proceeds with what the White House is calling a "clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity." His temper tantrum includes plans to pull the US out of an upcoming G8 summit — scheduled to take place in Russia — in protest.

Secretary of State John Kerry issued a separate statement, saying that "Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken by Russia to deescalate tensions, the effect on US-Russian relations and on Russia's international standing will be profound."

But really, this is more about Obama; for our Narcissist-in-Chief and his minions, everything usually is. The standing most threatened here is Barack Obama's — and that's what matters most to him.

For his part, Russian president Vladimir Putin essentially told Obama where to get off. A statement released by the Kremlin said that there is "a real threat to the lives and health of Russian citizens" in Ukraine. "Putin told Obama that 'Russia retains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population'" there, reports NBC.

One can only hope that Mr. Putin also took the opportunity in their 90-minute phone call to ask President Obama to take a look at a world map — or maybe just a map of the Middle East — and then kindly shut the hell up about larger, more powerful countries imposing their will on smaller, weaker ones.

Clearly the Russians didn't get the memo that the Cold War is over; they're still acting like a Super Power. And why not? The United States is over-extended militarily, twenty trillion dollars in debt, and few people take our president seriously anymore: his foreign policy is a tragic failure, and domestically his approval numbers are in the toilet.

If Russia continues to act like — well, to act like the United States, there's really not a damn thing President Obama can do about it. While Russia will suffer some, likely even a lot of criticism for acting like a bully in Ukraine, Barack Obama fears that in failing once more to re-make the world in his own image, the standing most damaged will be his own.

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