Ukraine

Are we really surprised that Russia is trying to take over small bits of Ukraine? It seems to me that the fall of the Iron Curtain was merely a regrouping distraction. The USSR was in financial ruin and the people on top didn't like that because they were getting less. In my opinion, when Lenin took over he just staged a coup to make himself the next Tsar, and things haven't changed much since then.

I've been reading a little commentary on Marxist theory, and I have to say that all the civil unrest should blatantly show he was wrong. Granted, I haven't gotten into much of it, but it seems he was projected an idealistic belief that if the worker ruled he would do a better job of it than the current upper class. Instead, we can see through history, that workers do unite against the powers that be, overthrow them, and then become the next powers that be.

However, I do not see the fall of the Iron Curtain as a revolution of workers overthrowing the powers that be. Yes, everyone was happy, but Putin was in the USSR government and he still is in that government. You can say, "oh, but he wasn't really a ruler," but yes, anyone pulling strings behind the scenes is no less a ruler than the front man. I think The KGB took over ruling when Andropov got in and Putin was primed to lead behind the scenes. The fall of the Soviet Union just gave him a chance to move to the front.

The USSR needed a way to regain some of its wealth, so it underwent restructuring, similar to the way a business in trouble will dissolve and reorganize to avoid paying all its debts. It's sad that businesses can do this and I suppose it is even sadder that countries can. So the USSR became Russia (which is what everyone was already calling it anyway) and shrunk its boarders.

Now, Russia has regained financial stability especially when combined with China (a powerhouse that is manipulating world markets to stay on top financially). So, like any business that has made a good alliance and a prosperous restructuring, it wants to enlarge itself again. This is the ideal time, too. America is a mess and doesn't really have leadership.

Sorry, the current president makes enough proclamations or "executive orders" to be a dictator, and half the country follows him blindly as if he were a dictator, while the other half ignores him. Plus, his foreign policy is a mess. He sends diplomats to China to ask for more money while telling them they need more social reform. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Everywhere he goes (and he goes everywhere), he ends up embarrassing the American people. In fact, most people in other countries make fun of him. Is he really going to stop Russia? Doubtful. He has way too much on his plate with writing executive orders that will appease every special interest group his party is indebted to in an effort to win the next election for the democrats.

Even if we did take action, what are we going to do? Our troops are strung out across the world ignoring North Koreas posturing and ticking off the people in Afghanistan. So, if Russia begins it's move to retake the USSR territories, it's nothing more than what should be expected.